FundSvcs Community

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!

Thank you, Michael, for sharing your viewpoint and experience. I do want to clarify that we do not have this language in our bequest gift agreements, nor do we mention a dollar amount. This debt language is only in agreements with pledges. Thanks again!

I would remove it as well.  I'd be turned off by that. A lot of our planned gifts are residue percentages and there is no dollar amount.  The donor will give us a current value for an estimate, but we cannot hold them to that as circumstances can change.  Other times donors will put a specific amount in their wills and that is binding and would make the debt language unnecessary.  

Good afternoon - we currently have language in our gift agreements that indicates that if donors die prior to the fulfillment of their pledge, it becomes a debt against their estate: "In order to ensure that the full amount of the Donors' pledge is available to carry out the Donors' intentions, if for any reason this pledge has not been satisfied before the death of the survivor of the Donors, the balance shall be a debt of the survivor's estate and payable by the survivor's estate to the Foundation." The idea is that this both makes the pledge unconditional and that it guarantees that the donors' wishes will be protected. It is not unusual for donors to be turned off by this language and some insist that we remove it. We are trying to decide if we're being too hard-nosed about this and I'm coming to you with a few questions: 1) do others have required language like this in gift agreements; 2) if so, do you have a more "donor-friendly" way to state it; 3) is this language necessary to have in the agreement to make it unconditional; and 4) if you include such language and remove it, do you then consider it conditional and book the payments/gifts as they come in rather than booking the full amount of the pledge? What we're really trying to determine is if the gift agreement does not mention what might happen if the donor dies, does that mean that it is conditional, or would it only be conditional if it stated that it would not be a debt against their estate? Thank you!