The 2018 conference season is in full swing! One of the premier conferences we have the pleasure of attending every two years took place last week in Seattle—The American Council on Gift Annuities Conference.
My brother Jeremy and I had the opportunity to attend together. We spent most of our time connecting with our nonprofit partners in the Stelter booth (while also enjoying some of the great experiences the city has to offer). Our senior technical consultant Lynn Gaumer, on the other hand, made it her job to attend as many sessions as she could. (Well, it kind of is her job—she keeps our clients and staff informed on tax legislation and all things technical.) Today she shares some of her main takeaways from the conference with you.
1] ACGA Rates. The chair of the ACGA rates committee and member of the ACGA’s Board of Directors revealed a new schedule of suggested maximum gift annuity rates for gifts established on or after July 1, 2018. A complete rate schedule will be available on May 15. On average, rates will increase from 30 to 50 basis points. The top rate will be 9.5 percent for donors who are 90 and older.
2] 2017 ACGA Survey. The ACGA released its 2017 Survey of Charitable Gift Annuities at the conference. The new survey contains a wealth of information about charitable gift annuities and donor profiles that can help you launch or grow your CGA program. A few key takeaways from the survey include:
- Approximately 97 percent of charities use the maximum rates suggested by the ACGA.
- There are a larger number of female annuitants (54 percent) than male (46 percent).
- The average age of an immediate payment gift annuity is 79.
- There was a 5 percentage point increase in the number of organizations that expanded their efforts to market gift annuities.
To receive a complete copy of the results from the survey, become a member of the ACGA. Members have full access to electronic copies of the survey reports.
3] Rapidly Growing CGA Programs Focus on Larger Property Gifts – Not Cash. In a new analysis for the 2017 report, the ACGA examined the share of gifts funded with property such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds and real estate compared to those funded with cash. The organizations that experienced the most growth in their CGA programs and average annuity size focused their efforts on gifts of property rather than cash. Those organizations that experienced a decline in their CGA programs and a decline in the average annuity size reported a larger share of gifts from cash.
Did you miss us at ACGA? No worries! We’re traveling across the country over the next few months, from San Francisco to Boston to New York to Texas. Take a peek at our event schedule and let’s make a plan to meet up!
P.S. If you missed last week’s special update on charitable gift annuity rates (also from Lynn) and our free download to use in your client communications, be sure to check it out here.