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Creating Your Legacy With a Planned or Deferred Gift

Model Railroader - Model Citizen ---All aboard!

Supporting the Minnesota Historical Society with a planned gift or a cash gift to our endowment qualifies you as a member of the Minnesota Legacy. Members receive special bennefits, recognition, and event invitations. Endowment and planned gifts from our legacy members provide for both the immediate needs and the long-term goals of the Society. Legacy members empower the Society to share and preserve the Minnesota Story in perpetuity.

Many members and friends support the Minnesota Historical Society through their wills, through IRAs and other retirement plans, trust agreements, insurance policies and other arrangements.

These planned gifts are often designated to create a named endowment fund, or to support an existing endowment fund. These funds represent a growing source of vital funding for all program areas at MHS. Planned gifts present an excellent option for our friends who want their gift to have a maximum impact.

Planned Giving options include:
- Charitable remainder trusts, which can provide you with payments for life
- Charitable Gift annuities and deferred gift annuities
- Bequests by will
- Insurance Policy

We invite you to explore these and other options, and to explore the resources offered on this page. Calculate your potential tax bennefits with our Create Your Plan tool. Sign up for a planned giving newsletter, or contact a member of our development team to learn more.


Stories and Examples of Planned Gifts

There are several ways to plan a gift for the Minnesota Historical Society. Often, a surprisingly small amount of money can be maximized through a charitable remainder trust, will provision, or other deferred giving options.

Click on the pictures below to view the stories of some of our donors.

A Bequest to Save Taxes
Thomas Merrick was a widower who had a great love for our organization. As an individual who had directly benefited from our work, Thomas wanted to thank us with a gift from his estate. More on A Bequest to Save Taxes >>.

Double My CD Return
Valerie is a retired high school English teacher. She has been a careful saver and has a number of certificates of deposit, but she has seen her income decline. More on Double My CD Return >>.

Model Railroader - Model Citizen ---All aboard!
Art Bergstrom a longtime member and volunteer, now adds Legacy Society member to his growing list of contributions to the Minnesota Historical Society. More on Model Railroader - Model Citizen ---All aboard! >>.

Easy IRA Gift
Barbara retired after forty years as a teacher. She had volunteered for many years with Minnesota Historical Society. She had an IRA and was nearing the time to take her required payout for this year in the amount of $2,000. More on Easy IRA Gift >>.

Steps to Wise Giving

There are several steps to help you make wise and prudent gifts. These pages are here to help you learn how gift planning ideas can be of personal benefit. Let us suggest a few steps that would help you in that process.

Cassie Cramer
Director of Development

Thanks very much for visiting us! I would be very pleased to help you. Simply click here to email me at your convenience.

Professional Advisors

We also have a complete tax update service for CPAs, attorneys, CLUs, CFPs, ChFCs, trust officers and other professional friends. The GiftLaw services are made available to all advisors as a free service. We also are always available to assist in helping you provide clients with clear and understandable gift illustrations. If you would like assistance with a gift illustration, please contact cassie.cramer@mnhs.org.

If you are a professional advisor, you may take the following steps on this site.