2025: A Year to Proclaim, Prepare, and Partner
As we step into the New Year 2025, I want to thank each of you for your tireless efforts and commitment to the Planned Giving and Trust Services (PGTS) ministry. Your dedication continues to mak…
Where do we go from here?
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the ra…
Opened Hand or Clinched Fist?
Planned Giving & Trust Service (PGTS) organizations continually discuss the requirements for Seventh-day Adventist organizations to be involved in preparing estate planning documents for their don…
Gifts from Friends of the Church
From The Director’s Desk In this Issue I bring to your attention a question many of us have or will wrestle with, “Should we accept gifts from non-SDA’s?” GIFTS FROM FRIENDS OF THE CHURCH More s…
2023 PGTS Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Announced
Silver Spring, Maryland – July 3, 2023 – The General Conference (GC) and North American Division (NAD) of Seventh-day Adventists Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) department has announced it…
Fiduciary Best Practices
What is a Fiduciary? There are many types of fiduciaries, and this article addresses best practices for being a fiduciary. It will focus on three types of estate planning fiduciaries: Attorney-i…
Updated PGTS Code of Ethics
It is vitally important we serve our donors and our organizations while conducting ourselves in the best possible way, living up to the highest ethical standards. It is important because our donors mu…
PGTS Scriptural Foundation to Fundraising
This article is a summary report on the presentation by Professor Russell James III, Ph.D., J.D., CFP, The Science and Scripture of Fundraising, which discusses the scriptural foundation of planned gi…
Developing a Business Case for Support
Click Here for a Business Case for Support Example Have you ever found yourself passionately promoting your Planned Giving & Trust Services program, and asking for more support from your own organ…
PGTS CPE: How to complete and report CPE and maintain an Active PGTS Certification
PGTS Certification After putting in all the time to earn the North American Division Planned Giving & Trust Services Certification, most people want to maintain an Active status. Some people had t…
Mission Impact Fund 2024 Funding Cycle
2024 Funds Available The Mission Impact Fund (MIF) distributed $1.6 million worldwide for projects occurring in 2023 that reach out to local communities and fulfill the strategic plan of “I Will…
THE STEWARDSHIP / PLANNED GIVING & TRUST SERVICES CONTINUUM
Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thi…
Connecting With Pastors & Church Boards
Pastors as Gatekeepers Pastors, as we all know, are the gatekeepers to their congregations. A common challenge for local conference Planned Giving & Trust Services directors is connecting with pas…
Adventist Donor Gift Fund
Rejoice! There is excellent news to report! All the committees have approved the ADVENTIST DONOR GIFT FUND (ADGF), the application to BNY Mellon has been submitted, and the fees have been paid. Lord w…
Attorney Errors and Omissions Liability Insurance Minimum $1,000,000 Annual Confirmation
NAD Working Policy North American Division Working Policy 2020 – 2021 S 60 32 Miscellaneous Professional Liability — Page 660 3. All attorneys who are hired or retained by denominational entities shal…
NEW REPORT TO GOVERNANCE
General Conference Auditing Services (GCAS) is rolling out a new Report to Governance (RTG) for Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) Operations. This new report replaces the current two reports:…
ORGANIZATIONAL RESPONSE TO THE TRUST REVIEW
An organizational response to a trust review is essential for maintaining Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) accreditation in the North American Division (NAD). However, many feel lost and uns…
PGTS Manual Use and Revision
Over the last three years, committees have been revising the NAD Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) Working Policy (WP) and the NAD PGTS Standards. This work was completed in April 2021, when…
Revised Standards Implementation Process
When the North American Division (NAD) Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) Standing Committee voted on April 28, 2021, to approve a revised set of 50 PGTS Standards for Accreditation, they also…
Planned Giving & Trust Services Standards Revision Process
New Standards voted The North American Division (NAD) Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) Standing Committee voted on April 28, 2021, to approve a revised set of 50 PGTS Standards for Accredita…
Overview of the Revised NAD PGTS Standards
New Standards voted The North American Division (NAD) Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) Standing Committee voted on April 28, 2021, to approve a revised set of 50 PGTS Standards for Accredita…
Confidentiality and Cooperation
In a non-scientific survey of eight types of Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) programs I found there is a variety of levels of confidentiality and cooperation that exists between PGTS and ot…
Defining What We Do
As we welcome the new year, it is a good time for gift planners working for the Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) in the North American Division (NAD) Planned Giving & Trust Services (PGTS) to ev…
2020, Special; Responding to Trust Review Risk Factors
Non-standard Trust Review Findings Many organizations have gone through the trust review process and found items listed on the Review of Trust Operations report that are not direct violations of any N…
2020, Fourth Quarter; Virtual Visits – Is this the future of planned giving?
Need for Virtual Visits As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and we consider virtual donor visits, let me be clear that in-person visits will never completely be replaced by virtual visits. For this art…
2020, Third Quarter; Back Office Front Focus
Praise for Work Well Done Even though Employee Appreciation Day (next one is March 5, 2021) has passed for 2020 we can certainly express appreciation for the dedicated administrative assistants who ma…
2020, Second Quarter; Records Retention
NAD Working Policy BA 70 10 6 NAD WP BA 70 10 6. Planned Giving & Trust Services Programs—Trusts, wills, charitable gift annuities, and other estate planning documents shall be retained permanentl…
2020, Special; COVID-19
Building PGTS Relationships During Social Distancing All challenges come with new opportunities and every dark cloud has a majestic top side where the sun shines bright. So, in these challenging times…
2020, First Quarter; Investments of Trust, POA, and Estate Assets
As long as Seventh-day Adventist organizations serve as a fiduciary for church members the question of how the member’s assets should be invested will be continually asked? The simple answer to this q…
2019, 4th Quarter; Transfer of Property by Operation of Law and by Contract
The laws in every state are different and the following information may not apply, or may be applied differently, in some states. This article is intended to provide general information only; please c…
Generational Giving: Stewarding the Next Generations (Part 1)
2019, 3rd Quarter Generational giving is how we give, or pass on, our faith and our values from G1 ourselves, to G2 our children, G3 our grandchildren and to G4 our great-grandchildren. Giving these g…
2019, 2nd Quarter; Giving Greater Value
Every Seventh-day Adventist Christian parent seeks to pass on their faith in God to their children. Forbes Magazine supports this parental focus with facts from a survey. “When asked ‘What’s most impo…
2019, 1st Quarter; Relationship Building with Planned Giving Donors
In September and October of 2018, I spent time riding on a bus with colleagues from the General Conference office building. During this time of travel, I was able to get to know many people who I was…
2018, 4th Quarter; Updated Certification & CPE Policies
Accreditation is required for all NAD Planned Giving & Trust Service (PGTS) organizations who are actively promoting planned giving, educating members in planned giving techniques, and involved in…
2018, 3rd Quarter; Talk with Your Leadership
Talk with Your Leadership “(Many) feel that they are stepping upon forbidden ground when they introduce the subject of property to the aged or to invalids in order to learn what disposition they desig…
Insights and ideas to help your Planned Giving & Trust Services program from the GC/NAD PGTS Director.
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