Museum and Visitor Center
of the Bastrop County Historical Society
Your Gifts
Generous community support over the years has permitted the Bastrop County Historical Society to collect, preserve and present Bastrop's remarkable story through its documents and artifacts. Our continued success depends on your sustained generosity and support... through providing financial resources to sustain operations and to fulfill the new Museum and Visitor Center initiative, and by sharing treasured family artifacts with the Museum.
Providing financial resources
The Society welcomes your donations of cash, stock, bonds, mutual funds or real estate. Tributes and Memorial Donations can be made in honor of a friend, family member or other individual. The honored individual or the individual's family as appropriate will receive an acknowledgment that a gift has been made in their honor.
The Society is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization; your contribution qualifies for a charitable tax deduction in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. Please consult your tax advisor for further information, limitations, and advice on any of these forms of giving.
Loans and gifts of artifacts
The Society accepts and greatly appreciates donations of documents and artifacts connected with Bastrop, Bastrop County and the State of Texas. Acceptance of any item is contingent upon the Society's ability to properly preserve the item. Please refer to the Society's Collections Management Policy. You may also wish to consult your tax advisor regarding the tax benefits of any such contribution.
Some of the things the museum collects are:
- Photographs
- Personal and Business Records and Papers
- Books and Periodicals
- Maps
- Architectural Drawings
- Local and State Government Records
Textiles, domestic items and personal effects of an historic nature - Equipment and Accessories related to local farming, manufacturing or business activities
Please note: if you have a special document or photograph that you wish to retain in your possession but would like to share it with the Museum, we can scan your photographs, documents, maps, etc., (subject to any copyright restrictions) to make them available to researchers.
Bequests
One of the best ways to sustain your support to the Society is to make a planned gift to include the Society in your will or revocable living trust. If you have already drafted a will, your attorney may add the Society as a beneficiary through a simple amendment called a codicil. Similarly, a gift provision for the Society may be added to a revocable trust agreement.
There are several ways for you to remember the Society in your will or trust:
- You may name the Society as a specific beneficiary, stating a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of your estate that you wish to leave the Society.
- You may name the Society as a remainder beneficiary, providing for the Society to receive assets from your estate after all your specific beneficiaries have received their assets.
- Your gift may also be contingent, so that assets go to the Society if someone named as a beneficiary does not survive you.
In addition to cash, you can bequeath securities, real estate, art, and other forms of personal property. A bequest can be made for the general benefit of the Society or for a particular defined purpose within the mission and purposes of the Society or the Museum. If you decide to designate your gift for anything other than general use, we strongly encourage you to contact the Society in advance so that we may work with you to ensure that we are able to accommodate your wishes.
For more information contact your tax advisor and the Bastrop County Historical Society at 702 Main Street, Bastrop, Texas 78602 or by phone (512-303-0057) or e-mail.