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 unsure how to write the response or who to send it to. This article guides planned giving personnel on crafting a response and submitting it to the Certification & Accreditation Committee (C&A Committee) which, in turn, will provide them with the best chance of being awarded the desired Level A Accreditation.
PURPOSE FOR RESPONDING
The purpose of the response is to allow an organization to share its side of the story with the C&A Committee. The trust review, prepared by GCAS, is a snapshot in time that compares the actions of the PGTS program to NAD Working Policies and PGTS Standards. The response to the trust review allows the organization to provide context for instances when NAD Working Policy (WP) and or PGTS Standards were not followed. These are called deficiencies or findings on the trust review. More importantly, the response gives the organization a chance to show the findings have been corrected and procedures are in place, ensuring they will not occur again. By fixing the problems and providing proof of this to the C&A Committee, an organization shows it can correct its mistakes (because, after all, mistakes will happen) and deserves a Level A accreditation.
CORRECTING FINDINGS
The first step in responding to the C&A Committee is to carefully review the Report to Governance (formerly the Review of Trust Operation and Summary of Trust Operations) and then correct the findings. Often the deficiencies are easy to fix in that there is a clear understanding of what must be done. In these cases, correct the findings and be sure to have documentation verifying it has been done.
There are times when deficiencies are more complicated, and the path forward is uncertain. An uncertainty often occurs when the situation is atypical, such as a special circumstance with a testator or laws unique to your jurisdiction. When there are special circumstances, you are best served by reaching out to your organization’s professional advisors for advice, such as your attorney or certified public accountant. Be sure to get documented instructions from these advisors and show that you have followed their advice.
On rare occasions, a finding can not be corrected. If you conclude a finding can not be corrected after consulting with your legal counsel, reach out to the GC/NAD PGTS Department for further help and guidance. Often a resolution can be worked out that still allows the organization to maintain its Level A Accreditation. This plan will always include handling similar situations in the future, ensuring the same finding will not continue to appear on future trust reviews.
ORGANIZING THE RESPONSE
A well-organized response to the C&A Committee will help make the case that an organization has earned a Level A Accreditation. Typically the PGTS Director creates and submits the response, as they have the most knowledge of why the deficiency occurred and how it was corrected. Ideally, the response will be submitted as one document (as opposed to several documents consisting of a written response with several attachments).
The response should be organized in the same order as the Report to Governance. Older trust reviews, those conducted for years ending 2020 or before, utilized two reports: the Review of Trust Operations and Summary of Trust Operations. When responding to these older reports, it is best to organize the response in the same order as the Review of Trust Operations.
When dealing with the specific findings, it is best to restate the finding, so anyone reading the document will know what the response is addressing. Then, if the PGTS director feels it is necessary, give context as to why the finding occurred. Next, state how the finding was corrected and provide documentation verifying this.
There are times when a deficiency was noted because adequate documentation was not presented at the time of the trust review. If the documentation had been reviewed, the finding would not have made it to the final report. In these cases, it is not enough to only state that the finding is not correct. The response must still provide documentation showing there is no violation of working policy or standards.
It is best to reference where the documentation can be found in the single document for all provided documentation. For example, if a death certificate is provided to correct a deficiency, one can reference the death certificate by stating “see exhibit A” and labeling the document accordingly.
Finally, it is recommended that a response include an explanation of the processes to prevent this finding from reoccurring. For example, a step has been added to a checklist, or a tickler has been created.
A final note on correcting findings and perhaps the most important step is providing documentation that the finding has been corrected. It is not enough that the organization acknowledges the finding was in violation of WP and Standards and promises to not do it again. Although this is appreciated, the C&A Committee is more interested in seeing documentation showing the error was corrected and the organization has taken steps to not repeat the violation. If it has not been corrected or documentation has not been submitted to verify this, the C&A Committee will most likely not issue the organization a Level A Accreditation.
POSTING THE RESPONSE
Responses are to be submitted through the PGTS Portal. Emailed responses will no longer be considered an official response. By uploading the response to the portal, all stakeholders will have access to the response: the organization itself, GCAS auditors, the GC/NAD PGTS Department, and members of the C&A Committee. Having one location for the response will provide greater accountability for all parties involved and allow everyone to easily see previous trust review reports and responses.
To post the response, the PGTS Director should follow these steps.
- Access the PGTS Portal by clicking this link. PGTS Portal
- If the PGTS Director has previously created a PGTS Portal Profile, log in using an email address and password.
- If the PGTS Director has never created a PGTS Portal Profile, click on Register and follow the prompts.
- Access ‘Manage Accreditation’ by clicking the link in the left-hand menu.
- Click the organization’s name.
- Click on ‘Upload Response documents’.
- Under File Type: select ‘Response to the C and A Committee’.
- Upload your file by clicking ‘Choose File’ then choosing the appropriate file from your computer.
- Add any comment you wish to accompany the document.
- Click ‘Submit’.
If there are any problems uploading a response, please contact the GC/NAD PGTS Department at 301-680-5002 or [email protected].
C&A COMMITTEE RESPONSE
After the C&A Committee reviews the organization’s response, which is generally done twice annually in August and January, their decision will be posted in the portal, and a formal letter will be mailed to the organization. If the committee feels more work is needed to correct findings on the trust review, then the GC/NAD PGTS Department will also contact the organization with more details. If another response is required, this will also be submitted through the PGTS portal.
CONCLUSION
Hopefully, this explanation has helped those needing direction to have an insight toward maintaining a Level A PGTS Accreditation for their organizations. If you have questions, the GC/NAD PGTS Department is ready to help, so don’t hesitate to call 301-680-5002 or email [email protected].