Endowment Campaign

Support the Wilton Historical Society Endowment Fund

To fulfill our mission, Shining a light on the making and meaning of history through Wilton’s stories and historic preservation, we need to continue to build a strong financial foundation. You can help, with a gift or bequest to the Society’s Endowment Fund.

Endowment Committee

  • E. Bulkeley Griswold, Chair
  • Kevin Craw
  • Gregory Perry
  • Roger Valkenburgh
  • Ruth Wolfe
  • Honorary Chairs
  • Carol Russell
  • Bob Russell

Different Ways of Giving

Present Gifts of Cash or Appreciated Stock

The Society welcomes present gifts of cash or appreciated securities, proceeds of which will add to our Endowment Fund portfolio. This provides immediate increase in the earning power of the Endowment Fund and a charitable deduction on your income tax return for the full value of the gift, subject to possible limitations.

Planned Giving

For some, a planned gift is a preferred way to support the financial foundation and mission of the Society. Examples of popular and valuable planned gift follow. We recommend you consult your financial advisor and estate planning counsel to determine the best way to carry out your planned gift to produce the greatest benefit for both the Society and you.

Gift Under Your Will

The most popular and simplest planned gift is a legacy under your will. It can be a gift of a specific dollar amount, or a percentage of your residuary estate.

Gift of Antiques or Collectibles

A gift of an antique or historical artwork or other artifact can be made during your life or under a will, with a tax benefit to you. The value of the income tax deduction may vary depending on how the gift can be used or exhibited, a determination that is made by the Collections Management Committee.

Gift of Real Property

A gift of real property can not only produce tax savings – a valuable income tax deduction, or estate tax deduction if given under your will – but also provide the Society with a valuable asset to build the Endowment. Fi the property has unique historical value, the Society might consider retaining and maintaining it, but it also might be sold, with the proceeds going to our Endowment Fund. Such a gift can be made during your life or under your will, or by deed reserving your life use, subject to thoughtful interactive planning by both you and the Society.

Gift of Life Insurance Policy

As with appreciated stock, this gift can be made in the present and allows you to take a charitable deduction at the time of transfer in an amount your advisors and the insurance company will determine. You designate the Society as beneficiary of the policy and assign ownership to the Society at the same time. The Society will either maintain the policy in effect for your lifetime or consider surrendering it for its cash value, whichever you prefer. If the value of the policy is insufficient to fund premiums going forward, you can consider an annual gift to the Society sufficient to pay the annual premium.

Gift via Beneficiary Designation from your IRA or Other Tax Deferred Plan

Except where the spouse is the designated beneficiary, an IRA is subject to estate tax at the death of the account holder, and distributions from the account are subject to income tax as well. Therefore, a gift to the Society’s Endowment Fund from such an account can be highly leveraged, in that the Society would receive 100% of the gift where the beneficiaries of the account holder might in some cases receive less than 50% of the account after estate taxes and income taxes are paid. To establish such a gift, you can simply designate the Society as the beneficiary (or, if you have a spouse, the contingent beneficiary) of the account.

Gifts Made Through Creation of a Trust

By creating a special type of trust known as a charitable remainder trust, a donor can distribute cash or appreciated securities to this trust, enjoy increased income from these assets during your life, and receive a significant tax deduction for the actuarially computed value of the remainder of the trust, which will pass to the Society at the donor’s death. Another type of trust is a charitable lead trust, under which the Society would receive the income from the trust for a term of years, with assets remaining in the trust reverting to the donor or his designated beneficiaries when the trust term ends. Because of the complexity and expense associated with the creation and administration of these trusts, they make sense only where the value of assets to be placed in trust approach or exceed $1,000,000.

You should confer with your financial and investment advisors and your attorney to develop the specifics for making any of these gifts. Please consult us, too. If you call or email the Society, we can put you in touch with the right person here, to help you develop your planned gift. And unless you request anonymity, we would like to recognize you and your gift to express our appreciation and encourage others to joining you in building the Society’s future.