The Planned Giving Value Chain Planned Giving Today Manufacturers started it, and the technologists refined it and applied it to the economics of information. I'm talking about the concept of the Value Chain. As established by Michael Porter of the Harvard Business School, the Value Chain was originally defined as how a business receives raw materials as input, adds value to the raw materials through various processes in the middle of the chain and sells finished products to consumers. [more...] Final CRT Regulations-Trick or Treat? The Journal of Gift Planning®, Vol. 3, No. 2, 2nd Quarter 1999 On December 10, 1998, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations under Code §664 and §2702 as outlined in Treasury Decision 8791. In addition to the explanatory material discussing the proposed regulations in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register on April 18, 1997, the IRS included a discussion of the proposed regulations in the 1999 CPE Text. (The CPE Text is an IRS document used for internal professional education.) These background materials indicate that the IRS developed the new regulations in part to deal with concerns about the abuse of CRTs, including the "accelerated" charitable remainder trust, which was the target of IRS Notice 94-78, as well as certain self-dealing issues. [more...] NCPG President's Corner The Journal of Gift Planning®, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1st Quarter 2002 Today, as never before, the concept of unity has taken on greater significance as our country reacts to the horrific crimes against humanity perpetrated on our own soil. A new and heightened uncertainty exists in our lives, yet our ability to join together for the common good has been profoundly demonstrated in many ways. For instance, the September 11th relief funds are receiving an incredible outpouring of financial support. What has been happening in and to our country affects us all on many levels-as citizens, as individuals, and even as members of a professional community. [more...] NCPG President's Corner The Journal of Gift Planning®, Vol. 6, No. 2, 2nd Quarter 2002 We have all been caught in a "fog" at some point in time. In a way, the next steps in NCPG's evolution have been delayed due to fog. Prior to the adoption of individual memberships, a significant number of services were provided by NCPG directly to individuals who were members of local councils, but were not directly members of NCPG. [more...] NCPG President's Corner The Journal of Gift Planning®, Vol. 6, No. 3, 3rd Quarter 2002 LEAVE A LEGACY™ update. As gift planning professionals, we know that on one end of the planning spectrum is a charitable designation in a will or trust. On the other end is an array of sophisticated planning vehicles with fancy acronyms and varying degrees of complexity that take into account the charitable, financial, tax and estate planning desires of a potential donor. On both ends of the spectrum, the goal is to fulfill a variety of the donor's needs, especially the philanthropic need. [more...] NCPG President's Corner The Journal of Gift Planning®, Vol. 6, No. 4, 4th Quarter 2002 A new day has dawned for LEAVE A LEGACY™. The strategic planning task force, chaired by Kathryn Miree, unveiled its board approved "Strategies for Increasing the Effectiveness of LEAVE A LEGACY™" at both the LEAVE A LEGACY™ Workshop and the Assembly of Delegates in Indianapolis. [more...] How to Get a Private Letter Ruling? The Journal of Gift Planning®, 3rd Quarter 1998 The First Annual Revenue Procedure - The Ten Commandments of the Letter Ruling Process When structuring a planned gift, an analysis of the Code, the Regulations, IRS pronouncements and the case law may not produce a clear answer with respect to a particular federal tax issue. In the charitable gift planning arena, a lack of clarity may arise with some frequency, as many different technical tax disciplines collide. [more...]