Donating to Our Museum

• Donations of cash are most common. 

• Donations of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other liquid assets also are welcome.​

• If you have a tax-qualified retirement account, such as an IRA, you pay income taxes on the funds you withdraw.
   

• If you are over age 70.5, you may avoid taxes on any distribution from your IRA that goes directly to a charity.
   

• If you are over age 73, you are required to take a distribution (a Required Minimum Distribution) from your IRA each year.
   

• As a result, if you are over age 70.5, you may direct your account manager to send all or part of your distribution to the Museum; if you do that, you pay no taxes on that distribution, and the Museum gets the full benefit of the funds.

• You can transfer liquid assets (especially appreciated stock) to a DAF that you set up with an investment institution.

• When you do that, you get a charitable tax deduction for the value of the assets transferred at that time, and no taxes are imposed on any appreciation in the value of the donated assets.

• After that, you can direct the institution to transfer funds from the DAF to the Museum, and the Museum gets the full benefit of the funds. 

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• Funds remaining in your retirement account upon death can be paid directly to beneficiaries that you designate (e.g., the Museum), rather than going into your estate where the funds will be taxed.

• The Museum could be a primary or contingent beneficiary.

• To do this, you just sign a form provided by your account manager designating the Museum as a beneficiary.

• You can designate the Museum as the beneficiary of the proceeds of a life insurance policy or an annuity.

• You can transfer ownership of a life insurance policy or an annuity to the Museum.

• You can make a bequest to the Museum under your will or under a trust created during your life or as part of your will.

• The bequest can be restricted or unrestricted and/or a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of your residuary estate.