Posts Tagged ‘Donor Stewardship’
Rolling Over an IRA: A Terrific Year-end Opportunity
Posted by John Marshall in Donor Cultivation, Legal, Legislative & Tax, Stewardship on December 17th, 2009
I recently returned from a visit with a client in New Hampshire where I was informed that a donor had recently made a second gift to the capital campaign for $50,000 and did so through an IRA Rollover. You may still have time to share this terrific opportunity with a select group of your prospects and generate a lovely gift for your organization.
As you may have heard, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 included a provision that extended the availability of the IRA Rollover through December 31, 2009. This inclusion, included in the Pension Protection Act of 2006, had previously expired at the end of 2007 but was extended by then President Bush.
Here are the details
The IRA Rollover allows individuals who are at least 70-1/2 to make tax-free distributions of up to $100,000 from an IRA to their favorite charity, subject to the following qualifications:
- The donor must be 70-1/2 or older at the time of distribution.
- Limited to $100,000 per taxpayer, per year. A married couple can donate up to $200,000 provided each spouse owns at least one IRA and can make a qualified charitable distribution of $100,000 from their plans.
- Gifts must be outright. The contributions cannot be used to fund gift annuities or charitable remainder trusts
- Applies only to IRA’s, not other forms of retirement plans such as 401(k), 403(b), etc.
- Gifts cannot be made to donor advised funds and supporting organizations, including most private foundations.
- Gifts must be made directly from the IRA to the charity.
How Full Is Your Glass?
Posted by JBA in Campaign Planning & Management, Donor Cultivation, Fundraising in a Recession on September 15th, 2009
In today’s challenging fundraising environment, I am continually reminded of the old saying “is your glass half full or half empty?” Viewing your challenges as opportunities for positive change classifies you as a “glass half full” person. We should all be striving for a “full glass of opportunities” if we are to be successful at our jobs in today’s world.
I don’t know about you, but I have very little room in my life these days for the glass half empty person. They steal my energy and passion for my work. They create a sense of negativity in meetings and planning sessions when they say we cannot raise money now and maybe should not even be trying! I cannot imagine encouraging our clients to stop fundraising because times are tough – we just need to think of new opportunities that will boost our efforts right now and into the future.
So, given that I am definitely that “glass full to the top” person, what are some of the opportunities where we can focus our energies with the ultimate goals of stabilizing our resources and raising more money?
Here is what fills my glass these days: (Click to Read)
Are You Retaining Your Donors
Posted by JBA in Donor Cultivation on June 11th, 2009
It’s a simple question, but you may be surprised to learn that in studies conducted through the Association of Fundraising Professional’s “Fundraising Effectiveness Project” non-profit organization showed annual losses of 51.9% in revenue from downgraded or lapsed donors. The organizations involved in the study compared their 2004 to 2005 results. The same organizations showed a 62.6% increase in revenues from new or upgraded donors. With a 10% net gain it might not seem like donor retention is that big of an issue, however on a long term basis non-profit organizations may not be able to replace lost donors with new acquisitions. There is another potential threat to organizations who may be considering a major gift, capital or endowment effort. These types of efforts usually rely on small group of key donors for a large percentage of the goal, but the remaining funds usually come from the constituencies who have supported the organization in the past. A shrinking donor base could make these efforts much more difficult. For these and other reasons it is important to track your donor retention and to understand of what is impacting your numbers.