More than ever before, we are now dependent on the philanthropic support of you—the individuals and corporations and organizations and foundations we serve.
Your support of the Museum of History can come in any of an array of flexible and creative ways that will provide critical funding for this institution. Some of these giving opportunities will provide immediate funds; others will result in long-term funding. Either way, we will make sure your support is also meaningful and beneficial to you.
You can direct your gift through the Annual Fund, join one of our recognition societies, or sponsor an exhibit or program or publication directly. You can arrange support through your private, public, or family foundation. You can name an honorary gift or a memorial gift. And, we gladly accept in-kind services and matching gifts. We can also help you find a creative way to include the museum in your estate plans. To learn more about ways to give, scroll to the bottom of this page for more details.
You can give online, by mail, by phone, by wire, or by stock transfer.
Your gift of support—large or small—will impact the museum and its mission by
The focus of all these activities is to protect the heritage of North Carolina and educate and inspire the residents of North Carolina—and the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit the museum in Raleigh and the division's six regional museums—about that heritage.
So, please, consider a gift. We need your support today!
Your investment will provide unrestricted support to the museum. The museum's wide-ranging and celebrated endeavors educate and inspire visitors from throughout North Carolina, across the country, and around the world.
The Director's Society, the Fred A. Olds Society, and the 1902 Legacy Society acknowledge supporters who have made a generous commitment to the museum's future. Individuals and businesses who make this commitment will impact the museum by
Individuals and businesses who give $2,500 to $4,999 are included in the Director's Society.
Individuals and businesses who meet the following giving thresholds are included in special categories of the Fred A. Olds Society.
The North Carolina Museum of History honors friends and supporters who have included the museum in their estate plans by including them in the 1902 Legacy Society. Careful estate planning can allow you to leave an enduring legacy that supports the future of the museum and benefits you and your family. To learn more about the benefits of planned giving to the museum, contact your financial adviser. To learn more about the 1902 Legacy Society, click Planned Giving below.
When you include the Museum of History in your charitable investment plans, you enable the museum to continue providing innovative educational programs and inspirational exhibitions to our visitors.
In addition to corporate gifts and sponsorships, the Foundation is constantly pursuing grant opportunities. If you are a public, private, family, or corporate foundation, we are confident we can submit a proposal that will work for you.
Making an honorary gift or a memorial gift is a touching way to remember someone who was special to you. Make a gift in honor of a colleague or in memory of a friend or family member, and you honor his life or her life while celebrating and supporting a cause that was important to them—and to you.
Careful financial estate planning can be beneficial to you and your family and can allow you to leave an enduring legacy that will support the future of the museum. We do recommend that you seek the advice of a tax consultant or financial advisor when considering these, or any other, planned giving options.
The North Carolina Museum of History honors friends and supporters who do include planned gifts to the museum in their estate plans by including them in the 1902 Legacy Society. The year 1902 is special to the museum because it was the year that the private collection of Colonel Frederick Augustus Olds was merged into the State Museum and opened as the Hall of History.
Bequests are donations made through a will or trust that are distributed by your estate after your death. Charitable gifts made by bequests outnumber all other methods of planned giving. A charitable bequest can be made as a specified asset, as a specific amount of money, or as a percentage of your estate or trust assets.
The advantages of bequests:
Life insurance policies will let you make a substantial donation to charity in the future by making a series of smaller donations now. The most common way to give using life insurance is to purchase a new life insurance policy and name a charity such as the North Carolina Museum of History as the irrevocable owner and beneficiary. You, the donor, would then make annual contributions to the museum in the amount of the insurance premium payments; you would also receive an annual income tax deduction in that amount. Upon your death, the museum would receive payment of the life insurance death benefit.
The advantages of a life insurance–based gift:
Name the North Carolina Museum of History as a beneficiary, in toto or in part, of your IRA. At your death, the IRA balance that is directed to the museum is income tax free, since we are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.
The advantages of making an estate gift through your IRA:
Using a charitable remainder trust (CRT), you can receive a current charitable income tax deduction, while continuing to receive income from the asset, during your lifetime; the asset could then transfer to a charity, such as the North Carolina Museum of History, upon your death.
Charitable remainder trusts work well for donors who want or need income from their assets during their lifetime but do not want or need to pass the assets on to heirs.
The advantages of making an estate gift through a CRT:
Charitable lead trusts (CLT) are most appealing to donors who wish to pass assets to their heirs but do not need income from the assets themselves. This is accomplished by allowing a charity, such as the North Carolina Museum of History, to receive income from the donor’s assets for a specified time, often the remainder of the donor’s life, after which the asset is transferred back to the donor or the donor’s heirs.
The advantages of making an estate gift through a CLT:
A charitable gift annuity is a contract between a donor and a charitable institution, such as the North Carolina Museum of History.
The contract is initiated when you, the donor, make a gift to the charity; in return, you receive annual, quarterly, or monthly payments for life. The size of the payments depends on the donor’s age and the interest rates in force at the creation of the annuity. Each payment received is made up of a taxable portion of interest and a tax-tree return of principal.
The advantages of making an estate gift through a charitable gift annuity:
A donor-advised fund is a charitable-giving vehicle housed in a public charity and administered by a third party (such as a Community Fund or a Mutual Fund company) for the purpose of managing charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual. Donor-advised funds are the fastest growing charitable-giving vehicle in the U.S.
To initiate this vehicle, you will contribute an asset to a donor-advised fund in exchange for a current income tax deduction. You will then play an advisory role over the distribution of contributed assets; however, the third party administers the fund and has final authority over distributions.
The advantages of making an estate gift through donor-advised funds:
The information above has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable at the time of this writing; however, no information is guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Any opinions expressed here are statements of judgment on this date and are subject to future change without notice. No one should act upon any tax information without professional advice from their own tax advisor.
