Charitable Trust Administrators

What Charitable Trust Administrators does

Charitable Trust Administrators, Inc. (CTAI) is a privately held, full-service third-party trust administration company founded in 1995 and headquartered in San Clemente, California. The firm provides back-office administration for charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, bequests, wealth replacement trusts, and other split-interest vehicles, including accounting, bookkeeping, tax filings, and cash distributions, plus its GPS (Planned Giving Division) which delivers outsourced planned giving consulting such as donor visits, policy and procedures manuals, Professional Advisory Council support, and stewardship coaching to non-profits, private foundations, attorneys, CPAs, and high-net-worth individuals and families. CTAI's technology consists of proprietary multi-period probability and analytical software for split-interest trust optimization, a specialized trust reporting system with private-labeling capabilities, and integration with third-party donor illustration tools (Crescendo, PG Calc), Excel, and PowerPoint. CTAI generates revenue through professional services engagements billed hourly, daily, or monthly, plus annual retainer agreements for ongoing planned giving support; pricing is not publicly disclosed and varies with scope, with surcharges possible for non-standard investment management systems. The firm sells primarily through direct consultation to non-profit organizations and HNW clients, supplemented by referrals from a professional advisory network of attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, and insurance professionals across multiple California regions. Marketing activity is limited to educational video content, professional association memberships (AICPA, California Society of CPAs, Estate Planning Councils, Planned Giving Roundtables), and speaking engagements; no funding rounds, acquisitions, or geographic expansion beyond California are documented.

Name

Charitable Trust Administrators

Legal name

Charitable Trust Administrators, Inc.

Website

https://ctai-ca.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Charitable Trust Administrators (CTAI) is a Southern California-based third-party trust administrator serving non-profits, private foundations, high-net-worth families, and professional advisors with back-office administration, consulting, and reporting for charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, and planned giving programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Trust Administration and Planned Giving Services

NAICS

Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (525920)

akta.pro primary industry

Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Trust Administration & Fiduciary Accounting Services (FSAAANAF), Fiduciary Agency & Trustee-for-Hire Services (FSAAANAL), Estate Planning, Trust Structuring & Governance (FSAAADAF), Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE)

Keywords

• Trust administration
• Planned giving services
• Charitable remainder trusts
• Gift annuities
• Third-party trustee

Headquarters

HQ city

San Clemente

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Trust Administration Services: Third-party trust administration services for charitable remainder trusts, gift annuities, and other planned giving instruments. Provides full back-office support including accounting, bookkeeping, tax filings, and cash distributions.
2. Planned Giving Consulting: Consulting services including training development staff on planned giving tools, donor visits assistance, policies and procedures manual development, and strategic stewardship coaching. Available upon hourly, daily or monthly retainer arrangements.
3. Annual Retainer Agreements: Annual retainer agreements for ongoing planned giving support. Includes basic services with additional hourly or daily fees for specialized services beyond standard scope.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

CTAI is a full-service, third-party Trust Administration Company that delivers 100% of the back-office support required to secure and administer planned gifts for charities and individual donors. Its offering centers on administering charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, gift annuities, bequests, and private foundation structures—covering accounting, tax filings, cash distributions, and donor proposal illustrations—and is augmented by a planned giving consulting division (GPS) that helps non-profits build planned giving programs from the ground up.

Product overview

Charitable Trust Administrators (CTAI) is a full-service, third-party Trust Administration Company offering a unified platform of planned giving services. The core offering is Trust Administration Services, supported by specialized modules including Gift Annuities, Charitable Trusts, and Bequests. The GPS (Planned Giving Division) provides consulting services including donor visits, policy development, and strategic stewardship coaching. Additional service modules cover Coaching Services and Private Foundations Services. CTAI also offers membership with time-saving tools for trust planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Trust Administration Services Full-service third-party Trust Administration providing 100% of the back-office support needed to secure and administer planned gifts for charities and donors, including accounting, bookkeeping, tax filings, cash distributions, cost basis and market value reporting, NIMCRUT cumulative carryover worksheets, and beneficiary reporting with private labeling.
• Gift Annuities Planned giving instrument and administration service that provides fixed payments to annuitants while leaving the residual to charity at the end of the annuity term.
• Charitable Trusts Split-interest trust structures (charitable remainder trusts, charitable remainder unitrusts, charitable lead trusts, wealth replacement trusts) that provide income or tax benefits to donors while leaving assets to charity, including fiduciary administration, accounting, and tax reporting.
• Bequests Legacy giving arrangements through wills or estate plans that direct assets to charitable organizations, supported by CTAI's administration and coordination with estate planning professionals.
• GPS (Planned Giving Division) Consulting Outsourced planned giving consulting practice that helps non-profits lacking in-house specialists build and run planned giving programs, including donor visits, policies and procedures manuals, Professional Advisory Council establishment, and strategic stewardship coaching for development staff; available on hourly, daily, or monthly retainer.
• Coaching Services Advisory and coaching services that help organizations develop and manage planned giving programs, train development staff on planned giving tools, and execute donor engagement.
• Private Foundations Services Specialized ongoing operation and compliance support for private foundations, covering administrative, accounting, and reporting functions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Elimination of need for full-time planned giving specialist in non-profit organizations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• CrescendocoreTechnology or IntegrationThird-party planned giving software used for donor proposal illustrations and gift calculations. Provides necessary support for creating customized donor proposals.
• PG CalccoreTechnology or IntegrationPlanned giving software provider used for donor illustrations and present value calculations for charitable gift proposals.
• AICPAminorOthersAmerican Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Charles McLucas holds Personal Financial Specialist designation and maintains membership. Provides professional credibility and networking opportunities.
• California Society of CPAsminorOthersState-level CPA professional organization membership providing industry recognition and professional development.
• Planned Giving Round-tables (Orange County, Inland Empire, San Diego, Southern California, Sacramento)minorOthersRegional professional networks for planned giving professionals enabling peer learning and referral opportunities.
• Estate Planning Councils (Orange Coast, San Diego)minorOthersProfessional associations for estate planning professionals including attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors.
• Association of Professional FundraisersminorOthersProfessional fundraising association membership providing industry standards and networking.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Sharpe Group: Specialized planned giving consulting and marketing firm serving non-profit organizations with planned giving program development, training, and donor communications. Comparable to CTAI's GPS division in serving non-profits that need outsourced planned giving expertise.
• American Endowment Foundation: Donor-advised fund sponsor and planned giving administrator offering gift planning, charitable structures, and back-office administration for HNW donors. Directly comparable as a third-party administrator serving charitable giving needs.
• Renaissance Charitable Foundation: National donor-advised fund sponsor administering customized giving accounts, charitable remainder trusts, and planned giving services for individuals and advisors. Comparable to CTAI as a third-party administrator focused on charitable giving structures outside the DAF wrapper.
• National Philanthropic Trust: Largest independent national sponsor of donor-advised funds and a leading provider of philanthropic planning, research, and education services. Directly comparable as a specialist third-party administrator of charitable structures serving HNW donors and non-profits.

Broad incumbents

• Bessemer Trust: Large private wealth and trust company serving ultra-HNW families with trust administration, estate planning, and philanthropic advisory services. Comparable as a broad incumbent trust administrator overlapping in split-interest trust and charitable planning work.
• Schwab Charitable: Major donor-advised fund sponsor affiliated with Charles Schwab serving HNW donors and their financial advisors. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the charitable giving space that competes for the same donor dollars CTAI is targeting.
• Glenmede Trust Company: Independent, privately-owned trust company and investment manager providing trust administration, estate, and philanthropic services to HNW families and foundations. Comparable as a broad incumbent with deep overlap in charitable trust and foundation administration.
• Fidelity Charitable: Largest donor-advised fund sponsor in the US, a Fidelity Investments affiliate offering charitable giving accounts and planning tools at massive scale. Comparable as a broad incumbent in the charitable giving administration space with overlapping donor segments.

Others

• PG Calc Incorporated: Provider of planned giving software (PG Calc) used for charitable gift illustrations, including CRATs, CRUTs, and gift annuities. Comparable as an enabling technology provider CTAI relies on for donor proposals and present-value calculations.
• Crescendo Interactive: Planned giving and marketing software provider used by CTAI for donor illustrations, gift calculations, and proposal generation. Comparable as an ecosystem partner whose tools underpin CTAI's donor-facing deliverables.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Charitable Trust Administrators