Throughout our lifetime, most of us strive to make a difference in the lives of others, providing gifts to the people and causes we value. Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you could continue to change lives even after you are gone, creating a legacy of support for the causes most important to you? By creating an endowment with the American Museum of Natural History—or adding to our existing endowment—you can give a gift that lasts forever.
How It Works
You give cash, securities, or other assets to the Museum for a new or existing endowment.
Determine if your endowment will fund a specific program or service, or be given without restrictions—allowing the Museum to direct the funds to our most critical needs.
We use a small portion of the fund to support our mission, and the balance remains invested to perpetuate the endowment.
Tip: You can use an endowment gift to honor someone important to you who appreciates the work we do. Consider designating your endowment in his or her name as a way to celebrate them.
Sam wants to support our annual needs by writing a check for $5,000 to the American Museum of Natural History each year. Sam qualifies for a $5,000 federal income tax charitable deduction (when itemizing taxes) each year the gift is made.
Sam would also like to leave a legacy and makes a generous estate gift of $125,000 to establish a new endowment at the Museum. This is the amount needed to ensure the Museum continues to receive the annual $5,000 into the future. (See chart.)
Sam is able to support our current needs while living with annual gifts. After Sam’s lifetime, we use a portion of the endowment each year to fund our programs and reinvest the remainder, allowing it to grow and support annual payouts indefinitely.
If your annual gift is: | Amount needed to endow your gift forever*: |
---|---|
$2,500 | $62,500 |
$5,000 | $125,000 |
$10,000 | $250,000 |
$20,000 | $500,000 |
*At a 4 percent endowment spending level, 25 times an annual gift amount equals a perpetual gift. |