“We never know what tomorrow will bring, but I want to thank the Friends of the Maritime Museum. I appreciate the impact the Friends have on my life and more importantly its continuing impact on the people of Beaufort, Carteret County and the State of North Carolina. It is a treasure that I want to help ensure for the future.
-Dianne Tetreault

Background
The North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort got its start in the late 1970s with the determination of local folks to build a museum where a collection of marine artifacts could be permanently preserved, displayed and interpreted.

An important page in this history was turned in 1980s with the gift of prime land on Front Street upon which the new museum and its iconic boatbuilding shop would sit.  This local commitment helped persuade the State of North Carolina to reciprocate with funds to build a first-rate museum building and boatbuilding shop and to give them a professional staff.

From the beginning, this Museum has been a public-private partnership.  The state provides annual support to pay the staff and keep the doors open.  The Friends of the Museum raise funds to support programming, exhibits, materials and capital projects.  The money comes primarily from memberships, event ticket sales and sponsorships and special appeals.  While in most cases, revenue arrives in the form of cash; there are various other ways to support the Museum over time.  Many of them offer attractive tax advantages to donors and their families.  Planned Giving is a way to help secure the Maritime Museum’s future while benefiting the giver in tangible ways.

The Evelyn and Harvey Smith Legacy Society

The Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort honor supporters who include planned gifts in support of the Museum in their estate plans by including them in the Evelyn and Harvey Smith Legacy Society.  The Society honors the memory of Evelyn Chadwick Smith, who donated the Front Street tracts on which the Museum was built, and her late husband, Harvey Ward Smith.

Harvey Smith managed the sprawling Fish Meal Company located on the Town Creek waterfront now being developed by the Museum.  The plant was but one of several in various states owned by the Smith family, making theirs the largest menhaden processing company in America.

Harvey and Evelyn Smith were early enthusiasts for a Maritime Museum in Beaufort.  Harvey himself had an extensive collection of maritime artifacts, many of which helped form the Museum’s original collection.  Sadly, Harvey did not to see his dream of a museum in Beaufort come to pass, but the fruits of his family’s generosity live on.

Today, supporters of the Maritime Museum in Beaufort have many ways to carry forward the generosity and vision of Harvey and Evelyn Smith.  They range from straightforward (tax deductible) gifts of tangible or intangible assets to more complex instruments tailored to the needs of a particular family or company.

Options to Donate

Careful financial estate planning can be beneficial to you and your family and can allow you to leave an enduring legacy that will support the future of the museum.  We recommend that you seek the advice of a lawyer, a tax consultant, or financial advisor when considering these, or any other, planned giving options.

Bequests

Bequests are donations made through a will or trust that are distributed by your estate after your death.  Charitable gifts made by bequests outnumber all other methods of planned giving.  A charitable bequest can be made as a specified asset, as a specific amount of money, or as a percentage of your estate or trust assets.

The advantages of bequests:

• Bequests can be revoked during your lifetime.
• Bequests are relatively inexpensive to establish.
• Bequests allow continued use of an asset during the donor’s lifetime.
• Bequests allow the heirs to your estate to take a maximum charitable deduction.

Life Insurance Gifts

A life insurance policy will let you make a substantial donation to charity in the future by making a series of smaller donations now.  The most common way to give using life insurance is to purchase a new life insurance policy and name a charity such as the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort as the irrevocable owner and beneficiary.  You, the donor, would then make annual contributions to the museum in the form of the insurance premiums, receiving an annual income tax deduction in that amount.  Upon your death, the Friends of the Museum would receive the life insurance death benefit.

The advantages of a life insurance–based gift:

• A gift of life insurance does not take estate assets from other heirs.
• The life insurance value will not be included in the donor’s taxable estate.

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

Name the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort as a beneficiary, in full or in part, of your IRA.  At your death, the IRA balance that is directed to the Friends is income tax free, since we are a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.

The advantages of making an estate gift through your IRA:

• You can change IRA beneficiaries at any time, so the gift is revocable during your lifetime.
• The final distribution from the IRA is not reported to your estate or your heirs as taxable income, eliminating any income tax on the distributed income.
• The full value of the IRA can be used to benefit the museum (because of the Friends’ tax-exempt status).
• The IRA still provides income to you during your lifetime.

Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs)

Using a charitable remainder trust (CRT), you can receive a current charitable income tax deduction, while continuing to receive income from the asset, during your lifetime; the asset could then transfer to a charity, such as the Friends of the NC Maritime Museum, upon your death.

Charitable remainder trusts work well for donors who want or need income from their assets during their lifetime but do not want or need to pass the assets on to heirs.

The advantages of making an estate gift through a CRT:

• You can receive an income tax deduction for whatever portion of the assets you transfer to the trust.
• You continue to receive income from the trust (along with any advantageous tax treatment) during your lifetime.
• You maintain some control of the asset during your lifetime, subject to the terms of the trust agreement.
• Assets in the trust are removed from your taxable estate.
• You, the donor, determine details of the CRT since it is the donor who establishes the trust.

Charitable Lead Trusts (CLTs)

Charitable lead trusts (CLT) are most appealing to donors who wish to pass assets to their heirs but do not need income from the assets themselves.  This is accomplished by allowing a charity, such as the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, to receive income from the donor’s assets for a specified time, often the remainder of the donor’s life, after which the asset is transferred back to the donor or the donor’s heirs.

The advantages of making an estate gift through a CLT:

• You may receive an income tax deduction for the transfer of assets into a CLT.
• You may not be taxed on the income earned and distributed to charity by the trust.
• You or your heirs can receive the assets back at the end of the trust period.
• A transfer of assets to a trust may create a discounted gift value, ultimately reducing the donor’s taxable estate value.
• You, the donor, determine details of the CLT since it is the donor who establishes the trust.

Charitable Gift Annuities

A charitable gift annuity is a contract between a donor and a charitable institution, such as the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort.

The contract is initiated when you, the donor, make a gift to the charity; in return, you receive annual, quarterly, or monthly payments for life.  The size of the payments depends on the donor’s age and the interest rates in force at the creation of the annuity.  Each payment received is made up of a taxable portion of interest and a tax-free return of principal.

The advantages of making an estate gift through a charitable gift annuity:

• It is inexpensive for you, the donor, since the annuity is established by the charity.
• The charity receives a current gift; you receive a stable income for life, which will include a deductible, tax-exempt portion.
• If the annuity is funded with appreciated assets, the embedded capital gain will be distributed and taxable over the life of the annuity.

Donor-Advised Funds

A donor-advised fund is a charitable-giving vehicle housed in a public charity and administered by a third party (such as a Community Fund or a mutual fund company) for the purpose of managing charitable donations on behalf of an organization, family, or individual.  Donor-advised funds are the fastest growing charitable-giving vehicle in the United States.

To initiate this vehicle, you will contribute an asset to a donor-advised fund in exchange for a current income tax deduction.  You will then play an advisory role over the distribution of contributed assets; however, the third party administers the fund and has final authority over distributions.

The advantages of making an estate gift through donor-advised funds:

• A donor-advised fund is a relatively inexpensive way for a donor to create an ongoing charitable giving program.
• Donor typically receives an immediate income tax charitable deduction for the full amount of the contribution.
• Donor-advised fund offers professional management of assets.
• You retain an advisory role in naming which charities the funds should be distributed to. 

For more information . . .

For additional information about planned giving to the Friends of the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort, or to explore other giving options, email the Friends office or complete and submit the contact form below so a representative of the Friends may contact you.

Should you prefer, call the Friends’ office at 252-728-1638.

Thank you for your consideration and for your generous support.

The information contained in this document has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable at the time of this writing; however, no information is guaranteed to be accurate or complete.  Any opinions expressed here are statements of judgment on this date and are subject to future change without notice.  No one should act upon any tax information without professional advice from her or his own tax advisor.