Ensuring the Museum’s Future – The Mighty Eighth Foundation
“I wish that I could do more.”
We often hear this from the members and friends of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force. The truth is that doing more may be easier than you think through a major gift today or a planned gift to the Mighty Eighth Foundation.
Gift planning is an art that combines financial, estate, and tax planning that will enable you to make gifts with significant impact and may provide tax and financial rewards. The Mighty Eighth Foundation is a separate 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization established to house the endowment for the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force.
Long after our veterans are gone, the Museum will continue on its mission to share their stories of courage and commitment with future generations. The endowment will fund the Museum’s future programs and operations.
Planning for the future will benefit your children and grandchildren and those organizations that you hold dear; helping you to share the values that have guided your life. Your estate gift to the Foundation will support the Museum long after you are gone.
Your gift to the Mighty Eighth Foundation can also lessen the estate tax burden on your estate.
There are many ways to remember the Mighty Eighth Foundation in your estate plan, and you may be surprised to discover how inexpensive most of these are to accomplish. Here are some options to consider:
1. Create a will naming the Mighty Eighth Foundation as a recipient of a bequest. The bequest would read: “I give (dollars) (a specific asset) or ( percent of the rest, residue and remainder of my estate) to the Mighty Eighth Foundation, Inc. located in Pooler, Georgia.”
2. Instruct your lawyer to prepare a simple, inexpensive codicil to your existing will, creating a bequest for the Mighty Eighth Foundation, Inc.
3. Amend an existing insurance policy to add the Mighty Eighth Foundation as the beneficiary.
4. Transfer ownership of a paid up policy to the Mighty Eighth Foundation and receive a charitable deduction.
5. Purchase a new life insurance policy for the Mighty Eighth Foundation’s benefit.
6. Ask to amend your retirement plan to add the Mighty Eighth Foundation as a beneficiary of the policy.
7. Consider the Mighty Eighth Foundation’s charitable gift annuity program. Besides providing attractive tax benefits, this easy-to-accomplish gift may reward you with higher annual income.
8. The Mighty Eighth Foundation could be named a beneficiary of a Charitable Remainder Trust.
A number of the gift arrangements are revocable while others cannot be changed once established. Some work better with cash and others with appreciated assets. There are many variations, enough so that a giving plan can be tailored to your needs, desires, and capabilities. Although we do not practice estate planning, we can help you start the process. For your protection, we urge you to check with your professional advisor(s) before completing any planned gift.
For more information about Charitable Gift Annuities and the Mighty Eighth Foundation, please contact Director of Advancement, Pearl Fyderek, at 912-988-1848 or e-mail advancement@mightyeighth.org
