Benefits of Giving Wisely

We are grateful for your interest in supporting Winterthur. Your generosity will help us safeguard the tradition of Winterthur as a great American country estate.

We encourage you to plan your gift thoroughly, and we want to help. This Web site explains many of the gift options available that can not only benefit you but also help preserve Winterthur for generations to come.

Your gift can take a number of forms and can address a variety of personal financial goals. We're ready to work with you and your advisors to craft the gift plan that best meets your objectives. But first, review the following guide to help you select the options that are right for you.

Give Now, or Give Later?

A significant outright gift to Winterthur will allow us to fund important current projects. In turn, it will give you maximum tax benefits. It can also be the simplest gift to arrange.

You may, however, prefer to leave your assets and cash flow alone until after your lifetime and instead make your gift through your estate. Even though Winterthur cannot use this gift immediately, it will be critically important to our long-term financial strength and help ensure our ability to meet the opportunities and challenges of the future.

To make a gift from your estate, you use a will or revocable trust. You may also use life insurance or the balance remaining in your retirement plan. These gifts help you keep your lifetime financial planning flexible, although they provide limited (if any) current income tax benefits. You will need professional assistance to set up most estate plan gifts.

What Assets to Give?

• Cash
  This is, of course, the easiest transaction to complete. You are limited only by your cash flow and your inclination to draw from your cash reserves.


• Appreciated Securities
  Get the same tax deduction as if you had given cash, but use stocks, bonds, or mutual fund shares that have increased in value. Your deduction is based on the current market value, but you incur no capital gains liability when you make this gift. It is one of the best tax incentives available, and we can work with your broker to make a gift of securities simple.


• Real Estate
  Gifts of land, vacation homes, or income-producing properties can bring great benefits to Winterthur. You can give real estate outright, transfer it in a part sale/part gift arrangement, and use it to fund a life-income gift, or give your residence and reserve the right to continue to live there. We are required to review each gift proposal in detail and caution donors that sometimes it is not practical for Winterthur to accept these gifts.


• Retirement Accounts
  The balance remaining in your retirement account after your lifetime is often subject to double taxation by being taxed both as income and as an estate asset if it passes to your heirs. The result may be that over 75% of the account value could be lost to taxes. If, on the other hand, you designate the remainder of your account to Winterthur and use other assets for gifts to your family, the funds come to Winterthur tax free. New regulations simplify the procedure for naming a charity as beneficiary, and we are ready to help you plan this gift.


• Appreciated Assets
  You may be holding a collection of books, furniture, or other objects that you no longer wish to maintain. These assets could make a great addition to the Winterthur collection, or they could fund a life-income gift. There are particular IRS requirements to meet before you can deduct a gift of appreciated assets. Winterthur has a detailed accessions process for all objects that are offered to the museum, and this information is available upon request.


• Business Interests
  A partnership, an interest in a business, shares of closely held stock, or a limited partnership share may all hold value for us. We will review the gift proposal and if it is in the best interest of all parties, we will work with you and your advisors to make a smooth transfer.

How Can a Gift Pay You Back?

Your gift to Winterthur can also be made in the form of a gift plan that pays you income in return for your contribution. These gift options include charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and pooled income funds. You can receive fixed or variable income, take payments for your lifetime or for a term of years, and direct the income to beneficiaries other than yourself. In essence, you make a contribution to Winterthur yet retain the income benefits.

Your charitable deduction is based on the full market value of the assets you give us, minus the estimated value in today's dollars of the income you will receive in the future from the gift. The higher the income payout to you or your beneficiaries, the lower your charitable deduction.

These flexible, creative gifts address a variety of planning objectives. Since you receive a stream of income from these gift options, they allow you to consider a more substantial gift to Winterthur than might be possible through an outright gift. Even though we cannot use these gifts until the death of the last income beneficiary, they provide Winterthur with long-term financial strength and future planning opportunities.

Click on the Ways to Give Wisely tab to learn more about these gifts.