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Your donations to the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village make you a member for one year, no matter the amount you donate. This means a variety of benefits including free admission and discounts in our gift shop and for our programs and events. Learn more about membership HERE.
Our visitors and community members engage in an impressive range of activities from our Kids’ Friday program to our Time Traveler’s Day Camp and our tours of the museum’s pristine collections to our Twilight Stars Party. We are tasked with saving and sharing the significant stories of African American Alexander Lucius Twilight and those of the people of Orleans County and Northern Vermont; this includes the preservation of seven buildings and sixty acres of historic significance.
Planned Giving
Intertwine your legacy with Twilight’s. Just as Alexander Twilight laid the foundation for the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village as it is today, you can carry our work and history into the future. To learn more about Mr. Twilight and his accomplishments, click HERE.
Please consider planned giving and explore with us all the ways your generosity could fuel our future of preservation, education and inspiration.
Already have us in your will or trust? Please let us know so we can thank you and invite you to our Twilight Giving Circle.
What is Planned Giving?
Planned giving is a way for you to plan to donate an asset or assets to a specific organization. For example, you can ensure a nonprofit you love will receive a percentage of your estate or a set dollar amount by naming them in your will.
What are the Benefits?
Benefits vary with the different methods of planned giving, but most options include significant tax savings. Other options can give you an income for life or provide income for loved ones. There is a list of the planned giving types we include in our planned giving program in the next section. No matter how you may plan to give, planned giving is a powerful way to add to your legacy and secure support beyond your lifetime for what you value.
Donors of planned gifts to the Old Stone House Museum can also be recognized, if they would like to be, as members of the Twilight Giving Circle; please email us if you are interested in knowing more about the Twilight Giving Circle.
What are the Options?
We welcome the opportunity to talk about planned giving with you, but please know the information we provide does not constitute legal advice. We strongly encourage you to discuss the options with an estate planning attorney and/or financial advisor to fully understand the details and determine the tax and other benefits applicable in your circumstances.
Planned giving is available in many forms, and our program includes an array to choose from to best suit your needs and honor your charitable intent.
Please note most of these options require assistance from and partnership with an estate attorney, financial advisor and/or supporting institution. For example, for many of these options, the Old Stone House Museum partners with the Vermont Community Foundation.
Bequests
A charitable bequest is the transfer of an asset to a nonprofit through a will or trust. Examples of assets include cash, securities, personal property and more. To make a bequest, an attorney can simply incorporate the intention and appropriate language into your will.
If you wish to name the Old Stone House Museum in your will, please let us know so we can direct you to resources, thank you, and invite you to our Twilight Giving Circle. If you would prefer your decision to remain private at this time, the following language can be incorporated directly into your will:
I bequeath ___ [dollar amount or percentage of estate] to the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village, a nonprofit organization located at 109 Old Stone House Road in Brownington, Vermont 05860, for its unrestricted (or otherwise agreed upon) use. Tax ID# #03-6010727.
Click to email us about bequests
Retirement Plan Beneficiary Designations
If you designate the Old Stone House Museum as a beneficiary in your retirement plan, the remaining value of your plan will be passed on to us in addition to your other beneficiaries.
Click to email us about retirement plan beneficiary designations
Donor Advised Fund (DAF) Gifts
A Donor Advised Fund (DAF) is created so a donor can make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction and then recommend distribution of the fund to nonprofits like the Old Stone House Museum.
Click to email us about DAF
Charitable Gift Annuities (CGA)
With this form of planned giving, you can give an asset, such as cash, to the Old Stone House Museum; in return, we help arrange payments based on the value of your gift so you receive fixed annual income for life. Once the payments are no longer needed, the Old Stone House Museum can use the remainder of your gift. You receive a reliable income, and we have the benefit of your committed support and gift.
Note: Gift annuities to the Old Stone House Museum must be made with the understanding that a third party will manage the charitable gift annuity and make any income payments to the donor.
Click to email us about CGA
Life Insurance Beneficiary Designations
If you make the Old Stone House Museum a beneficiary of your life insurance, we will receive a payment, also known as a death benefit, along with your other beneficiaries.
Click to email us about insurance beneficiary designations
Life Insurance Policies
Another life insurance option is to transfer ownership of your entire life insurance policy to the Old Stone House Museum. The cost of a replacement policy or the cash surrender value of your policy can then be deductible as a charitable contribution.
Click to email us about life insurance policies
Trusts
There are two types of trusts the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village can be a designated beneficiary for: a Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT) or a Charitable Lead Trust (CLT). Trusts can provide additional flexibility, and they share similarities with bequests and annuities. For example, a charitable remainder trust (CRT) provides you and/or beneficiaries you select with income. You can choose a fixed income for your lifetime or a term of years, or a variable income that changes annually with the value of the investments in your trust. In the end, whatever remains goes to support the Old Stone House Museum.
The creation of a trust adds some steps, so if you are interested in a trust please contact us to let us know. We would be happy to provide more information and start a conversation!
Click to email us about trusts
What Can My Gift Accomplish?
All gifts and pledges to the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village are considered unconditional and unrestricted unless directed in writing by the donor at the time the gift is accepted. These are the funds you can directly request contribution toward:
Help us inspire with our Unrestricted Fund, which supports everything we do:
This fund allows the Board and staff to direct the funds as they believe will best serve the needs of the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village. This includes the essential support of our general and day-to-day operations and the invaluable staff that keep the Museum going. All donations result in one full year of membership.
Help us preserve with our Alexander Twilight Legacy Fund for buildings, grounds and collections:
This fund is an endowment held by the Vermont Community Foundation for the benefit of the Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village. Use of income from the fund is restricted to expenses related to preserving our collections, buildings or grounds.
Help us educate with our Wharton Fund for education:
This fund’s use is restricted to educational program expenses or salaries for educational staff.
“Thank you, one of the best days of the summer! [The] Old Stone House Museum & Historic Village is perfect…we will continue to support. I only wish we could have stayed longer. Thank you for providing an opportunity for my children to learn and grow.”