Program Administration and Management

Always Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

Kent Weimer and Rebecca Watkins

Thursday, October 3, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Intermediate

Not all gifts are beneficial. To protect your organization, you need to fully understand what you're getting when offered a gift that doesn't come completely strings-free. Before accepting gifts with restrictions, or gifts that require further action from the organization, make sure that you're willing—and able—to do what it takes to maximize the gift. In this session, we’ll walk through some of the warning signals to watch for when offered gifts with restrictions or non-traditional gifts. We’ll share experiences that have been ripped from the headlines and discuss how to best handle difficult conversations. Attendees will leave with a better of understanding of what red flags to watch for—and why—and will be armed with tips on how to communicate with donors when you can’t say yes.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand what red flags to look for when offered gifts with restrictions or noncash gifts.
  2. Learn about long-term and legal side effects your organization might experience if you accept a non-traditional gift or agree to a donor’s restrictions.
  3. Develop a library of helpful words and phrases to use in difficult conversations.

 

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Kent Weimer

Director of Trusts, Estates & Gift Planning - Parkland Foundation

Kent is Director of Trusts, Estates & Gift Planning at Parkland Foundation where he works with donors and their advisors to make estate gifts, create endowments or make donations with assets other than cash. His extensive expertise in institutional advancement comes from 40 years of experience in community-based health care, higher education, cultural institutions, international healthcare, youth development and social service organizations. Kent has been actively involved in CGP for 17 years including leadership roles at the Chicago Council of Planned Giving and the Dallas Council of CGP, where he is a past president. He is currently chair-elect of the national CGP Board of Directors.

Rebecca Watkins

Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving, North Carolina Symphony

Rebecca Campbell Watkins is currently Director of Major Gifts & Planned Giving at the North Carolina Symphony. After a brief career in the corporate world, she transitioned into the nonprofit field and hasn’t looked back. She earned a master’s degree in arts management from American University and has worked in individual giving for arts organizations for over ten years. Her career has included development positions at the Smithsonian Institution, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. A self-proclaimed “art nerd,” she also enjoys any activity that gets her outside, baseball, travel and puppies.

Program Administration and Management

Data Mining: How To Build Your Own Engagement Score

Shelley De Leon

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 11:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

Foundational​

Are you a small shop looking for a way to find the best donors in your database? Do you wish you could use big data and predictive modeling, but don’t have enough money to hire the big vendors? This session will teach you step by step how to build your own engagement score. We’ll start with the queries to use, and progress to creating point values for your ultimate score. If you can pull a query and sort in Excel, then you can create your own organization-specific engagement score.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand what an engagement score is.
  2. Learn to create your own engagement score.
  3. Plan next steps to use the score you’ve created.

 

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Shelley De Leon

Manager, Planned Giving Data & Analytics, City of Hope

Shelley De Leon works at City of Hope in the newly created position of Manager, Planned Giving Data & Analytics. Prior to that she worked at the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Caltech in their gift planning departments. Before her career in development, Shelley worked at several major law firms including Proskauer and Latham & Watkins doing business development and database management. Shelley received her Bachelors from Brown University and recently received her Masters of Science in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University. For her capstone project, she led a team of six data scientists to build 17 predictive models to help guide annual fund, major giving, special events and planned giving efforts.

Program Administration and Management

RIFT Project Update: How to Eliminate Delays When Requesting IRA Death Proceeds

Johni Hays

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.

Intermediate

Has your nonprofit bumped into roadblocks while attempting to collect IRA death proceeds from a donor? Have IRA custodians delayed the death claim process by requesting more and more forms from you? Or, has your organization been required to set up an entirely separate, second account (i.e., an Inherited IRA) just to get your proceeds? Did you experience IRA custodians asking for driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, net worth, or other personal information about your officers or board members while telling you (erroneously) the Patriot Act requires it? This process has gotten completely out of control over the last few years. What was once a simple practice of providing a death certificate and receiving your share of the IRA within 30-60 days has now turned into an onerous and laborious procedure – so much so, that some charities are completely giving up on applying for their share. Do you want to know how to avoid all this? We’ve connected with the Senate Finance Committee and requested IRS involvement to fast-track death benefits for charities. Join us for the update on how this will get your nonprofit its money faster. 

Learning Objectives

  1. Acquire the skills and knowledge you need today to collect IRA proceeds quickly and with less paperwork.
  2. Learn what steps the industry has taken nationwide to help alleviate the delays and paperwork caused by IRA custodians.
  3. Learn what the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the IRS have done to help and what you can do today to make a difference!

 

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Johni Hays

Senior Vice President, Thompson & Associates

Johni is Senior Vice President with Thompson & Associates. She served as the president of the Charitable Estate Planning Institute and she is the author of the book, Essentials of Annuities and co-author of the book, The Tools and Techniques of Charitable Planning. Johni serves on the Smithsonian’s Legacy Council in Washington, DC. She served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the books Tax Facts on Investments and Tax Facts on Insurance and Employee Benefits. She also served on the board of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and serves as a founding charitable planning author of Steve Leimberg’s electronic newsletter service, LISI. Johni is in demand as a national lecturer on estate and charitable planning, probate, living wills, annuities, life insurance, retirement planning and IRAs, as well as income, estate and gift taxation. Johni has been engaged in the practice of law with an emphasis in charitable and estate planning since graduating cum laude with a Juris Doctor degree from Drake Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1993. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Drake University and graduated magna cum laude in 1988. Johni has been a member of both the Iowa Bar and the Florida Bar since 1993.

Program Administration and Management

To Infinity and Beyond! Drafting Gift Agreements That Will Stand The Test Of Time

Marcia Inger Navrátil

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Intermediate

A well-drafted gift agreement doesn't just address the circumstances when a donor makes a gift—it also takes into account the donor's long-term intent, the current and future needs of the institution and the relevant legal standards that govern institutional management of gift funds. This session will describe in detail all of the essential elements of a comprehensive gift agreement, one that an organization can effectively implement during the donor's lifetime, when circumstances change so that implementation becomes impractical and when the donor is no longer available to consult or consent to changes. Real-life examples will highlight best practices and the unfortunate consequences when a gift agreement is poorly written or missing essential information.

Learning Objectives

  1. Draft key elements of a legally valid and comprehensive gift agreement, including gift description, purpose, restrictions, management of gift funds, and associated fees.
  2. Manage donor expectations by communicating effectively to ensure that gift agreements fully reflect the donors' intent and that donors grasp the full implications, obligations, and restrictions of the gift agreement.
  3. Include specific language in gift agreements to address future changes, in order to avoid conflicts and restrictions when donor is no longer available or unwilling to give consent.
     

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Marcia Inger Navrátil

Director of Gift Planning Services, University of Texas System

Marcia Inger Navrátil has served as the Director of Gift Planning Services for University of Texas System since November 2015. In her current role, she collaborates with, advises, and trains advancement colleagues across 14 U.T. academic and health institutions, in their work on planned and complex gifts. Marcia brings nearly 20 years of development experience to her current role. Prior to joining UT System, she spent 10 years working in development at The University of Texas at Austin, including as Director and Interim Executive Director of Gift and Estate Planning. Marcia has also held development positions at University of Virginia and Virginia Opera. Marcia derives great satisfaction from working with development officers, donors, and professional advisors to craft charitable gift plans that allow donors to achieve their philanthropic, personal, and financial goals. Marcia is a member of the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and currently serves as President of the Austin chapter. She has presented on charitable and estate planning at organizations including the CGP National Conference, CGP chapters across the country, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the CASE District IV Conference, and the Big XII Development Conference, and has contributed to publications on philanthropy. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Art History and law degree and from the University of Virginia. She lives in Austin with her husband Paul, and when not working can be found running on trails in the woods with her two rescue dogs.

Program Administration and Management

How to Stay on Track with CGA Annual Filings

Edie Matulka

Friday, October 4, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Foundational

Of the states that require registration to issue gift annuities, 15 also require some sort of annual filing. Whether you are already registered or anticipate doing so, it’s important to understand what is involved in the ongoing reporting. However, equally important is keeping track of deadlines and creating a system for preparing the filings each year. A late or erroneous filing can have serious consequences for your gift annuity program in that state. This session will provide both specific information on requirements and helpful hints on managing the process—useful to those who handle the filings internally and those who outsource some or all of it.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand context for ongoing state filings.
  2. Review specific details related to filings
  3. Learn how to manage the filing process.

 

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Edie Matulka

Senior Consultant, PG Calc

As Senior Consultant at PG Calc, Edith (Edie) Matulka works with charitable organizations across the country, providing assistance on both gift-specific questions and issues relating to operation of their planned giving programs.&nbsp; Edie also helps charities comply with state regulations for issuance of gift annuities and is a contributing author for Charitable Gift Annuities: The Complete Resource Manual. Edie has spoken at American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) conferences, local planned giving councils, and to varying groups within charitable organizations (including Boards, staff, and donors). She is a past member of the ACGA Board. A member of the Washington State Bar Association, Edie graduated from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and earned a BA in Political Science from the University of Washington. Edie joined Planned Giving Services, a Seattle-based consulting firm started and led by Frank Minton, in 1997. PG Calc acquired Planned Giving Services in August, 2005. In addition to the practice of law, Edie’s background includes work in government, public, and nonprofit settings. 

Program Administration and Management

The Relevance of Probate for Charitable Beneficiaries

Fredrick Weber

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 11:30 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

Intermediate

The process of death-related administration of estates and trusts can be daunting. While touching briefly on the broader topic of death-related administration for charitable beneficiaries, this presentation will focus primarily on the relevance of the probate process when charitable beneficiaries are in the mix. We will briefly explore the history of probate in advance of a more detailed examination of the probate process and probate “avoidance,” and the significance of that history and these concepts for charitable beneficiaries. Specifically, we will explore the impact of a formal probate proceeding on charitable interests, and look at how the probate process can serve as a sword and a shield for the protection of charitable beneficiaries. We will also examine some real-life situations involving the probate of estates that include charitable legacies, and we will discuss some of the pros and cons of formal probate proceedings for charitable beneficiaries.

Learning Objectives

  1. Gain a better understanding of the process of death-related administration, with a specific focus on the probate process and its impact on charitable beneficiaries.
  2. Improve the interaction between planned giving professionals and the executors, personal representatives, trustees and other fiduciaries responsible for the delivery of their charitable legacies following a death.
  3. Increased knowledge of the rights and responsibilities of charitable beneficiaries in death-related administration of estates and trusts that will involve or require a formal probate proceeding.

 

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Fredrick Weber

Director, Central Region Estate Settlement Services, Northern Trust Company Wealth Management

Fred Weber leads the Central Region Estate Settlement Services Practice for Northern Trust Company’s Wealth Management business. Based in Chicago, Fred’s team handles death-related administration of estates and trusts when Northern Trust acts as a fiduciary for clients who have died. Fred previously worked for another corporate fiduciary, and spent several years in private law practice as a trust, estate and probate attorney. Fred has also worked as a planned giving officer for a public charity. Before law school, Fred worked in Washington, DC, as an aide to the late U.S. Senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-MN). Fred has presented to the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE), the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners. Fred also served as an adjunct professor at John Marshall Law School where he developed and taught a course on death-related administration of estates and trusts. Fred currently serves on the board of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, and he is also a board member and past president of Shalva: A Response to Domestic Abuse in Jewish Homes. Fred received his BA from the University of Minnesota and his J.D. from DePaul University. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois, and he resides in Chicago with his wife and three sons.