Virginia Living Museum Endowment
This gift keeps on giving. If you are over 50 your gift of $25,000, or more, can provide you with a lifetime income while you support the Virginia Living Museum’s endowment. Contributions to the Virginia Living Museum Endowment Fund are part of a stable base from which interest income is generated to sustain the Museum for the future.
Regardless of why you choose to give to the VLM Endowment Fund, the Museum can help integrate your philanthropic and tax goals and estate plans into a legacy gift. There are options and strategies that allow gifts to the Endowment that give back to you and your family, as well.
The Museum can collaborate with your financial advisors to create a meaningful legacy gift that meets your goals and expectations, while helping to ensure the future of the Virginia Living Museum and our shared values.
Eagle Society
The Eagle Society recognizes and honors the friends of the Virginia Living Museum who have made special provisions for the Museum’s future in their estate plans. These legacy gifts enhance the VLM’s Endowment Fund and provide the Museum with the “wings to transcend and endure.”
Choose the gift that matches your goals
| Your Goal | Your Gift | Your Benefits | How You Make Your Gift |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defer a gift until after your lifetime | Bequest in Your Will | Donation exempt from federal estate tax. Control of your assets for your lifetime | Name the VLM in your will (designate a specific amount, a percentage or a share of the residue) |
| Make a revocable gift during your lifetime | Revocable Living Trust | Control of the trust for your lifetime. Gift in trust exempt from federal estate tax. | Name the VLM as a beneficiary of assets in a living trust. |
| Make a gift that’s quick and easy | Outright gift of cash | Immediate income tax deduction. Removes property from estate. | Write a check to the VLM. |
| Make a large gift with little cost to yourself | Gift of Life Insurance | Current income tax deduction. Possible future deductions through gifts or paid policy premiums. | Contribute a life insurance policy you no longer need or purchase a policy and name us as beneficiary. |
| Avoid tax on capital gains | Outright gift of securities | Immediate charitable deduction based on fair market value. Avoidance of possible capital gains tax. | Contribute long-term appreciated stock or securities to the VLM. |
| Avoid the double hit of taxation on IRAs or employee benefits plans | Gift of Retirement Assets | Make gift from most highly taxes assets leaving more for family. Avoids income and estate tax. | Name the VLM as the beneficiary of the remainder of the assets after your lifetime. |
| Supplement income with regular payments that are partially tax-free | Charitable gift annuity | Current and future income tax savings. Fixed payment for life. | Enter into a charitable gift annuity contract with the VLM that pays a set amount for one or two lives. |
Contact the Development Department for more information and to guide your gift decision. Call 757-595-1900 ext. 257 or email.
The Virginia Living Museum is a public non-profit 501(c)(3) organization (54-6055922). Financial information is available from the State Office of Consumer Affairs, Richmond, VA. Contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.
Naming the VLM in our will allows us to stay connected to the Museum and keep our love of animals and nature alive. It is immensely gratifying to be able to give such a gift and it was very easy to add the VLM to our estate plans.
– Kathy & Mark Howell
Giving a life insurance policy for the Endowment Fund permitted us to make a substantial gift without having to commit immediate resources. This deferred gift multiplies over the years and ultimately will help sustain the Museum’s long-term needs.”
– Bob & Nancy Sullivan
“It’s not often that one can give something away and at the same time receive more than was given. Such a win-win opportunity seems like a miracle. This, however, is exactly what is offered by a charitable gift annuity. Over the years, my late husband, Quincy, and I have been pleased to contribute to our beloved VLM. But the opportunity to make a substantial contribution made us happier than we could have imagined.”
