A new tax law was passed in January, and planned giving is forever changed. That was the featured message at Pentera’s recent three-day advanced planned giving seminar in Saratoga Springs, New York.
From Vermont to Atlanta to Colorado to Seattle, more than 40 planned giving professionals gathered Sept. 10-12 for the advanced seminar, tapping the wisdom of a century of experience in the field. The seminar is led by Pentera’s chairman and founder, André R. Donikian, JD, and well-known consultant Frank Minton, PhD. Institutions and organizations represented included Cornell University, George Washington University, The Nature Conservancy, Princeton, Providence Health & Services, and the United States Air Force Academy.
The impact of ATRA
Among the guest speakers this year was Donald Kent, principal at Bernstein Global Wealth Management in New York City, who led two sessions on the impact of ATRA (the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012). The key message was that the law has triggered a new way of looking at estate planning, especially from a tax point of view.
“We can’t just generalize with broad statements anymore,” Donikian said in support of Kent’s presentation. “With this law each individual situation has to be taken on its own; each case presents unique circumstances and opportunities, and we have to look to see how the law applies.”
Expert guest speakers
Two PhDs with the firm Charitable Development Consulting, Bruce E. Bigelow and Carol A. Kolmerten, presented together on deferred charitable gift annuities. The interesting role that family anxiety plays in estate and gift planning was discussed by Peter J. Ticconi, senior director of gift planning at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“He brought a different perspective on how decisions on estate planning are made in a family,” Donikian said of Ticconi. “Unless any anxiety is reduced and everyone calms down, nothing much can happen.”
The Frank and André show
Longtime colleagues Minton and Donikian presented the bulk of the seminar, with topics including:
• Building a charitable endowment.
• The future of gift annuities.
• Recent developments of interest to gift planners.
• Gifts involving S Corporations and LLCs.
• The charitable lead trust and its cousins.
Extensive opportunities for questions and discussion also were provided.
What participants say
Typical comments from advanced seminar participants, all of whom have five or more years experience in the field, include:
• The subject matter covered was timely and relevant.
• The intimate setting with smaller numbers allows for a full interchange and participation between the presenters and the attendees unavailable at other conferences.
• I leave better prepared to do my work well.
• My knowledge of planned giving was greatly expanded.
• The seminar was as helpful as any I’ve attended in my 12 years of planned giving.
The next opportunity
Pentera sponsors the seminar every two years; the next advanced planned giving seminar will be held in Saratoga Springs in 2015.
Pentera also conducts an annual comprehensive planned giving training school for those with fewer than five years’ experience. The next five-day seminar will be next summer in Indianapolis.
Registration information and sample agendas for both seminars can be found at www.pentera.com/services_training.
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