"Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."
-Warren Buffet
Endowments are designed to support the organization in perpetuity, long beyond our lifetime. They keep principal gifts intact, while providing annual investment income to the organization.
Many donors have supported the Dubuque County Historical Society/National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium through endowed gifts over the years, and at present, our endowed funds sit at approximately $8 million.
The investment income generated from this principal is used annually to support our education programs and supplement our annual needs. With your support, a strong endowment can transform our organization…
The Difference Maker
Annual endowment contributions at all levels support the endowment’s growth. Planned gifts and bequests are also often directed toward our endowment to ensure the long-term legacy of these donors. Additionally, individuals and businesses can established a named endowment to the organization with a donation of $25,000 or more.
The Game Changer
Once our endowment reaches $16 million, the increase in revenue received will have an immense impact on our annual budget, enabling us to meet rising energy and utility costs while enabling us to more proactively address improvements and repairs across our 14-acre campus. These necessities, such as heating and cooling systems and animal life support systems, are necessary for the health and safety of our animals, comfort of our visitors, and general operations of the organization.
The Transformational Endowment
At $50 million, our endowment will fully fund our annual depreciation expense—providing virtually all support needed to keep up on repair and replacement needs. This will maintain our facilities at a high level while enabling all earned revenue and annual gifts to cover mission-based programs.
This level of support would be transformational to the organization—enabling us to propel our mission of inspiring stewardship by creating educational experiences where history and rivers come alive to the next level.
Join Our Legacy Society
Established to honor those who have made planned gifts to the Dubuque County Historical society and its properties and programs, members of the Legacy society have demonstrated a deep commitment to the organization's mission and vision for the future. Their legacy will live on in our mission.
Donors who have made planned gifts such as bequests, life insurance beneficiary designations, retirement plan beneficiary designations, charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts are all honored in this category.
We would love to hear from you!
Contact Wendy Scardino, VP of Development & Marketing, at 563-557-9545 x208 or wscardino@rivermuseum.org for more information.
Endowment contributions can be sent by mail to the Dubuque County Historical Society at 350 E. 3rd St., Dubuque, IA 52001 with a notation that it is designated to endowment. Contributions can also be made to our endowment held at the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque or click below and write "for endowment" in the "Leave a Comment" space provided.