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Legacy Circle

Join us today as we ensure that great art, big ideas, and courageous conversations will always happen at the Brooklyn Museum. Become a member of our Legacy Circle, a group of dedicated supporters who have included the Brooklyn Museum in their wills or other estate plans in support of our mission to bring people together through art and experiences that inspire celebration, compassion, courage, and the will to act. Your support will help ensure future generations have the opportunity to find inspiration at the Brooklyn Museum, as have so many others since 1825. In thanks for your planned gift commitment, we are pleased to offer you customized invitations to VIP events and receptions as part of our Legacy Circle.

Please consult with a financial or tax professional to determine the most appropriate way to include the Brooklyn Museum in your estate plan—whether through a bequest, retirement plan, IRA, life insurance policy, donor-advised fund, or another vehicle of your choosing. The Brooklyn Museum is a tax-exempt charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (EIN: 11-1672743).

If you have already provided for the Brooklyn Museum in your will, please let us know so we may be sure that your legacy plans are honored per your wishes when the time comes. To alert us to an existing gift or to begin planning your gift, please contact Jacob Middlekauff, Senior Campaign Manager, Individual Giving, at 718.501.6552 or jacob.middlekauff@brooklynmuseum.org.

Learn more about making an estate gift to the Museum—including a list of gift vehicles and sample bequest language—below.

Planning a Gift and Joining the Legacy Circle

Whether you would like to leave a gift of cash, securities, or art to the Museum as part of your estate, there are a number of ways to make a planned gift to support our institution for many years to come:

  • Create a bequest in your will to leave a portion of your estate to the Museum. General, demonstrative, and specific bequests, as well as residuary gifts, are all ways to designate the Museum as a beneficiary of your estate.
  • Name the Museum as a beneficiary of your retirement benefits. This option provides significant tax advantages, allowing you to minimize the amount of income tax imposed on both your individual heirs and your estate.
  • Designate the Museum as a beneficiary of your life insurance policy.
  • Propose a gift of art to enhance the Museum’s collections. For more information, contact donate@brooklynmuseum.org.

There are many ways to designate a planned gift to the Museum and many funds to which gifts can be restricted. The most impactful gifts support our general operations, which enable us to keep our building maintained and our doors open for visitors from Brooklyn and around the world. 

To support the Museum’s general operations by way of a bequest, we recommend using the following language:

I give and bequeath [a dollar amount or a percent of my residual estate] to the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (dba Brooklyn Museum) for the purposes of its general operations.

Should you wish to restrict your estate gift to a specific fund, we encourage you to contact Jacob Middlekauff, Senior Campaign Manager, Individual Giving, at 718.501.6552 or jacob.middlekauff@brooklynmuseum.org.