Many friends of Museum of Glass donate assets that lie outside their regular income stream. These donations are called “Planned Gifts,” and can include current gifts and those designated in a donor’s estate plan. Both types of gifts can provide considerable tax benefits when utilized. Examples include gifts of stocks, mutual funds, IRA’s, and life insurance, among others. You can put these assets to work today to benefit Museum of Glass and still reserve assets for your loved ones.

Where do my gifts go when I donate major assets to MOG?

When you make a planned gift to Museum of Glass, your gift of assets or cash will be designated to the Museum of Glass Endowment. An endowment is a forever gift —the principal is invested, and the earnings are used to support Museum of Glass in perpetuity. Because the endowment's principal is not spent, the fund is an ongoing source of financial support, providing a stable stream of funding for the Museum’s exhibitions, the Hot Shop, and the innovative educational programs. For more information about the Museum of Glass Endowment, please click here.

How are Endowment funds invested? The Museum of Glass Endowment is invested in a diversified portfolio of funds and overseen by the Museum of Glass Board of Trustees Finance and Facilities Committee, as well as our Chief Financial Officer.

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Endowment

Museum of Glass has a sound investment plan in place for its Endowment.

From its inception in 2013, the Endowment has grown to $9 million and provides over $300,000 of annual support to Museum programs. The Endowment is governed by the Investment Committee and the Investment Policy Committee, which report to the Museum’s Board of Trustees. The Investment Committee established an Investment Policy to ensure compliance with the Washington State Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (“UPMIFA”) and guide the Board in supervising and monitoring the management of the Endowment. The Policy sets out principles for asset allocation, investment strategies, and spending. The Committee has hired an Investment Advisor to implement the investment strategy and asset allocation.

How are Endowment Funds invested? The Museum of Glass Endowment is invested in a diversified portfolio of funds and overseen by the Museum of Glass Board of Trustees Finance and Facilities Committee, as well as MOG’s Chief Financial Officer.

How are funds utilized from the Endowment? Your contributions to bolster and augment the endowment are vital in sustaining Museum of Glass. Contributions of any size to the Endowment help provide support to the areas of greatest need. These donations fund projects essential to fulfilling the Museum’s mission. Gifts of $1 million or more may result in a named endowment to support a critical area of the Museum’s operation.

Please contact our Planned Giving Manager, Rebecca Downey, at rdowney@museumofglass.org to discuss your vision for a legacy gift that benefits the Museum of Glass Endowment.

 Gifts of Stocks, Mutual Funds, and Privately Held Securities

A gift of stock may be right for you if:

• You have owned this stock for at least one year.

• Some of these stocks have increased in value since you bought them.

• These stocks will likely provide you with very little income.

• You would like to make a gift to Museum of Glass and don’t have a large enough amount of cash on-hand.

Here are three different types of stock the Museum of Glass accepts:

1. Publicly traded stocks are the non-cash assets most frequently donated to charities because they’re widely owned and easily transferred. These are stocks that are sold on stock exchanges. People can purchase shares of stock in a company (i.e., shares of Boeing), and there is a clear, publicly known price at any moment in time.

2. Mutual funds are also known as exchange-traded funds and are an investment in a group of stocks (or other investments).

3. Privately held stocks are shares held in a company that is not yet publicly traded (like LLCs, SCorp, or C Corp).

How to transfer shares of your publicly traded securities to Museum of Glass:

To donate shares of stocks or securities, please fill out the Stock Gift Form and either email it to Rebecca Downey or send the form to the Museum of Glass Development Department, 1801 Dock Street, Tacoma, WA 98402. Once the Museum receives this form, we will provide you with the Museum of Glass brokerage account information so you can initiate the transfer. Thank you so much for considering Museum of Glass.

Museum of Glass Tax ID: 91-1669422

Qualified Charitable Distributions

If you are over the age of 70 ½, the IRS permits a transfer up to $100,000 to charity tax-free each year. These transfers are known as Qualified Charitable Distributions, or QCD’s and offer eligible friends of MOG an easy way to contribute to the Museum.

Your IRA, 401(k), 403(b), or other qualified retirement plan can provide a tax-smart way to make an immediate impact on Museum of Glass. The Qualified Charitable Distribution or QCD (sometimes called an “IRA Charitable Rollover”) is a great way to make a tax-free gift now to MOG and satisfy your Required Minimum Distribution (RMD).

Normally, distributions from a traditional individual retirement arrangement (IRA) are taxable when received. With a QCD, however, these distributions become tax-free as long as they are paid directly from the IRA to an eligible charitable organization.

QCDs can be made electronically, directly to the charity, or by check payable to the charity.

A gift of retirement plan assets could be right for you if are 701/2 years old and:

• You have an IRA or other Qualified Retirement Plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b).

• You do not expect to need all your retirement plan assets during your lifetime.

• You have other assets, such as securities and real estate, that you want to pass to heirs.

• You want to provide income or payments to loved ones after you are gone.

• You would like to make a charitable bequest to Museum of Glass.

Life Insurance

There are good reasons to consider Life Insurance as a way of giving to Museum of Glass.  You can leave all of the proceeds of the policy to MOG, or through a charitable giving rider, you can designate a specific amount or percentage. You can also transfer ownership of the policy directly to Museum of Glass. Gifting a life insurance policy to MOG can in some cases cut your taxable estate.

Is a Life Insurance policy the right way for you to remember MOG?

• Do you wish you could give more to charity?

• Do you have a policy on your life that is no longer needed for its original purpose?

• Do you have a policy to protect a business that no longer exists or that no longer needs such protection?

• Are you concerned that the current life insurance premiums on a policy you own are too high?

If the answer to any of the last three questions is “yes,” then you should consider donating the life insurance policy involved to Museum of Glass.

 Wills and Bequests

Is a Will Right for You?

A will is a strategic plan—that once in place, frees you up to live with intention, knowing you are committed to your own story—a hero’s journey-- that gives you the chance to make a lasting impact on your community. A will is an expression of who you are and what is important to you. A bequest is found inside the will and allows you to designate a gift to an individual or charitable organization such as Museum of Glass.

 The flexibility of a will is a great choice if:

• You want to make a large gift to Museum of Glass, but don’t have access to immediate cash.

• You want the flexibility to make adjustments to your gift should your circumstances change.

• You want continued access to your wealth, should you need it.

• You are concerned about outliving your resources.

 When naming Museum of Glass in your will, you can:

• Designate a specific percentage of your estate for the Museum.

• Name a specific amount for Museum of Glass

• Give the remainder of your estate to the Museum after closing costs and final distributions are made.

Click here for Sample Bequest Language for donating to Museum of Glass.

Donor Advised Funds 

Here’s how Donor Advised Funds (DAF) Work:

You can take a one-time charitable tax deduction when you create a Donor Advised Fund through an organization such as Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (www.gtcf.org), or private investment firms such as Fidelity Charitable, or Schwab Charitable.

There are three steps in creating a DAF:

1. Open and account and contribute.

2. Invest in one or more investment pools within these organizations or recommend an investment advisor to manage your account.

3. Recommend grants to qualified U.S. public charities such as Museum of Glass at any time.

If you have a Donor Advised Fund through Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, or BNY Mellon, you can connect with your fund by clicking on the DAF Direct Widget, which takes you safely and securely to your Donor Advised Fund manager, and donate directly from our website.

Charitable Remainder Unitrust

When you choose to create a trust and share a portion of the assets with Museum of Glass, you receive a generous income tax charitable deduction for a portion for the value of the assets you transfer to MOG. A Charitable Remainder Trust is tax-exempt, so no taxes are due when you transfer appreciated assets into the trust.

You name the individuals who will receive this income from the trust. Payments can last for life or up to 20 years. You can also name Museum of Glass, which will receive any remaining assets when the trust terminates.

The benefits of a Unitrust:  In many cases you will receive more income than you are currently getting from your investments. You can also make additional contributions to your trust at later dates.

The trust terminates when all who are receiving income from the trust passes away. The remaining trust assets will be passed along to Museum of Glass to help shape the future of glass and glassmaking.