Leave a Legacy

It's easier than you might think to leave a powerful gift to future guests of the Eskenazi Museum of Art.

So, what is a “planned gift”? It's a way of supporting the museum while also increasing your current income, diversifying your holdings, reducing taxes, and avoiding probate costs. When you create a planned gift, you are looking to the future while enjoying the knowledge today that your legacy gift will live on.

Actually, you have a lot of options to accomplish your own unique gift planning. You can support the mission of the museum and increase access to art for everyone in the way that works best for you and your family. There are many possibilities for you to consider!

Using her retirement account to help the museum acquire art

Do you have an IRA? Are you 70½ years old or older? Consider giving your required minimum distribution (up to $100,000) to the Eskenazi Museum of Art and pay no income taxes on the distribution.

A museum volunteer for more than ten years, Paula Sunderman was inspired to learn more about African art. After taking classes at IU, she decided to use a percentage of the required minimum distribution from her individual retirement account (IRA) to help the museum make strategic acquisitions. Her goal is to help acquire a work of art in every curatorial area.

Save on taxes

The transfer of the funds generates neither taxable income nor a tax deduction, so you benefit even if you do not itemize your deductions.