Giving

Donations

The David Sarnoff Collection is an unendowed nonprofit 501(c)3 organization represented on-line by this website. It also includes the David Sarnoff Library in Princeton, New Jersey, with its museum and archives. The artifacts and papers housed and displayed in or loaned to the Library are the source of the information online. If you have enjoyed or used some of this information, and would like to see more of it used by more people, you can help support continued development of the Library by joining the Friends of the Library or through a tax-deductible donation to the David Sarnoff Collection.

While we deeply appreciate unrestricted donations to maintain the operation of the Library, you are also encouraged to specify uses: for website development; for archival processing and cataloging to increase access to the collections; for exhibit development in the museum; for an endowment.

We would be honored to acknowledge your generosity online and through other publicity, but we will respect your anonymity if you prefer it.

Planned Giving

With all planned gifts, the donor should consult professional tax or legal counsel before making a commitment. Here are some options that benefit you, the donor, and the Library and ensure continued promotion of the study and understanding of innovation for generations to come. Please contact the executive director if you wish to discuss such a gift.

Alexander B. Magoun, Executive Director
David Sarnoff Library
CN5300
Princeton NJ 08543-5300

609-734-2636
(f) 609-497-2423
amagoun@davidsarnoff.org

Charitable Remainder Trust

By setting up a charitable remainder trust, you transfer cash or property to a trust and retain for yourself or another beneficiary an annual income from the trust. This may be a designated fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage of the value of the trust's assets, for life or for a term of years. Upon the death of the income beneficiary or the completion of the term of years, the value of the assets of the trust, or remainder, is transferred to the David Sarnoff Collection.

As the donor, you enjoy a federal income tax deduction for the value of the gift. This is based on the amount contributed; the age of the income beneficiaries or the term of the trust; and the projected amount to be paid to the beneficiaries. If the charitable remainder trust is funded with appreciated property, you also avoid capital gains tax on the transfer, all while ensuring the future of the Library.

Life Insurance

You may contribute paid-up whole or variable policies, with the cash or replacement value of the life insurance policy deductible for federal income tax purposes. A donor may transfer ownership of a policy on which you are still paying premiums; the premiums are tax deductible if the policy is given irrevocably. Please remember that insurance gifts are governed by state law and vary state to state.

You can also purchase a new life insurance policy for the benefit of the David Sarnoff Collection. Regular premiums are tax deductible when the Collection is named as the irrevocable owner and beneficiary. Or you can buy a policy that insures a family member.

Bequests

There are several ways to make a charitable gift to the Society through your Will.

A Specific Bequest

Your Will directs that a specified item of property in the estate be conveyed to the David Sarnoff Collection.

A General Bequest

Your Will directs that a specific sum of money or a percentage of the estate be conveyed to the David Sarnoff Collection.

A Residual Bequest

You may direct through your Will that, after other distributions have been made, all or a portion of the estate be transferred to the David Sarnoff Collection.

A Contingent Bequest

Your Will directs that a portion of the estate be transferred to the David Sarnoff Collection if for some reason your primary intentions with the Will cannot be satisfied.