Frequently Asked Questions
1. Administrative services:
Who will provide the specialized administration functions for our charitable trusts and gift annuities?
Our accounting and bookkeeping staff, which is supervised by Tina Bates.
Is this an internal function or will it be outsourced?
This is an internal function.
Are these services only available to assets managed by your organizations and its affiliates?
Our services are available to the organization regardless of who is managing the assets or if the donor is the trustee him/herself. There may be some minor additional charges if the investment management firm does not have a standard portfolio management system such as Advent or Centerpiece.
Are there additional charges for these services?
Not under normal circumstances. We will review and advise prior to the engagement of our services if any additional charges are appropriate.
2. Planned giving support:
What support or services (technical training, donor proposals, present value calculations, charitable tax deductions, planned gift marketing, joint seminars, etc.) will you provide to our gift planning staff to assist in our mission?
We will provide services that we mutually decide to be necessary in order to provide support to your Staff and hopefully enable a more secure planned gift. There services may include: Basic training of volunteers or paid staff, board training, review of computer software procedures, or related services. An analysis of the specific needs of the organization and the estimated fee for services will be provided prior to the undertaking of any assignment.
Do you have software to show illustrations to donors?
Yes. We use Crescendo, PG Calc, Excel and PowerPoint to provide the necessary support for donor proposals.
Is this provided to us or will you assist in providing illustrations?
Both, whatever is deemed to be the best resource to help secure the gift.
Are there additional charges for assisting our planned giving efforts?
Normally not, for clients that are on our “Annual Retainer Agreement”. If additional services are required they will be provided on an agreed hourly or daily fee arrangement that will be outlined prior to any service being performed.
Do you provide an overview of your process for setting up a new account including document review, asset transfer/valuation, charitable deduction calculation and charitable deduction acknowledgement?
We would request that our form “Information Needed on New or Transferred Administration” be completed, including any additional information requested, be provided. We would then review the existing trust document, and prior accounting and tax returns, for compliance issues. We would provide any exhibits or information needed for tax compliance for both the donor and the charity.
Will you provide the necessary reporting for planned giving accounts including transaction statements, investment analysis, and annual present value calculations?
Yes. All required statements and reports would be provided. Samples of these reports will be provided upon request by the organization.
Will reporting including both cost basis and market values for each asset be done on a quarterly or annual basis?
Our standard reporting system will include reporting on both cost basis and market value. A sample of our financial reports is on our website and will be provided upon request.
Is this available on-line?
Yes it is. Our normal process is to provide the written reports within 30 days of the end of the accounting period. The reports will then be available on-line within a few days. For accounts under $500,000 the access may not be available.
Will you provide cumulative carryover worksheets or data for NIMCRUT’s?
Yes. As you will notice in reviewing our standard reports, there is a worksheet that provides all of the carryover data on the account.
When available, will you also provide a report that might be sent to a charitable trust beneficiary?
Our standard report would be provided to both income beneficiaries and remaining contracts as requested.
Do you have the ability to “private label” reports?
Yes. Both the report covers and the reports inside can contain the name of the charity or other entity that might be needed.
Is there an additional charge for providing beneficiary reports?
Currently there are no additional charges for providing our standard reports to beneficiaries.
What State and Federal filings, for charitable trusts, foundations, and gift annuities would you provide for our organization and for our donors?
All required State and Federal forms would be provided to meet compliance with all laws and regulations. For charitable trusts in California these would include Forms 5227, 1041A, 541A, 541B, 709, 8283, 8282, SS-4. For a gift annuity program it would also include the required filing with the State of California Insurance Commissioners office.
Will you handle inquiries from regulatory authorities?
Yes.
From donors?
Yes.
Accurate and timely delivery of tax information is critical to our staff and especially our donors – what is your policy on time of delivery?
Our standard delivery time for accounting reports and tax filings is 30 days after the close of the accounting period. Exceptions to this standard may include unusual assets such as partnerships, real estate holding, or unmarketable or illiquid assets.
Describe the payment/distribution options available for income beneficiaries/annuitants.
Check, Wire, or ACH. Our preferred mode is ACH. There may be additional charges for methods other than ACH.
Is ACH available?
Yes, and preferred.
Are there any additional charges for distributions?
Not normally, but there may be under unusual circumstances.
3. Trust Services:
Do you provide unitized accounting for pooled funds?
Yes, we provide unitized accounting when requested for pooled income funds or gift annuity programs.
Will you or an affiliate act as trustee for split-interest trusts?
We will not act as trustees. We have both private and corporate trustee services available through outside vendors. We have negotiated reasonable costs for these services to “custody” the assets when requested by the charity or a specific donor.
Do you have specialized optimization software for split-interest trusts?
Yes we do. We use proprietary software that does multi-period probability and other analytical work.
Will you act as trustee for wealth replacement trusts?
We will not act as trustee for wealth replacement trusts under any circumstances. We would be available to provide recommendations to corporate or private trustees that provide the service.