Print and Mail a Donation Form or Donate Now Your gift to the annual Friends Campaign enables us to continue to provide the programs, services, collections, and technology that make the Wilton Library Association the center for discovery in the heart of our community. Gifts at all levels are most welcome.

Print and Mail a Donation Form or Donate Now Honor someone with a gift to the Wilton Library. Milestone gifts may be made for birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions. Gifts in memory of loved ones are also fitting tributes. Books or other materials (including audiobooks, music CDs, and DVDs) purchased with your gift of $25 or more will be affixed with a bookplate, and the Library will provide acknowledgment both to you and to the honoree or family of the person memorialized. This is a wonderful option for end-of-year teacher gifts and birthday presents for those who “have everything”!

Print and Mail a Donation Form or Donate NowChildren through age 12 can become a member of the Young Readers Circle, ensuring that your donation of $25 per child ($75 for three or more children) will be used for the Children’s Library books, materials and programs. It is through your support that the Children’s Library is able to provide the many programs and events that it does throughout the year. New members of the Young Readers Circle receive: DVD rentals for one week at $1.00; Young Readers Circle Decal; Recognition in the Annual Report; An invitation for the Annual Young Readers Circle Cupcake Social held in June. Membership for the Young Readers Circle is on an annual basis..

When using your broker or bank, the transfer may be made electronically. Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., acting as agent for the Wilton Library Asssociation, is set up to receive such transactions. You simply advise your agent to send the transfer information to: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., for credit to Wilton Library Association, Inc. DTC #0164 Account Number 9478-4211 Please advise the Library’s Development Director at 203-762-6323, when these instructions have been given. We will need to know the name of the stock and the number of shares being transferred. We will then alert our agent that the transfer is forthcoming. This allows the agent to ensure that you receive proper credit for your gift. You may mail or hand deliver unendorsed stocks or bonds to the Wilton Library Association. The securities should be accompanied by a letter of transmittal, including your name and address, and a signed stock or bond “power”. If you are mailing the securities, please include a blank, but signed, stock or bond “power” for each corporation or other organization whose securities you are donating. With the signed powers, please include a copy of the transmittal letter. If the certificate is in a corporate name, a Corporate Resolution is required, signed by a duly authorized corporate officer. The date of a gift of securities for tax purposes is the date the securities (and signed stock powers, if applicable) are delivered to the Wilton Library Association, placed in the mail properly addressed to the Library, or released by an agent for the account of the Wilton Library Association. The value of exchange-listed securities on the date of the gift is the average price as quoted by the markets on that date. The Wilton Library Association accepts the transfer of appreciated securities directly from you or your broker. With tax advantage to the donor, many individuals have provided gifts to the Library through a gift of appreciated securities.

Wilton Library – Invest in the Future: Planned Giving

Wilton Library has been an integral part of our community for over 120 years. Through the foresight and inspiration of special community leaders and Library Trustees, the Wilton Library has grown to support our town's ever widening cultural and intellectual interests. In the past few decades, there have been several Library Trustees who had the courage of their convictions to dream big dreams for the Library and help the town to fulfill them.

Planned gifts help grow the Library’s endowment and ensure that the Library’s engaging programs, in-depth resources and critical services will be available for future generations to depend on and enjoy. When you give to the Library, you have the satisfaction of knowing that you are enhancing the quality of life for everyone in Wilton for generations to come. What better legacy to leave your community than the gift of enlightenment--the kind that touches both the intellect and the spirit? Your gift makes a difference.   Planned giving not only strengthens our Library and community, it also can provide you, the donor, with tax advantages, and ensures that your generosity will be remembered and will serve as an inspiration to others by your examples. Depending on the kind of gift you make, the investments you have made over the years for your family can be secured . . . while making a wonderful gift to the Library at the same time.

HOW CAN I MAKE A PLANNED GIFT?

Some commonly used planned giving options include Bequests, Charitable Trusts, Gifts of Life Insurance, Bequest of Retirement Assets, Charitable Gift Annuity, and a Gift of Cash or Appreciated Securities. 

A Gift by Bequest
A bequest is perhaps the easiest way to provide for the Library’s future. A bequest is a gift made in your will that names Wilton Library as a recipient of part of your estate. It may be a specific dollar amount, a percentage of the estate, or a remainder after other distributions have been made.  You may also choose to restrict the bequest to a specific Library purpose or program. If you already have a will and would like to add the Library as a beneficiary, we would be pleased to assist you in the phrasing of any proposed form of bequest to the Library. In addition to making a significant gift to the Library, another key benefit is that such a gift is fully deductible for Federal estate and Connecticut succession tax purposes.

Charitable Trusts
You may also choose to transfer your assets into a trust, which pays income to you, or to other designated beneficiaries, until the trust terminates and the remaining principle is left to Wilton Library Association, for the benefit of the Library.

Gifts of Life Insurance
Many donors overlook life insurance as a source of charitable giving, yet it can be utilized to increase the impact of your philanthropy.  This is done by transferring ownership of a life insurance policy to Wilton Library, or simply changing the policy’s beneficiary designation to the Library for some or all of the policy’s proceeds.  This type of gift is particularly popular with donors who have policies and their families are adequately provided for through other means.  This is also a way to provide significant support for the Library if you are not presently able to make an outright donation.

Bequest of Retirement Assets
The most tax-effective gift is a bequest of your retirement plan, such as an IRA, 401(k) or pension.  Leaving a qualified retirement plan to a non-profit organization such as the Library, may avoid estate and income taxes at death.

Charitable Gift Annuity
If you wish to make a more modest gift of cash, you may purchase a charitable gift annuity for the benefit of Wilton Library. You or others you name will receive fixed payments for life. You will also receive an income tax deduction in the year you established your gift.

A Gift of Cash or Appreciated Securities
An outright gift of cash will provide you with a charitable income tax deduction in the year of the gift.  Gifts of marketable securities will be deductible for income tax purposes in the year of the gift to the full extent of the value of the shares at the time it is made.  You may avoid capital gains tax on the sale of the securities, and the stock may avoid estate tax at your death.

BECOMING A MEMBER OF THE LIBRARY CORNERSTONE SOCIETY

The Library Cornerstone Society has been founded to recognize those who have made plans for a significant gift, now and in the future to the Cornerstone Fund of the Wilton Library.  Those who have made plans for such a gift of $10,000 or more, through outright gifts of cash or appreciated securities, by way of their wills or through gifts of life insurance, annuity or remainder trusts, are eligible for membership.  Through their foresight and generosity, these individuals play a key role in establishing a sound foundation for Wilton Library.  When you give this way, you become a partner in the Library’s future as well as in the future of Wilton.

Members of the Library Cornerstone Society are acknowledged for their generosity with their names engraved on a stone plaque located in the Library’s East Courtyard.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Planned giving is vital to the future of Wilton Library.  When Wilton Library is named in a will or other estate planning, we always appreciate being informed.  Your gift not only helps us plan for the years ahead, but gives us the opportunity to express our sincere appreciation. 

For further information or if you have any questions, please contact Robin Axness, Director of Development at 203-762-6323 or please print this Confidential Reply Card and mail to: Development Director, Wilton Library Association, Inc., 137 Old Ridgefield Road, Wilton, CT 06897-3000.

This information is not intended as legal advice.  Please consult your attorney about how best to design your planned gift.

Wilton Library Book Sales provide a critical source of income to support valuable programs, and library resources.  They are made possible by generous donations from the community, and by the countless hours that our dedicated volunteers give sorting and pricing items year-round in the Book Cellar. Book sales are offered four times per year, and on-going on our book sales shelf. Learn More