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...
Timely updates on legislative and tax issues - for updates www.pppnet.org
National Conference on Philanthropic Planning Announces Conference Site
PPP is pleased to announce that the 2010 National Conference on Philanthropic Planning will be held at the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Florida, October 13-15. In addition to its very comfortable meeting space and beautiful guest rooms, full-service spa and salon, fitness center, three pools, and several dining options, the Buena Vista Palace is located inside the Walt Disney World resort, in close proximity to Downtown Disney. To celebrate our family-friendly venue, the first 200 people to register for the National Conference on Philanthropic Planning will receive free passes to DisneyQuest, with five floors of cutting-edge technology, virtual reality and 3D encounters. All conference attendees will have access to discounted admission and free transportation to the Disney parks.
Conference attendees may reserve rooms for a nightly rate of $169 + tax. This rate includes the resort fee that will be charged separately if your register outside our conference system. The rate is extended for three days before and after the conference. Come early or stay late to enjoy all that Orlando has to offer. But plan to be on site at the Buena Vista Palace during the conference for a unique opportunity to learn from the experts who lead every discipline in the field of philanthropic planning.
Online registration for the National Conference on Philanthropic Planning will open on or before June 30, 2010. Click the National Conference link at www.pppnet.org to learn more about the conference and access the online registration system.If you have questions...
About the conference program, contact Barbara Yeager at byeager@pppnet.org.
About online registration, contact Jerry Kauth at jerryk@cmcglobal.net.IRA Charitable Rollover Extension Stalled
Congress has once again failed to act on a large package of tax "extenders," including the IRA Charitable Rollover. The latest setback came when the Senate approved a substitute amendment to H.R. 4213, which had the effect of removing most tax extenders from the underlying bill. The House then quickly approved H.R. 4213, and President Obama signed the legislation (now titled the Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010) into law. Congress soon heads into the August recess, and next steps for the extenders package remain unclear. PPP will continue to work, however, to restore the IRA Charitable Rollover as soon as possible.
President Signs Financial Reform Legislation into Law
President Obama has signed into law the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This new law includes important language advocated for by PPP and several other nonprofit organizations that will exempt all "activities relating to charitable contributions" from the jurisdiction of the newly-created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Estate Tax Reform Could Move as Part of Tax Cut Extension Legislation
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) have both indicated that they expect legislative language reforming the estate tax to be included as part of broader legislation that extends President Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. A draft of that legislation could be released prior to the Senate's August recess. Chairman Baucus also indicated that he thought it would be unlikely that the estate tax would be reinstated retroactively to the start of 2010, although he indicated lawmakers might permit heirs with modest inherences to elect to benefit from stepped-up basis rules and other expired provisions.
To date lawmakers have still not coalesced around a single proposal to fix the estate tax. The most popular proposal currently in Congress might be one put forth by Senators Jon Kyl (D-AZ) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) that would lower the estate tax rate to 35 percent and raise the exemption level to $5 million for individuals. Many Democrats, however, including President Obama, have said they would prefer to make the 2009 levels permanent.IRS to Examine Compensation Paid to Professional Fundraising Companies
Judith Kindell, senior technical advisor to the IRS director of exempt organizations, said the IRS is going to examine compensation issues surrounding professional fundraising companies that charities hire to solicit funds on their behalf. The newly redesigned Form 990 currently seeks enhanced information on the use of professional fundraising companies, and IRS researchers are beginning to look at this data to discern any trends that may exist. Kindell added that the results of this work may or may not be released publicly. This examination of compensation paid to professional fundraising companies seems to be part of a larger focus of both Congress and the IRS into nonprofit compensation issues. For example, Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) has told Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner that he is concerned the IRS is not adequately policing pay in the nonprofit sector and that IRS regulations concerning compensation should be reviewed to see if they could be made more effective.
IRS Official Warns Colleges and Universities about Business Income
Lois Lerner, IRS director of exempt organizations, told college and university administrators that the IRS remains concerned about the number of institutions that do not report to the IRS earnings from businesses unrelated to their teaching or research. Lerner noted, for example, that a May 2010 report from her office found that about one-third of the 400 institutions examined failed to report their taxable income to the IRS. These institutions often contend they do not pay taxes because their losses offset any profits they may receive from their unrelated businesses, but Lerner pledged to more closely examine how colleges and universities are allocating such gains and losses.