Our 2025–2026 Impact Report is here. See what your generosity made possible →
Our 2025–2026 Impact Report is here. See what your generosity made possible →
Ways to Give
Planned giving, or legacy giving, means leaving a gift to the foundation that will sustain the library beyond your lifetime. Legacy gifts are a wonderful way for someone who loves the library to make a high-impact contribution.
Some gifts are straightforward, like leaving estate proceeds in a will or trust, or making a stock gift during your lifetime. Other decisions take a bit more planning and expertise, like a gift of life insurance, real estate, or tangible personal property. For information on any of these gifting options, please contact Durham Library Foundation at dlf@durhamlibraryfoundation.org.
Under current tax law, if you are over 70 and a half and are required to take distributions from your retirement account, you can elect to send a gift directly from your retirement account to the Foundation and that gift will count towards your Required Minimum Distribution. There can be tax advantages to this approach. We recommend consulting with your tax/financial advisor about this planning idea.
Make us part of your family! This gift can be a specific bequest, or by designation that DLF is a residual beneficiary of the assets remaining in your estate after other bequests, debts, and expenses have been paid.
You receive an income tax deduction for the fair market value of the securities on the date of transfer, no matter what you originally paid for them. And you pay no capital gains tax on the transfer when the security is sold.
You may establish a permanent endowment in support of the Library with a contribution of $50,000+. With this type of visionary gift, a percentage of the earned income is used to carry out the purposes of the endowment, while the principal corpus remains intact. Gifts to existing endowments may be of any amount, and enable our investments to grow and provide additional support to Library programs and services.
Gifts of life insurance policies, US Savings Bonds, bank account assets, real property, and personal property may also be appropriate vehicles to make a charitable gift to DLF.
The Durham Library Foundation Board of Directors has developed investment strategies to maximize restricted gifts for long-term benefits to the library. Investment income provides money for library projects and programs not available in the county budget.
To talk through a planned gift or endowment, email dlf@durhamlibraryfoundation.org or call 919-530-0158.
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I support our public libraries through the Durham Library Foundation because they are world class, and everyone is welcome.
Arthur Rogers
