This is an exciting time for the American Council on Gift Annuities.  The quadrennial survey, which provides the ACGA with so much useful information about the charitable gift annuity landscape, recently was sent out to organizations that issue CGAs.  For the first time, the survey was sent not only to ACGA members, but also to issuers of charitable gift annuities who are not ACGA members. Once the various survey answers have been collated and analyzed by Professor Russell James, the results will be released and made available sometime in 2026.   

As a small sample of what was learned from the last quadrennial survey in 2021:   

• We learned the residuum for annuities terminated in the previous five years.  This is invaluable information in helping ACGA set rates so that the residuum will be at least the target 50% residuum ACGA rates are intended to produce.
• We learned the impact of gift annuities on annual and estate giving.
• We learned a lot about the profile of gift annuitants, such as gender and age.  
• We learned the average age of immediate and deferred payment gift annuitants.

Because this information is so valuable to ACGA, we are so thankful to all of you who took the time and effort to complete and return your survey. And we look forward to learning about any changes in the gift annuity universe since the last quadrennial survey. Watch for results in 2026!