PLANNED GIVING
THE LEGACY SOCIETY
With gratitude for their utmost generosity and foresight, the Decorative Arts Trust honors members who have included our non-profit organization in their estate planning through the Legacy Society.
Whether your connection to the Trust is through programs, the support of students and young professionals, or our promotion of the decorative arts at large, a planned gift of any size helps ensure that the material culture field will thrive for generations to come.
“The Trust has increased my appreciation of all areas of decorative arts, including objects created by contemporary craftspeople. Supporting research by new scholars means that future generations will benefit from ongoing work in this field. While the decision to support the Trust involved careful and thoughtful consideration, the process of designating beneficiaries of a tax-deferred retirement account was easily accomplished online, without legal or other fees.”
“I have relished the opportunity to visit important museums, collections, and historic sites all over the country with the Decorative Arts Trust and made wonderful friends along the way. I want to help ensure the Trust’s work continues and have recognized the organization in a living trust. My planned gift is unrestricted in order to provide the Trust with ability to direct the funds to the most important areas of need.”
To make a planned gift, your attorney or accountant will typically request the following information:
Decorative Arts Trust
206 W. State Street
Suite 300
Media, PA 19063
610.627.4970
EIN 23-2048668
Types of Gifts
There are many ways to make a planned gift to the Decorative Arts Trust and ensure your charitable goals are realized. The Trust accepts planned gifts of the following types:
- Bequests: A bequest is the most common means of including a charitable gift in estate planning. By recognizing the Trust through a bequest in your will, or as a beneficiary in your living trust, your gift can be a set dollar amount, percentage of the total estate, or a residual amount after all expenses have been paid.
- Retirement plan beneficiary: You can designate the Trust as a beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k), or other qualified plan and pass these assets to the organization as either the primary or contingent beneficiary. Retirement assets designated for charitable purposes are not subject to estate or income taxes. This is often the simplest option for including the Trust in your estate, and can be achieved by providing your Retirement Account administrator with the Trust’s contact information and EIN.
- Tangible assets (fine and decorative arts, real estate, etc.): You can indicate that such assets are sold by the estate to the benefit of the Trust’s mission, or transfer ownership of such assets to the organization with the understanding that they will be sold and the proceeds used to the benefit of our initiatives and programs.
- Life insurance policy beneficiary: If you own a paid-in-full policy, the most tax-effective way to donate life insurance is to transfer the policy to the Trust, which becomes the owner and beneficiary. You are entitled to an immediate charitable deduction for tax purposes.
An estate attorney is the best expert to help you choose an appropriate vehicle for making such a gift. They will work with your accountant or other fiduciary to design the best plan for your circumstance.
Image: Mary King, Needlework picture (detail), 1754, Philadelphia, PA. Silk on silk. Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, 1966.978.
The Impact of a Planned Gift
In 2011, the Trust received a bequest from the estate of Dr. George N. Eaves, who wished to create a scholarship fund for the study of decorative arts.
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Dr. Eaves’s bequest was carefully invested and now generates annual funding for the Emerging Scholars Program. These funds help to underwrite the Trust’s research grant program, through which graduate students receive assistance for thesis and dissertation research. A dozen students benefit from Dr. Eaves’s planned gift each year.
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Emelie Gevalt (shown below) received a grant funded by Dr. Eaves’s bequest. “The grant supported essential research on my Winterthur thesis, a study of the painted chests of Taunton, MA, attributed to Robert Crosman,” Emilie shared. “My research trip extended across museums in the Northeast and Midwest.”
