Some of the most popular methods of charitable giving include:
Each of these methods is described below. For additional information contact the NSM Director, Adam Smith, (607) 734-3128.
The simplest way of donating to the Museum is to mail us a check or call to make a donation by credit card. Either way, we will send you a letter acknowledging your gift for tax purposes. Since we are a charitable non-profit organization, your donation is tax deductible.
Your next steps: Mail your personal check to The National Soaring Museum, 51 Soaring Hill Drive, Harris Hill, Elmira, NY 14903 or call us at (607) 734-9416. Thank you.
Transferring shares of publicly traded securities (such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds) which you have held for at least a year, to the National Soaring Museum, allows the Museum to realize the full value of these instruments, while their tax basis may be deductible and you're not required to pay capital gains tax on their appreciation.
The Museum's Investment Committee will decide how best to utilize these assets.
Your next steps: The National Soaring Museum is grateful for gifts of appreciated assets. You should consult your professional advisor for guidance. The Museum can also provide assistance.
Donor-advised funds are an increasingly popular way to make charitable gifts. Donor-advised funds can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier in future years.
You can establish a donor-advised fund at a sponsoring charity. Most large brokerages and banks sponsor donor-advised funds for their customers. Check with the sponsor about the minimum contribution required to start a donor-advised fund, which typically range from $5,000 to $25,000. The sponsor may allow you to give your donor-advised fund a unique name. Then, make an initial contribution to start your Fund. You can contribute cash or appreciated assets such as stocks or mutual funds. You'll get an immediate income tax charitable deduction for your contribution that could reduce your taxes if you itemize. Furthermore, you don't pay tax on the appreciation of funds within the account.
Once established and funded, you can recommend that your favorite public charities, such as the National Soaring Museum, receive grants from your donor-advised fund. Most donor-advised funds have a minimum grant recommendation, or you can recommend distributing the entire balance of your donor-advised fund for a cause important to you.
You do not get an additional income tax charitable deduction for these grants.
You can also create a succession plan with your fund sponsor to recommend that some or all the remaining assets in your fund at your passing go to the Museum and other charities that are important to you.
Your next steps: The National Soaring Museum greatly appreciates grants from donor-advised funds. If you are considering establishing a donor-advised fund, you should consult your professional advisor and financial institute for guidance. The Museum can also provide assistance.
If you have an IRA and are at least 70 1/2 years old, a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD), sometimes called an “IRA Charitable Rollover”, is a great way to make a tax-free donation to the National Soaring Museum. A QCD provides the tax benefits of an itemized income tax charitable deduction, even if you don't itemize your tax deductions. Furthermore, if you are age 73 or over and must take a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD), your QCD can satisfy your RMD too. These distributions are not included in your taxable income and do not increase your income taxes.
Your tax-free gift provides immediate support for the important work of the Museum.
Your qualified charitable distribution must be transferred directly from your IRA administrator to the Museum and the total of all your QCD gifts for 2025 cannot exceed $108,000.
Your next steps: Distributions from an IRA make an outstanding gift to the National Soaring Museum. Consult your professional advisor and IRA administrator for guidance. The Museum can also provide assistance.
A charitable gift from your estate is a favored method of giving that enables you to achieve your financial goals and benefit the National Soaring Museum too. No other planned gift is as simple to make or easy to change should you ever need the assets during your lifetime.
A bequest may be right for you if you want to make a gift to the Museum but you also want the flexibility to change your mind, you want continued access to your wealth should you need it, or you are concerned about outliving your resources. A gift to the National Soaring Museum in your will or trust gives you maximum flexibility as the assets remain in your control during your lifetime should you need them. Also, you can make your gift conditional on another event, such as if your spouse does not survive you.
The Museum receives your generous gift when your estate is settled. If your estate is subject to federal estate taxes your gift to the National Soaring Museum will qualify for an estate tax charitable deduction.
There are various types of estate gifts. Determine which works best for you.
Your next steps: The National Soaring Museum would be honored to be included in your Will. If you don't already have a will, you should ask legal counsel to prepare a will for you. If you already have a will, a simple amendment (called a codicil) can be used to add a gift to the National Soaring Museum. The Museum can also provide assistance.
One of the simplest ways to make a gift to The National Soaring Museum is to designate the Museum to receive some portion of your assets at the end of your lifetime. For some financial assets, this can be easily done by naming the Museum on a beneficiary form and designating the percentage of that asset the Museum is to receive.
Retirement Accounts: To give a portion of your retirement account to the National Soaring Museum, all you need to do is complete a beneficiary designation form with your plan administrator. This can often be done on-line. There is no need to modify your will or living trust. And gifts to a tax-exempt organization, such as the Museum, leave 100 percent of the retirement asset available for its charitable purposes.
If you want to remember us in your estate plan, a tax-efficient strategy is to leave other types of assets—cash, securities, real estate—to your heirs and give the assets in your retirement accounts, which would otherwise be more heavily taxed, to the National Soaring Museum.
Investment Accounts: Similarly, you can instruct your investment company or brokerage to transfer to the Museum some or all investments held in the account at the time of your passing. Your broker or agent can help you complete the process, which may be as simple as amending the name on the account to include the National Soaring Museum
Life Insurance: You can also use a life insurance policy to make a gift to the Museum. It's usually as simple as completing a form with the insurance company designating the National Soaring Museum as the beneficiary of all or a portion of the death benefit of your life insurance policy. As an alternative to naming the Museum as the beneficiary, you can transfer ownership of the policy. Transferring ownership can produce an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the value of the policy and future income tax deductions if you continue to pay premiums on the policy.
Commercial Annuities: A commercial annuity will sometimes have a remaining value at the end of the annuitant's lifetime. You can name the Museum to receive all or part of this amount by designating us as a beneficiary (sole or partial) on the appropriate form from the insurance company.
Bank Accounts: You can also instruct your bank to pay the Museum all or a portion of what remains in a checking or savings account. Your bank can provide you with the appropriate beneficiary designation form.
Your next steps: The National Soaring Museum would be grateful to be named as your beneficiary. You should consult with your professional advisors about naming the Museum as a beneficiary of some or all your accounts will affect your overall estate plan. You will need to obtain beneficiary designation forms from your account administrators and return the completed forms to them. Some financial institutions will allow you to designate beneficiaries through their website. The Museum can also provide assistance.