Dear Friends of the Amerind,

The Amerind Foundation has been pursuing its mission of promoting knowledge and understanding of the indigenous peoples of the Americas for over 70 years.

Recently, the Amerind has expanded its mission to support the work of Native artists and scholars, enhance and expand its award-winning publication, seminar, and resident scholar programs, and reach an expanded audience of students, members, and museum visitors from around the world.

We value your support of the Amerind Foundation and our goal is to make your involvement with the Foundation rewarding for you as well.  That’s why we want you to know about the financial tools you can use to plan your gift to us so that it can return benefits to you. Among several opportunities, you can:

• Make a gift using appreciated securities and realize larger tax savings than if you had donated cash.
• Make a gift that costs you nothing during your lifetime.
• Make a gift that pays you income for life.
• Preserve your estate for your children and deliver years of income to the Amerind Foundation.
• Donate your house, take a tax deduction, and continue to live in it rent-free.
• Turn surplus life insurance coverage into a gift.

Please review the information below to learn how a gift can increase your income, provide cash to help you move into a retirement facility, or a tax deduction for items that you can no longer use or maintain.  A planned gift can also provide benefits to your family, and we would love to have the opportunity to show you how.

If you have questions about Amerind’s long-term endowment needs, please call our Executive Director, Dr. John Ware, on Amerind’s toll-free number: 866.535.0471.

If you have already named the Amerind in your estate plans, please let us know so we can thank you!

Sincerely,

Michael W. Hard, Chairman

Propelled by the vision and dedication of its founder William Shirley Fulton, the Amerind Foundation has been a quiet but influential voice in Native American archaeology and anthropology for more than seventy years.  Known originally for its pioneering archaeological research in the Southwestern Borderlands, the Amerind houses one of the finest private collections of Native American art and artifacts in the country.  Its renowned academic seminars and its rapidly expanding educational programs and membership tours attract participants from all over the world.

The Amerind faces demands for programs and services that are far beyond the dreams, aspirations, and funding capability of its founder.  Its unique but aging facilities must now catch up with its expanded mission, including renovations allowing year-round use of its conference facilities, the creation of a 150-seat public auditorium, and additional classrooms, meeting rooms, and housing for resident scholars.

In 2008 the Amerind Foundation earned about 46 percent of its operating revenue from an endowment established by its founder and enhanced over the years by generous individual donors.  Eight percent of our operating revenue came from earned income (admissions, museum store sales, etc.) and another eight percent from grants.  Thirty-seven percent of our income in 2008 came from donations from individuals.  Clearly, the Amerind Foundation could not survive without the generosity of people like you!

There are many ways you can leave a legacy to sustain Amerind’s mission while, at the same time, provide yourself and your family with significant benefits.  In addition to outright tax-deductible cash gifts, other creative ways to give include:

• A Bequest in Your Will: When you revise your will you might consider including a provision for the Amerind Foundation.  Your gift could be a specific dollar amount; a percentage of your estate or residuary estate; or a gift that is contingent upon an heir predeceasing you.  Benefit: Full control of your assets during your lifetime and a donation that is fully exempt from estate tax.
• Beneficiary Designation: It is possible to name the Amerind Foundation as one of the beneficiaries of either a life insurance policy or a retirement plan, such as an IRA.  Like the bequest provision, this is a revocable arrangement that can be changed by you at any time.  Benefit: Current and potential future charitable income tax deductions and immediate impact to the Amerind.
• Savings and Brokerage Accounts: Consider renaming one of your bank or stock accounts so that whatever remains in the account at your passing transfers to the Amerind Foundation, to create a fund or endowment in your name.  This, too, is a revocable arrangement.  Benefit: Full control of your assets and a tax deductible contribution.
• Gift Plans that Pay You Income for Life: The Amerind Foundation offers its supporters the ease and convenience of establishing charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts.  These relatively simple gift plans provide the satisfaction of seeing the impact of your donation during your lifetime.  They also provide the donor, or someone named by the donor, with a fixed income for life.  Benefit: Guaranteed income for life, current and future savings on income taxes, and possible reduction or elimination of capital gains tax.
• Gift of a Residence or Long-Term Appreciated Securities: A bequest of a residence to the Amerind Foundation is always welcome.  One option is to instruct your executor to sell the property and distribute part of the proceeds from the sale to the Foundation to create a named fund.  You might also consider giving the residence now, and retaining for yourself the right to live in it for life.  Both options have significant tax benefits.  Benefit: A charitable income tax deduction, no capital gains tax on the sale of assets, and an immediate impact on the Amerind.
• Charitable Lead Trust: This is a way to provide current or future gifts to the Amerind Foundation and eventually pass assets along to your heirs.  Benefit: Substantial tax savings and immediate impact on Amerind operations.

As with any important financial or estate planning, decisions about long-term charitable giving should be discussed with a trusted legal or financial professional.