National Catholic Development Conference

Pre-Conference Workshop

September 11, 20132:00-5:00 pm

A Blueprint for Starting Your Planned Giving

Program

Presenters:

Anna Maria Lang – Annuity Officer, Salesian Missions, New Rochelle, NY

Sr. Peggy Scarano, OP – Development Director, Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, Sparkill, NY

Daniel L. Woehrer – Special Assistant to the Rector, St. Lawrence Seminary, Mt. Calvary, WI

I. Office Management1. How to start your program & set up your file2. Fundraising and Planned Giving Ethics

• Communicate with your donor• Transparency• Code of Ethics from NCDC• Not commission based

3. Advantages of working with consultants and vendors

4. Working with the Finance office and Leadership teams

5. Development of Gift Acceptance Policy• Cash• Securities• Real Estate

6. Training of Staff

7. Creation of Budget8. Role of social media role in Planned Giving/Fundraising

II. Donor Cultivation1. Identifying Prospects2. Reaching out to your prospects

(Plan of Action):• Direct Mail• Major Gifts (MG) – Role of MG Officer• Planned Giving Visits (PG) – Role of PG Officer• Phone Calls• Follow up agendas

III. Marketing Plan1. Budget Driven2. Marketing Strategies:• Develop your Tag Line• Obtain testimonials

3. Marketing Materials:• Advertising in your own publication• Planned giving newsletter• Back end stuffers/brochures• Appeals to existing annuitants• Website section on Planned Giving

IV. Charitable Gift Annuities1. What is an annuity? Types of annuities? Establish a

minimum age requirement and minimum amount accepted for each category of gift

2. Gift Annuity registration requirements – headquarters and any other geographical area where marketing efforts will be directed to; different degrees of registrations:• Initial registration/notification and annual filing

required• Certain criteria must be met but no

registration/notification required• Initial registration/notification required• Silent

3. Gift Annuity Rates• ACGA – American Council of Gift Annuities -

suggested industry rates• Your own set of rates – need for an actuarial

verification

4. Options for Administration/Adequate Staffing/Software

• Outsourcing to major vendors: PG Calc & Crescendo• Outsourcing to other vendors• In-house administration

5. Transparency: Gift Annuity disclosure statement and Clause to Consult their

Financial Advisor; Documentation required; State compliance on gift issuance contracts

6. Annuity Reserve Fund – risk management

7. Other Resources – Major and Planned Giving groups through NCDC membership

8. Continue to communicate with your annuitant

V. Estate Planning1. Most Common Types of Gifts• Bequests from a will• Trusts (living, testamentary and charitable)• Annuities (charitable and commercial) (note:

death puts)• Life insurance beneficiary designations• IRA’s• POD (Payable on Death) accounts

2. Steps to take to properly administer a gift• When you receive notice of a gift, ask for a copy of the

pertinent documents AND READ THEM.

• Understand if you are receiving a specific bequest or a residual bequest – it will influence your need to request and review documents

• Review fees and expenses. Make sure numbers ‘tie out’. A good rule of thumb is that the attorney and executor fees should not exceed 5-7%. This will vary by jurisdiction.

• Review accounting/bank trust statements. Note basis adjustments and sale date of assets. Adjustments must be made before sales can occur. Are there unnecessary losses? Suggestion – be mindful of when sales occur. Do not wait 6 months and be exposed to the market. Be proactive and call – ask questions.

• Review Receipt and/or Release. What are you getting, a partial vs. a final distribution? What are you signing off on? What are you giving up? Know what a release means. BE WARY of all inclusive language.

• Understand general timelines involved in estate administration. Rules are different for specific (1 year rule or else interest is due) vs. residual bequests. Also different for trusts. (Call the attorney and ask the question – how long will this take?)

• Keep track of the date of death and how long it has been since you last heard from the attorney, accountant or personal representative. Insist on accountability.

• BE PATIENT, YET DILIGENT.

3. Warning Signs to Watch for – Time to Ask Questions! Demand Answers!

• You receive a check, but no request for a receipt or release• You receive a check and a release, but no accounting• You receive a release/receipt, no check and no

accounting• You get any of the above AND the account is already

closed• Your request for information is rebuffed• Family member is handling the estate – Lawyer not the

lead person

4. Accountabilitya) Documents that typically are received after the death

of a decedent if gift is through a will• Inventory

• Accounting Statement

• Final Account and Plan of Distribution

• Other documents that you may see might be: Order Admitting Will, Proof of Heirship, Letters of Testamentary. These are not as important to your file as the above listed documents

b) Different Documents may be provided or available is gifts are made through a trust:

• Circumstances vary and depends if assets are already in Trust at the time of death.

• Trust accounting statements may be provided vs. typical accountings

• Formal Final Account not required for Intervivos Trust (aka Living Trust) terminations

5. Tax Basics• Estate tax is a tax on your right to transfer

property at your death

• Current federal estate tax is 40% for estates over $5,250,000

• Alternate Valuation date – 6 months from date of death

• Form 706 (Federal Estate Tax Return) and state return due 9 months from date of death

• Marital deduction allows transfer between spouses to avoid taxes on death of first spouse

• Spousal portability up to $10,500,000

• IRA’s are transferable tax-free to spouses and charities, fully taxable to others…consider IRA’s for charitable gifts

• Closing certificate required before estate can be closed – might take 6-8 months

• Tax and filing fees need to be factored into amount available for distribution

• Some states also have an estate tax – rates vary from state to state

• Filing fees and administration deadlines also vary

• Despite the above, uniformity exists in some fashion in the ways estates are administered

VI. SCENARIOSSituation 1 –You receive a Notice of Probate from Madison

County, Maryland that your charity is a beneficiary under the Will of Mrs. Abigail Adams (widow of Pres. Adams) and nothing else. What should you do?

Situation – 2You are relatively new to your organization and

you start to acclimate yourself to your new organization and job by reviewing the bequest files. During your review you discover a named decedent had died nine years earlier and other than the original notice, there is nothing else in the file. Where do you start?

Situation – 3You are asked to sign a Receipt and/or Release,

holding the executor/personal representative harmless for all actions taken by him/her, including all know to you and those unknown (and undisclosed) to you. You did not receive an accounting and your gift is a residual one? What should you do?

Does the situation change if your gift is a specific bequest?

Situation – 4You receive an accounting for an estate and you

discover while examining the accounting that the attorney’s fees are 12% of the estate. You send him a letter asking him to explain his fees. He gets indignant and sends your boss a letter to this effect.

It also turns out he is a donor to your charity and states in his letter that he was going to mail in a donation to your latest appeal but he has now changed his mind. How would you handle this internally and externally?

VII. Questions and Answers

VIII. Evaluation

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING !!