The American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) relies on the support of charities like yours to provide YOU essential help in building transparent, trustworthy gift annuity programs. Our many years of experience and expertise build a framework of best practices that our member organizations follow, and your donors can trust.

The ACGA is the only organization in the gift planning community that suggests maximum charitable gift annuity rates, monitors state regulations as they pertain to charitable gift annuities, and provides education on charitable gift annuities as well as broader gift planning. Through these activities and more we support and advance responsible philanthropy that benefits both donors and charities.

The ACGA regularly conducts essential studies to help you plan and analyze your charity’s planned giving program: the members-only Gift Annuity Mortality Study and the Survey of Charitable Gift Annuities help you evaluate and establish policies for your gift annuity program. The reports also provide supporting evidence for charities that are considering starting a new gift planning program. We also serve as a resource to answer your questions about git annuities–many of our volunteers have been in the 

Why we need your help: Without the ACGA, gift annuity rates would be set individually by each charity without guidance. With rates recommended by the ACGA, donors can trust that a knowledgeable third party with ethical guidelines and standards built over many years of experience has carefully set rates to ensure the health of annuity programs. Rates are set after expert review and as part of a continuous monitoring program that takes into account market and economic conditions in real-time. 

The ACGA provides your organization with the confidence you need to build your gift annuity program using our structure and time-tested best practices, while mitigating financial risk. The ACGA’s suggested rates are truly “for the greater good” of all charities, since the goal is to support all philanthropy and encourage giving responsibly in the best way for both donors and nonprofits.

Research, educational, and service activities of the ACGA have historically been underwritten by partnerships and membership dues of participating organizations. We believe the value of our services far exceeds our annual membership costs. While most charities in the United States depend on our services, little or no funding is available for expansion of the ACGA’s programs.

We need your help to continue our work for YOU! Your membership or partnership support (CLICK HERE to learn more about partnering with the ACGA) is vital to advancing the ACGA’s mission of fostering the success of charitable gift annuity programs at charities nationwide and enabling our volunteer board of directors to continue the essential work we have been doing since 1927:

• Suggesting industry-standard maximum charitable gift annuity rates. The suggested maximum gift annuity rates developed and monitored by the ACGA are the industry standard and are followed by 97% of charitable organizations nationwide. Using rates developed by the ACGA, vendors that develop software for charitable giving make these maximum suggested rates available to charities for convenient gift calculation. The ACGA regularly reviews the financial and actuarial assumptions behind its suggested maximum gift annuity rates to ensure they are fiscally responsible, providing your finance team with additional peace of mind that our suggested maximum rates are founded on deep expertise and knowledge.
• Monitoring state gift annuity regulation, legislation and appropriate consumer protection. The ACGA monitors and responds to state gift annuity regulatory issues that arise from time to time. This includes working with state regulatory agencies directly to advocate for you, and to ensure that charities and donors aren’t confused or disrupted by changes to state rules.  Your ACGA membership or partnership underscores your commitment to ethics, accountability and appropriate consumer protection for your donors, adding credibility to your donor relationship and your organization’s gift annuity program.
• Offering vital professional development and networking opportunities. The ACGA brings together experts in the field of charitable giving at our renowned biennial planned giving conference. Professionals from across the country make presentations concerning program management, donor relations, gift planning technical issues, prospect research, and more. Attendees connect and collaborate with colleagues and allied professionals as they gain new insights about planned giving techniques, marketing and administration. (ACGA members enjoy a discount on the conference registration!)

Membership Plans

Our membership structure provides options for both Nonprofit and For-Profit members. These options allow organizations of various sizes to set up individual associate member accounts instead of a one-size-fits-all arrangement. This structure makes membership more relevant to various employees within your organization and allow wider access to the resources that ACGA offers to charities and our for-profit colleagues.

Membership in the ACGA also adds associate members to organizational memberships that can be scaled to meet the needs of each organization, whether a one-person shop or a national, multi-location organization. Your organization will receive a full year of membership from the day you join/renew.

• Each associate member has individual-level access to ACGA’s website – no shared login and password!
  • Access members-only website materials (rates papers, reports, case studies, video/webinar archives and more)
  • Eligible for webinar discounts
  • E-newsletter subscription and early rate notification emails
  • Eligible for conference discount of $200 off a full conference registration
• Easier online membership management for organizations
  • Choose your own username and benefit from improved website security
  • Key contact can add associate members with individual logins 
• Change your key contact and associate members as needed

Member Benefits

ACGA members enjoy discounts, access to exclusive resources, and are listed in the membership directory on the ACGA’s website. The ACGA is committed to creating value in what you do for your donors and prospects, providing confidence to your organization’s leadership that your program is fiscally sound and operating in a manner consistent with the industry standards.

FAQs

How do I join?

Click here to submit your application.

Why are there different plans for membership?

We want organizations to be able to choose a plan that suits their needs. Your fundraisers who work on charitable gift annuities can now benefit from the education on our website by having their own login, and your business officers who work on the finance side of charitable gift annuities can access all of the technical information related to rates, assumptions, history and a variety of other important topics.  

What if we decide we need more or fewer associate members?

You can upgrade your membership throughout the year to add additional associate members. When you upgrade, you’ll be charged the difference between your original plan and the new plan. The new associate members will keep the same expiration date. If you need fewer associate members at renewal time, you'll want to remove those individuals 45 days prior to your renewal date.  Memberships are not refundable.

What if my organization’s membership has 3 members and I want to send 5 to the conference?

Organizations that hold a membership in the ACGA will have the option to add additional associate members throughout the year. Only associate members receive the $200 discount on their registration so adding additional associates may be a great benefit for your organization.

What if the key contact or associate members leave the organization?

Memberships in the ACGA belong to the organization. If someone leaves the organization, they should be removed from the organization’s account and their slot should be assigned to another employee at the organization. The employee that left will now have their account freed up to be added to their new organization's membership.  Memberships are not refundable.

Is the membership year still July 1st– June 30th?

The ACGA has moved to a rolling dues structure, meaning organizations get one-year (365 days) of membership from the time they join!

What if I have more questions?

The ACGA is ready to answer your questions. You can telephone us at (770) 874-3355 or email us at [email protected].