I know the frequency of these posts have been going down – a result of increased work load but also not much new to talk about.
With a few minutes of quiet this morning, I did a quick google news check on the estate tax and came across a nicely written New York Times piece summarizing the estate and income tax messes as of Nov. 2010. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/your-money/taxes/13wealth.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&src=me
Towards the end of the article, it addresses the whole talk of delaying charitable gifts in 2010 in anticipation of better deductions (due to potentially increased rates in 2011). I doubt this is going have much of an impact – there is no guarantee yet that the income tax rates are going up. And, even if they do, the “savings” from waiting is probably offset by the year delay in receiving the tax benefits.
One last tidbit: look at the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s job listings for planned giving positions: http://philanthropy.com/jobCategory/Planned-giving/215/). Notice anything?
Wishing everyone a productive end of year!
Jonathan,
I assume that what you expect us to notice in the Chronicle is that the job titles for “planned giving” are primarily fundraising generalists. I doubt, though, that this actually indicates that planned giving is being effectively integrated into development programs, if that is what you’re getting at. I hear a lot of talk about that, but see little of it in practice.