Legacy Giving: A Gift for Future Generations
For over a century, the Staten Island Museum has sparked curiosity and created lasting connections through natural science, art, and history, shaping how generations understand their environment, their community, and themselves.
By including the Museum in your estate plans, you can ensure that future generations continue to be inspired, educated, and engaged. Planned gifts offer you a way to make a lasting impact while potentially gaining tax and financial benefits.
Ways to Leave Your Legacy
Bequests (Gifts Through Your Will or Living Trust)
You can name the Staten Island Museum as a beneficiary of your will or trust with a specific amount, a percentage of your estate, or the remainder after other gifts are made.
Sample language:
“I give and bequeath [amount or percentage] to the Staten Island Museum, located at 1000 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10301, for its general purposes.”
Retirement Assets (IRA, 401(k), 403(b))
Designate the Staten Island Museum as a beneficiary of all or a portion of your retirement account. This is one of the most tax-efficient ways to make a legacy gift, as these accounts may be taxed heavily if left to heirs.
Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)
If you are 70½ or older, you can make a tax-free gift directly from your IRA to the Museum. These Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) count toward your required minimum distribution and may reduce your taxable income.
Life Insurance
You can name the Staten Island Museum as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy or transfer ownership of a policy to the Museum.
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs)
Consider recommending a gift to the Museum during your lifetime or as a final distribution from your DAF.
Charitable Trusts and Other Life Income Gifts
More complex planned giving vehicles like charitable remainder trusts can provide income during your lifetime and a future gift to the Museum. We would be happy to speak with you or your financial advisor about these options.
For more information on Planned Giving please contact Faith D’Alessandro, Chief Development Officer at [email protected] 718-483-7114
The Staten Island Museum is a tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN:13-5564127)