In this issue:
Sharing Success: What Non-Profit Organizations Can Learn about Marketing from For-Profits
PG Calc’s first marketing white paper, originally released in the spring, introduced gift planners who are often tasked with marketing activities to techniques used by senior marketers in for-profit environments. We believe that by exposing fundraisers and gift planners to systematic, best practice approaches from the for-profit world, we can help them improve their marketing plans and make their marketing practices more disciplined, manageable, and productive. This month’s featured article is an excerpt from that paper.
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Past topics...
Quick Tip: Verify Database in GiftWrap
GiftWrap makes processing year-end gifts, payments, tax forms, and compliance calculations efficient. But you also want your results to be accurate. The Verify Database routine reviews all the data in GiftWrap and identifies any errors it finds so that you can fix them. These errors include required data that is missing, inconsistent data, and conflicting data.
Simple, easy to follow instructions are available in GiftWrap Help. Open GiftWrap and select Help. Then select Contents and Index on the drop down menu. Select the Index tab and type “verify” and then double-click "Verify Database."
Help Clip: Setting an Annual Asset Turnover %
Planned Giving Manager's (PGM's) projection programs can incorporate an annual asset turnover percentage into their calculations. This capability can be important when modeling a charitable remainder trust (CRT).
When the annual asset turnover assumption is 0%, which for simplicity is PGM's default, PGM projections for a CRT often show tax-free amounts being distributed by the trust every year. However, it is more typical of investment practice in the real world for the annual asset turnover to be a positive percentage. As in the real world, when you enter a positive annual asset turnover percentage in PGM, the tax-free portions of CRT distributions are largely replaced by distributions of realized capital gain. Entering an annual asset turnover % may set more realistic expectations for your prospect regarding the type of income he or she will receive from a charitable remainder trust.
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Wisconsin Relaxes Gift Annuity Reserve Investment Requirement
The specific investment restrictions previously imposed by Wisconsin on gift annuity reserve funds have been replaced by the prudent investor standard with the passage of 2009 Wisconsin Act 33, effective August 4, 2009. Under the prior restrictions, many charities opted to establish a state-specific fund that held the reserves for only Wisconsin annuities as a way to limit the reach of the restrictions to just those reserves. Though a charity continues to have the option to maintain a Wisconsin-only fund, the change to the prudent investor standard removes the main purpose for the creation of such a fund.
If your organization currently has a Wisconsin-only fund, and is intending to shift the Wisconsin reserves to a larger all states reserve fund, this change should be communicated to the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. Such a change will alter the annual reporting submitted to the state – with a state-specific fund the annual reporting covers just the Wisconsin annuities, whereas if Wisconsin reserves are held in an all states fund the reporting covers that fund as a whole.
Gift Annuity Manual Turns Ten!
Now entering its second decade, Charitable Gift Annuities: The Complete Resource Manual has just been updated by Frank Minton, with contributions from Bill Zook, Edie Matulka and others at PG Calc. The update includes a number of revisions that enhance the value of this definitive reference work.
Full of both technical and practical guidance, the latest version is available in a print edition, which is now being shipped, as well as an electronic edition that will be released in early December. Learn more and order your own copy, or call 888-497-4970.
Client Referral Program
Are you aware that PG Calc has a client referral program? You can save your charity money on your next PG Calc product, annual service fee, or training session with a referral from you to PG Calc. If the referral purchases a qualifying product or service from PG Calc, you will receive a credit of $250. Now is a good time to let your contacts know that Planned Giving Manager is on sale for $500 off its usual price until December 31!
For more information on the Client Referral Program, please contact Joe Sabella at 888-497-4970.
Southwestern Vermont Health Care Values PG Calc’s “Quick and Thorough” Gift Administration Services
Martha Heilemann, Director of Planned Giving at Southwestern Vermont Health Care, reports, When I started my ‘one day a week’ job at Southwestern Vermont Health Center there was no Planned Giving officer. The Vice President of Development asked me to look into charitable gift annuities as a method of giving to the healthcare system. After investigating several options, I learned that PG Calc provides comprehensive CGA administration – even for an organization with only a few accounts. The next day, a donor asked if he could have a $300,000 annuity. Of course he could! The PG Calc staff worked with me quickly and thoroughly to put in place the CGA administration I needed. I could then accept my donor's generous gift and all the gift annuities that will follow.
Organizations that would rather outsource the gift administration process than do it themselves turn to PG Calc for unparalleled gift administration and related services. We meet the diverse needs of development, business, and finance offices at charities nationwide. Our relationship managers are experts in all aspects of charitable gift administration. We work closely with every member of a charity's gift administration team, including the charity's investment manager, whether assets are managed in-house or outside.
Learn more about our Gift Administration Services
Learn more about Southwestern Vermont Health Care
Next Webinar: Successful Planned Gift Marketing - November 24, 2009
Drawing on what our consultants have learned over their many years of doing planned giving and helping others do it too, this Webinar will identify marketing strategies that we find effective. From developing a marketing plan to reviewing specific examples, this session will focus on what works and why. The marketing strategy and tactics appropriate for large programs versus start-up programs also will be considered.
Date: November 24, 2009
Time: 1:00 pm Eastern
Presenters: Ann McPherson and Jeff Lydenberg
Register
2010 Webinar Schedule
PG Calc’s 2010 Webinar schedule is now available. The monthly series covers a range of topics of interest to gift planners. Sign up month-by-month or save by signing up for the whole series - register for all thirteen series Webinars (12 monthly sessions + 1 bonus session) for the price of nine.
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2010 Group Training Schedule Available
Our 2010 group training schedule has been published. We will be offering our training sessions prior to several conferences – American Council on Gift Annuities in New Orleans in April, Planned Giving Group of New England in Boston in May, and National Conference on Philanthropic Planning in Nashville in October – as well as a number of other locations. We will be returning to New York City in February and visiting our West Coast clients in San Francisco in November.
We offer both introductory and advanced education solutions for gift planners and gift administrators. Attendees will learn how to get the most out of our Planned Giving Manager or GiftWrap software and gain a critical understanding of important concepts in planned giving.
February 1-2
Gift Planning with Planned Giving Manager
Introductory and Advanced
Residence Inn Times Square, New York, NY
Our full 2010 schedule and to register
PG Calc November Holiday Schedule
PG Calc offices will be closed on November 26 and November 27 for the Thanksgiving holiday.
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