Planned giving

A bequest is an easy yet far-reaching way to support the Folger and its mission. This most common planned gift allows you to retain control to change terms during your lifetime.

To make a bequest, simply include the Folger in your will. We have provided sample bequest wordings here that you and your attorney may find helpful. Please consult with your attorney for advice regarding your particular circumstances. The Folger’s Development staff would be happy to assist you and your advisors in planning a bequest provision:

Sample language:

Unrestricted Bequest: I give and bequeath __________(dollar amount, percentage amount, or description of asset) to the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003, for the general purposes of the Library.

Restricted Bequest: I give and bequeath ___________(dollar amount, percentage amount, or description of asset) to the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003, to be used for __________(specify purpose here).

There is no minimum required to include a bequest in your will. However, if you are interested in establishing an endowment, we ask that the bequest be a minimum of $50,000. To enroll in the First Folio Society, we ask that the potential of your gift be a minimum of $5,000.

Make a gift by transferring a paid-up policy or by naming the Folger as the owner of a non-paid-up policy.

Minimum amount varies.

Simply name the Folger as beneficiary of the remainder of your retirement assets from IRA, 401k, 403b, or other qualified plans and avoid double taxation. Before the remaining funds from these accounts can be distributed to heirs, income taxes and estate taxes must normally be paid. You can avoid both the income and estate tax by naming the Folger as the beneficiary of your remaining assets, meaning that the amount the Folger receives is far more than what would otherwise go to your heirs. This option does not involve an attorney and is simple—all one has to do is access the beneficiary page on the plan’s website and add the Folger.

There is no minimum required to name the Folger as a beneficiary of your retirement plan. To enroll in the First Folio Society, we ask that the potential of your gift be a minimum of $5,000.

If you are 70½ or older, you can make donations of any amount totaling up to $100,000 a year by directly transferring funds from your IRA to a qualified charity such as the Folger Shakespeare Library. This type of gift, known as an IRA charitable rollover, generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions. If you have not yet taken your required minimum distribution for the year, your IRA charitable rollover gift can satisfy all or part of that requirement if it is received before December 31.

Contact your IRA administrator to make a tax-free IRA charitable rollover gift in support of the Folger and see the difference your gift makes in your lifetime. Your administrator should make a check payable to the Folger Shakespeare Library and mail it to:

Office of Development
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE
Washington, DC 20003–1004

Please let us know that your gift is forthcoming so that we may attribute it properly. Contact plannedgiving@folger.edu to discuss your gift.

Provide a generous future gift to the Folger while securing a fixed life income and avoiding market risk. A charitable gift annuity is a contract between a donor and the Folger by which the Folger agrees to pay the donor and/or another named beneficiary a fixed income each year for their lifetime(s). This payment is secured by the full assets of the Library and will not change regardless of fluctuations in the stock market or the economy in general.

Minimum amount: $10,000

Delay income payments from your charitable gift annuity for a future time, such as retirement.

Minimum amount: $10,000

Make a gift that can create a life income, with a hedge against inflation, and can support more than one charity. A charitable remainder unitrust is a special type of gift plan that enables donors to transfer cash, securities, real estate, or other assets for the future benefit of the Folger, while retaining the right to name one or more persons, including the donor, to receive a generous income (a fixed percentage of the trust’s assets each year) for a period of time—usually for life.

Minimum amount: $100,000

Create a variable life income and allow for growth of your gift by joining one of two offered pooled trust funds. The pooled income funds accept gifts from many individuals and “pool” them together for investment purposes. Every three months the income earned by the funds is distributed to the participants based on their proportional share of the total fund. When the last person named to receive the income passes away, that portion of the fund principal associated with the gift is made available to support the Folger.

Minimum amount: $10,000