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Good morning!

While I'm confident I know the correct answer to this question, I could really use some help finding supporting documentation about it. I joined a new organization a few months ago, and have come across a practice I find surprising.

I am being asked by our planned giving staff to add "new" planned gifts to constituent records in order to capture the increased value of a bequest or a trust. I have always understood that the value of a gift is its calculated worth at the time it was given.  If the donor hasn't done something new - like added new funding to an existing vehicle, then just the fact that it has increased in value is something that I would expect to record within the existing gift (a present value, but the gift amount remains unchanged).

If a donor gave the organization a fully-paid life insurance policy with the organization named as the beneficiary in 2015, and because the market has done well that policy is now set to pay $70,000 instead of the original $50,000, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $20,000 in the current campaign?

If a donor has named us as a beneficiary of their irrevocable trust and the gift was booked in 2010 with a value of $100,000, and we have recently learned that our share of the trust is now worth $160,000 due to the investments doing well, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $60,000?

Now, my understanding is that if the value of these vehicles has increased because the donor invested new funding into them, that would probably be a different scenario.

I'd love confirmation (or if I'm mistaken, please educate me!) on my understanding of this. And most importantly, I'd truly appreciate pointing me toward documentation about the proper handling of this. I searched my copy of the CASE Reporting Standards and didn't find anything, and tried a search of the Knowledgebase here but didn't turn up anything helpful yet.

Thanks! Ingrid

Good morning!

While I'm confident I know the correct answer to this question, I could really use some help finding supporting documentation about it. I joined a new organization a few months ago, and have come across a practice I find surprising.

I am being asked by our planned giving staff to add "new" planned gifts to constituent records in order to capture the increased value of a bequest or a trust. I have always understood that the value of a gift is its calculated worth at the time it was given.  If the donor hasn't done something new - like added new funding to an existing vehicle, then just the fact that it has increased in value is something that I would expect to record within the existing gift (a present value, but the gift amount remains unchanged).

If a donor gave the organization a fully-paid life insurance policy with the organization named as the beneficiary in 2015, and because the market has done well that policy is now set to pay $70,000 instead of the original $50,000, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $20,000 in the current campaign?

If a donor has named us as a beneficiary of their irrevocable trust and the gift was booked in 2010 with a value of $100,000, and we have recently learned that our share of the trust is now worth $160,000 due to the investments doing well, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $60,000?

Now, my understanding is that if the value of these vehicles has increased because the donor invested new funding into them, that would probably be a different scenario.

I'd love confirmation (or if I'm mistaken, please educate me!) on my understanding of this. And most importantly, I'd truly appreciate pointing me toward documentation about the proper handling of this. I searched my copy of the CASE Reporting Standards and didn't find anything, and tried a search of the Knowledgebase here but didn't turn up anything helpful yet.

Thanks! Ingrid

Hi John, it's been a while! I'm glad to know you agree with what I felt SURE I know. I did search the CASE reporting standards and didn't find anything addressing this situation... I hate to ask it, but can you point me toward the right section when you have a chance because I can't find it and I need documentation/backup.

Good morning!

While I'm confident I know the correct answer to this question, I could really use some help finding supporting documentation about it. I joined a new organization a few months ago, and have come across a practice I find surprising.

I am being asked by our planned giving staff to add "new" planned gifts to constituent records in order to capture the increased value of a bequest or a trust. I have always understood that the value of a gift is its calculated worth at the time it was given.  If the donor hasn't done something new - like added new funding to an existing vehicle, then just the fact that it has increased in value is something that I would expect to record within the existing gift (a present value, but the gift amount remains unchanged).

If a donor gave the organization a fully-paid life insurance policy with the organization named as the beneficiary in 2015, and because the market has done well that policy is now set to pay $70,000 instead of the original $50,000, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $20,000 in the current campaign?

If a donor has named us as a beneficiary of their irrevocable trust and the gift was booked in 2010 with a value of $100,000, and we have recently learned that our share of the trust is now worth $160,000 due to the investments doing well, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $60,000?

Now, my understanding is that if the value of these vehicles has increased because the donor invested new funding into them, that would probably be a different scenario.

I'd love confirmation (or if I'm mistaken, please educate me!) on my understanding of this. And most importantly, I'd truly appreciate pointing me toward documentation about the proper handling of this. I searched my copy of the CASE Reporting Standards and didn't find anything, and tried a search of the Knowledgebase here but didn't turn up anything helpful yet.

Thanks! Ingrid

Hi John, it's been a while! I'm glad to know you agree with what I felt SURE I know. I did search the CASE reporting standards and didn't find anything addressing this situation... I hate to ask it, but can you point me toward the right section when you have a chance because I can't find it and I need documentation/backup.

Good morning!

While I'm confident I know the correct answer to this question, I could really use some help finding supporting documentation about it. I joined a new organization a few months ago, and have come across a practice I find surprising.

I am being asked by our planned giving staff to add "new" planned gifts to constituent records in order to capture the increased value of a bequest or a trust. I have always understood that the value of a gift is its calculated worth at the time it was given.  If the donor hasn't done something new - like added new funding to an existing vehicle, then just the fact that it has increased in value is something that I would expect to record within the existing gift (a present value, but the gift amount remains unchanged).

If a donor gave the organization a fully-paid life insurance policy with the organization named as the beneficiary in 2015, and because the market has done well that policy is now set to pay $70,000 instead of the original $50,000, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $20,000 in the current campaign?

If a donor has named us as a beneficiary of their irrevocable trust and the gift was booked in 2010 with a value of $100,000, and we have recently learned that our share of the trust is now worth $160,000 due to the investments doing well, can the organization book a "new" planned gift for $60,000?

Now, my understanding is that if the value of these vehicles has increased because the donor invested new funding into them, that would probably be a different scenario.

I'd love confirmation (or if I'm mistaken, please educate me!) on my understanding of this. And most importantly, I'd truly appreciate pointing me toward documentation about the proper handling of this. I searched my copy of the CASE Reporting Standards and didn't find anything, and tried a search of the Knowledgebase here but didn't turn up anything helpful yet.

Thanks! Ingrid