About the WMPGG
Established in 1987, the Western Michigan Planned Giving Group was organized for the purpose of uniting gift planning officers from local charities with legal and financial advisors. Through the process of education and networking, local gift planning officers and professional advisors become better equipped to serve the needs of donors and prospective donors in the West Michigan area and beyond.
WMPGG serves to promote charitable giving in the community by hosting frequent educational sessions, supplying educational materials and promoting national participation in advocacy efforts. Added benefits to membership include:
- Networking on a local level
- Timely updates on legislative and tax issues
- Affiliation with a national organization
- Access to high quality, low cost programming in the west Michigan area
We invite you to learn more about WMPGG by exploring our website.
News from Partnership for Philanthropic Planning
We invite you to learn...
Save the Date - National Conference on Philanthropic Planning
National Conference on Philanthropic Planning
October 3-5, 2012
New Orleans, Louisiana
Don’t miss the premier opportunity to make valuable connections and learn from over 800 of your gift planning colleagues at 2012’s most comprehensive educational program! With sessions covering both the art and the science of philanthropic planning you can customize your personal experience to cover the skills and techniques that you need to master now…
·cultivating and stewarding major/planned/principal donors
·adding philanthropic strategies to donors’ and clients’ estate and retirement plans
·integrating deferred and major current gifts
·advising business owners on structures and succession plans that involve charitable gifts
·structuring principal gifts
·developing creative endowments
·making contingency plans for all tax scenarios
·applying best practices to the administration and investment of planned gifts
·designing performance metrics for gift planners
·and much more
Attendees at the 2011 National Conference on Philanthropic Planning said…
·Great conference…great return on time and cost investment!
·This is a very well-run conference, and it provides a healthy balance of programs and speakers to cover a myriad of practical issues. It is a wonderful "Homecoming" for gift planning officers and consultants!
·Wonderful first conference. I liked everything being in one place, I liked meeting the people and the vendors. I liked the fact that the 'experts' were approachable and open to speaking with us newbies. I can't wait for next year!
·I always look forward to this conference and leave with several new ideas and valuable knowledge I can apply in my work for the benefit of donors and my institution.
·I appreciated the Conference's continual focus on the donor's charitable intent. Attendees, presenters, and exhibitors all demonstrated a high caliber of professionalism.
PPP has made a commitment to making sure our attendees get the best value for their time and money in this difficult economic climate–2012’s conference registration fee and hotel room rate are the same as 2011
PPP Members $695 earlybird/$795
Nonmembers $795 earlybird/$895
Hotel Rooms $189/night + tax
Dates to remember
March 1 Call for Presentations opens online
May 1 Conference registration opens online
August 10 Early registration deadline
September 1 Conference e-community opens, with opportunities to communicate with speakers
and other registered attendees
Last week the Senate failed to invoke cloture on the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 (S. 2230), legislation that embodies the so-called "Buffett Rule," which would impose upon taxpayers with annual reported taxable incomes of more than $1 million an "effective tax rate" of at least 30 percent. The Buffett Rule legislation was being watched by many in the charitable sector because it included a specific carve-out for charitable giving by permitting wealthy taxpayers to receive a credit equal to the value of the charitable contributions deduction under the regular income tax. During debate on the Senate floor, however, Republicans like Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) assailed the Buffett Rule legislation, claiming it "continues [the] Obama Administration's assault on charities" by "limiting contributions to charities by capping the value of itemized deductions for upper-income Americans." Senator Hatch's criticism of the Buffett Rule legislation deals with the proposed reinstatement of so-called Pease limitations at the end of this year.
Tax Reform,
Deficit Reduction Debate Continues in CongressDebate over tax reform and deficit reduction in Congress has not been limited to the Senate's consideration of the Buffett Rule. The Senate Budget Committee, for example, recently held a hearing on the fiscal year 2013 budget resolution, and Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-ND) used the opportunity to revive the Simpson-Bowles plan, which was the plan delivered by the Presidential Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform in December 2010 that recommended eliminating the charitable deduction and replacing it with a 12 percent non-refundable tax credit that would only be available for amounts beyond two percent of a taxpayers adjusted gross income. The House recently rejected such a plan when it voted on six different budget proposals right before the Easter recess.
House
Subcommittee Plans Review of IRA Charitable Rollover, Other Tax Extenders
Amidst concerns voiced by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman that the failure of Congress to act on tax extender provisions like the IRA Charitable Rollover could delay the 2013 tax filing season, Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) have pledged "to conduct a thorough review" of the more than 60 tax extender provisions that expired at the end of the year, perhaps with an eye toward modifying or eliminating altogether some of the provisions. As part of this review, the House Subcommittee will hold a hearing on tax extenders on April 26th. Oral testimony at the hearing will be limited to Members of the House who have either introduced or co-sponsored legislation related to tax extenders during the 112th Congress. While it is unknown at this point if the sponsors of the Public Good IRA Rollover Act (H.R. 2502) plan to participate in the hearing, the Subcommittee is accepting written comments from interested organizations and individuals until May 10th.
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on tax extenders in late January where lawmakers examined what role these provisions should play in individual and business tax reform. Video of the hearing, statements from Senators, and witness testimony are still available online. Senate to
Consider Postal Reform LegislationSenate Leadership has reached an agreement that should allow Senators this week to consider, and likely vote to approve, a revised version of postal reform legislation, the 21st Century Postal Service Act (S. 1789). Although the legislation would make a number of significant changes to the United States Postal Service, dealing with things like overnight delivery for first class mail and post office closures, final legislation is not expected to mandate postage rate increases or change existing nonprofit rate discounts.
IRS
Releases EO Select Check Tool, "Essential Tips" for Charitable Contributions
The IRS recently launched Exempt Organizations Select Check, a new online search tool that allows users to determine if a nonprofit organization is eligible to receive charitable contributions. The IRS states that users may rely on this list in determining the tax-deductibility of contributions just as they did when Publication 78 was a separate publication.
Also, in a separate news release, the IRS offers "eight essential tips" on tax deductions for charitable contributions. The list covers, among other things, issues of proper documentation and fair market value. IRS
Director Discusses New IRS Study on Governance During a recent speech, Lois Lerner, exempt organizations director in the IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division, shared preliminary findings from a new IRS study on nonprofit governance. The study found that charities are more likely to follow IRS tax rules if they have a written mission statement; compare their organization to others in making decisions about compensation; have procedures to ensure that contributions and other revenues are used in accordance with the organization's charitable mission; and require all trustees to review the organization's Form 990. Charities were less likely to meet IRS standards when control of their organization was in the hands of one person or a small number of trustees, the study found. The study analyzed information provided by more than 1,300 charities that the IRS examined for reasons unrelated to their governance practices.