Create Your Legacy

Since 1856, supporters like you have made the Chicago History Museum what it is today—a nationally recognized institution dedicated to sharing Chicago’s stories and keeping history alive for our communities. You can make a lasting impact and ensure the Museum advances its mission for generations to come by making a planned or legacy gift.

Planned and legacy gifts are critical for the Museum to grow and address the changing needs of the communities it serves. Planned gifts can support programs, collections, exhibitions, and professional positions of the Museum – resources that are vital to the institution. Legacy gifts from loyal supporters like you ensure the Museum will advance its mission for decades to come.

Join the Lincoln Honor Roll Society

The Lincoln Honor Roll Society was established to recognize the special individuals and families that include the Chicago History Museum in their estate planning.

Members of the Lincoln Honor Roll Society are inscribed into a special ledger book that lists this type of gift going back to the nineteenth century—when President Abraham Lincoln was an honorary member of the then Chicago Historical Society. Other names inscribed include Henry D. Gilpin, whose gift made in 1860 helped the institution rebound after the devastating 1871 Great Chicago Fire, when Society’s building and its collections were destroyed.

For more information on planned giving options and/or to request a confidential meeting, please contact Michael Anderson, vice president of external engagement and development, at (312) 799-2142 or manderson@chicagohistory.org.

If you’ve already made plans to give a legacy gift to the Chicago History Museum, we’d like the opportunity to thank you! Please call us to let us know of your generosity and to join the Lincoln Honor Roll Society at CHM as many have before you.

Legacy Gift Options

Bequests
IRA Retirement Gifts
Donor-Advised Funds
In-Kind gifts
Real Estate Gifts
Life Insurance Gifts
Tangible Personal Property

How to Give a Legacy Gift

Cash
Marketable Securities
Closely Held Securities
Retirement Plan Assets
Insurance
Real Estate

Designating your Gift

Unrestricted gifts to the Museum allow your money to go where it is needed most, supporting its mission to share Chicago’s stories and serve as a hub for scholarship and learning, inspiration, and civic engagement. You can also direct your gift toward a specific interest or project within the Museum like education programs, preservation and enhancement of our collections, exhibitions, or the Museum’s endowment fund.

To designate your gift towards an interest or project, please contact Michael Anderson, vice president of external engagement and development, at 312.799.2142 or manderson@chicagohistory.org, and we will work with you to create a legacy that is right for you.

Planned Giving Check List

NEXT STEPS TO SECURING YOUR LEGACY

1. Make sure your retirement plans are in place once you stop working to maintain your quality of life.
2. Update your will to make sure it is current and spells out all of your wishes.
3. Arrange to have a durable power of attorney if you are incapacitated.
4. Make a list of all insurance policies, bank accounts, and assets, and share this data with your beneficiaries, executor, and loved ones.
5. Make a list of personal property and assign who will inherit each item
6. Make provisions in your estate plan to support the Chicago History Museum and other nonprofit charitable organizations.

Recommended Bequest Language

For Unrestricted Support

I, [Name], give, devise, and bequeath to the Chicago Historical Society, supporting the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N Clark St, Chicago, IL  60614 (insert the amount, type of property, or percentage of estate) to be used in support of the mission of the Chicago History Museum.

For Restricted Support

I, [Name], give, devise, and bequeath to the Chicago Historical Society, supporting the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N Clark St, Chicago, IL  60614 (insert the amount, type of property, or percentage of estate) to be used in support of (state the purpose for which the funds are to be used).

The Chicago History Museum Federal Tax ID number is 36-2167004

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