2019 Course Descriptions

{2019 Speaker Biographies}

7:30 – 8:30am: Registration, Breakfast, and Sponsor Exhibits
8:30 – 8:45am: Welcome
8:45 – 9:45am: Keynote Address

Become the Planned Giving All-Star: Get off the Bench and into the Game

Lynda L. Sands, JD, MBA
Consultant, Speaker, Author, Trainer

Lynda Sands will address how to create a dynamic, interesting, and exciting planned giving program—one that makes you want to go to work every day and makes your prospects sit up and take notice. Whether you are new to planned giving, building up an existing program, or a seasoned professional, Lynda draws from decades of experience working with individuals and organizations of all sizes to help you maximize your planned giving program.

9:45 – 10:00am: Break and Sponsor Exhibits
10:00 – 11:00am: Breakout Session I

Breakout Session I: Track One

Planned Giving 101: Introduction to Gift Planning

Rebecca Bibleheimer, JD, LLM
Senior Philanthropic Advisor,
Oregon Community Foundation

Designed for attendees who are new to planned giving or in need of a refresher of the basics, this seminar will provide a broad overview of types of planned gifts. We will cover bequests, beneficiary designations, charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities, and IRA gifts with an explanation of what each of these tools are and how they can benefit your donors. We will also take a moment to look at the big picture of planned giving, what it is and how it fits into development.

Breakout Session I: Track Two

Art of the Blended Gift

Steve Slotemaker
Relationship Manager,
TIAA Kaspick

Blended gifts typically consist of a large outright gift combined with a bequest or a life income gift and utilize the combined skill sets of both major and planned gift officers. In this session, we explore some basic types of blended gifts and discuss the role they play today in charities’ fundraising efforts, particularly capital campaigns. We will also discuss some of the valuation and recognition issues that come up in the negotiation of blended gifts and discuss the variety of ways institutions have resolved them.

Breakout Session I: Track Three

Financial Advisor Engagement

Eden Rose Brown, JD
Founding Attorney,
Law Office of Eden Rose Brown

Best practices, tips, and suggestions on how organizations can engage and inspire financial advisors, accountants and estate attorneys to ethically promote and encourage philanthropy among their clients; and to collaborate as a team to fulfill the client donor’s charitable goals and objectives.

11:00 – 11:20am: Break and Sponsor Exhibits
11:20am – 12:20pm: Breakout Session II

Breakout Session II: Track One

Planned Giving 102: Legacy Giving and How to Talk to Your Donors About It

Rebecca Bibleheimer, JD, LLM
Senior Philanthropic Advisor,
Oregon Community Foundation

Now that we know what the types of planned gift are, let’s look closer at how they intersect with your donor’s estate planning and how to identify opportunities to discuss these vehicles with your donors. We will discuss when these tools may be appropriate for your donors and what the next steps are when you identify a prospective planned gift. Part of this discussion will also focus on marketing of planned gifts as well as a discussion on legacy giving in general and the motivations involved and how to work with your donors to help ensure that their intent and wishes are fulfilled by their planning.

Breakout Session II: Track Two

Who are Your Best Planned Giving Prospects?

Amy Carrier, PhD
Senior Director, Advancement Information Management,
Oregon State University Foundation

Jenna Proctor
Research Analyst,
Oregon State University Foundation

In this session, we will discuss how to identify your best planned giving prospects using your existing database and resources. We will cover the essential profile of a planned giving prospect and the differences and similarities between bequest and life income gift prospects. Your database is one of your greatest resources and we will discuss best practices on planned giving data collection and how fundraisers and other team members can help your organization improve its donor database and institutional knowledge.

Breakout Session II: Track Three

Under the Hood of the CRT

Lynda L. Sands, JD, MBA
Consultant, Speaker, Author, Trainer

If you have wanted to jump into using Charitable Remainder Trusts for your clients or donors, but you have not really figured out the best and quickest way to get started, this session is an effective way to get going with CRTs in no time. We will discuss two case studies with a total of five different outcomes.

12:20 – 1:40pm: Lunch and Distinguished Service Award (DSA) presentation
1:40 – 2:40pm: Breakout Session III

Breakout Session III: Track One

Yes You Can! (Ask for a Bequest)

Lori C. Sweeney
Regional Director,
Providence Foundations of Oregon

Longtime major gift fundraiser Lori Sweeney has asked for bequests regularly for more than a decade (almost two!). She’s not a planned giving expert or an attorney or a financial guru. But Lori believes that asking for a bequest helps both the donor realize the potential to be a major giver and the organization to develop a pipeline of important incoming gifts. Moreover, bequest conversations spur all sorts of other things—like vaulting your organization to the top of a donor’s philanthropic priorities, a lifetime (literally!) of stewardship and a simple way to “qualify” your donor pool. Bequests make everyone major donors, highly affiliated to your organization for all the right reasons. Learn the backdrop for asking for bequests (more than 90 percent of planned gifts are bequests!) and the nuts and bolts of how to make a bequest ask (there will be a role play!).

Breakout Session III: Track Two

Show, Don’t Tell: A Workshop to Help Tell Better Donor Stories

Michael Davis, MBA, CTFA
Philanthropic Advisor,
US Bank Charitable Services Group

Using tools and tricks from MFA Creative Writing Workshops, this session will provide an opportunity to learn how to tell—and just as importantly—how to edit and improve the stories we share with donors. Planned giving concepts are often complex and can be challenging to explain, but by effectively leveraging the art and science of storytelling, we can move our best prospects closer to gift closure. There will also be an opportunity for volunteers to tell their own stories and apply techniques from the session immediately!

Breakout Session III: Track Three

Gift Acceptance Policies Panel: What Do You Do with…?

Panel Presenters:

Sheryl Acheson
Regional Representative,
Bonhams, Portland

Lon Dufek, CPA, CFP®
Senior Manager, Office of Gift Planning,
Providence Foundations of Oregon

Jennifer Milburn
Senior Director of Development, Gift Planning,
Oregon State University Foundation

Moderated by:

Stephanie S. Zaino, JD
Director of Development, Gift Planning,
Oregon State University Foundation

This panel will focus on how to prepare you and your organization to accept unusual, and often highly valuable gifts. These gifts can take many forms: real estate, business interests, oil and gas rights, intellectual property, and tangible personal property, among others. Learn from the experts about the importance of due diligence and gift acceptance policies, and what groundwork you should do before you talk with donors about these gifts. This panel of experienced professionals, from both the non-profit fundraising and the for-profit valuation worlds, will also share where to find resources available to you, and conclude with cautionary tales and success stories.

2:40 – 3:00pm: Dessert and Sponsor Exhibits
3:00 – 4:00pm: Breakout Session IV

Breakout Session IV: Track One

The 7 Biggest Bequest Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Aviva Shiff Boedecker, JD
Senior Consultant,
Sharpe Group

It’s all too easy to fall into traps that can limit your planned gift program’s success. This session will help you improve planned giving productivity by identifying seven of the most common errors and showing how to avoid or correct them.

Breakout Session IV: Track Two

It’s Elementary, My Dear Watson: Protecting Deductions after the TCJA

Jackson Lewis, JD
Senior Fiduciary Advisory Specialist,
Wells Fargo

Richard B. Solomon, CPA
Certified Public Accountant

A review of changes in tax law wrought by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and practical tips for protecting charitable deductions.

Breakout Session IV: Track Three

Charitable Planning with Closely-Held Business Interests

Jeffrey C. Thede, JD
Partner,
Thede Culpepper Moore Munro & Silliman LLP

An increasing share of U.S. wealth in held in family and other nonpublic business entities. Jeff will discuss some of the technical and practical issues surrounding gifts of interests in these entities (including C corporations, S corporations, LLCs, and partnerships), as well as gifts by the business entity.

 4:00pm: Reception and Raffle