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Donations and Bequests

REMEMBERING THE PAST AND THE FUTURE

A gift to the Historical Society of Haddonfield has two distinct benefits:

  1. To the Society, to meet necessary expenses or fund future projects
  2. To the Donor, since such gifts have tax benefits.

MAKE A FINANCIAL DONATION TODAY

The Historical Society continues to need funds to maintain Greenfield Hall, as well as to pay for the upkeep and management of the library and the extensive collection of furniture and artifacts with which the Society has been entrusted. Your generous gifts help make all this possible. The Society is qualified by the Internal Revenue Service as a charitable organization so that gifts are tax deductible for income tax purposes.

There are additional benefits available to an individual who donates assets which have appreciated in value. Under federal law, the donor is permitted to take the appreciated value of the asset as a charitable deduction without having to declare the increased value as income. The benefit of such a gift has been increased by Congress in the Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993. Congress repealed the provision of law that included the unrecognized gain in the calculation of the Alternative Minimum Tax. Should you be subject to that tax, you will not be penalized because of your generosity.

If a donor makes a gift of tangible property to the Historical Society, as many persons have done, the Society will acknowledge the gift for tax purposes. However, federal law provides that it is the responsibility of the donor to establish a value for the donated items. If the value of the donated property exceeds $500, the law now requires the donor to obtain a written qualified appraisal from a competent appraiser, and to include an additional schedule concerning the gift as part of the donor’s tax return. If someone makes such a gift, the Society will be pleased to assist in finding a qualified individual who could assist in appraising the donated items. For donations less than $500, the donor should have some reasonable basis for determining the value.

To learn more about donating an item to the Society’s museum collections, contact us at 856-429-7375 or at [email protected]. A sample deed of gift is available here.

To learn more about donating an item to the Society’s Archive and Research Library, read “Donating Items & Collections to PLAC” or contact the Archivist & Librarian at [email protected].

Another way a donor can benefit the Historical Society of Haddonfield is by a bequest as part of one’s Last Will and Testament or Living Trust. The Society has been blessed in past years by generous bequests from John Wood, Alice Wood and Helen Streeter, as well as other persons too numerous to list. These former members, through their generous testamentary gifts, have substantially helped the Society meet its obligations and wisely plan for the future. Charitable testamentary gifts to the Society can also have substantial tax benefits, in that they are free of federal estate tax and state inheritance tax. Any trust that has a charitable component may possibly also provide tax benefits to the estate, if the trust instrument is properly drafted. Please consult your estate planning attorney or tax advisor on how you can benefit the Society through your estate plan.

The Executive Board of the Historical Society of Haddonfield is appreciative of the generous support that members have exhibited and continue to exhibit in the operation of the Society and its programs.