Join & Give

The Edward S. Shorter Society recognizes friends of The Columbus Museum who have made bequests in their wills or other planned gifts in support of the continuing financial success of this institution. The Society is named for Edward Swift Shorter, one of the original founders of The Columbus Museum and its first director. His generous bequest gift to the Museum is responsible for much of this institution’s financial stability during its first 50 years of existence.

One of the easiest and most popular ways to make a planned gift is to include The Columbus Museum in your will or revocable living trust. If you already have a will, it is not necessary to rewrite your entire will to make a bequest to the Museum.

A Charitable Gift Annuity provides you with regular fixed payments annually (an annuity) for life in exchange for transferring assets to the Museum.

An agreement between you and a trustee that can provide fixed or variable income to meet your specific financial needs, at the termination of which the remaining assets are passed to the Museum.

IRAs and qualified retirement plans like 401(k)s are some of the best assets to leave to charity. You may also designate the Museum as owner and/or beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

The gift of your primary residence or a vacation home is a unique and meaningful way to support the Museum.

A Charitable Lead Trust enables you to preserve a portion of your estate and pass assets tax-free to your heirs.

Gifts of appreciated securities (stocks, bonds, or mutual funds held for more than one year) are excellent ways to support The Columbus Museum. Such gifts are easy to make and may provide a greater tax benefit than an equivalent gift in cash. A gift of stock owned for more than one year entitles you to an income tax charitable deduction for the full fair market value of the donated asset. If the stock has appreciated, you also avoid any capital gains tax on the appreciation.