Planned Giving
Essential Support for the Museum’s Future
Members and friends who are dedicated to seeing the Johnson Museum of Art develop, flourish, and remain dynamic for our campus and in our community have shown their support through thoughtful philanthropic planning for the Museum.
Cornell’s Office of Trusts, Estates and Gift Planning has dedicated staff available to you to offer guidance on how to make an impactful gift to the Museum that integrates your timeframe and financial goals.
Planned gifts might include a bequest of artwork or other assets to the Museum in your will or living trust, or by naming the Johnson Museum as the beneficiary of a charitable remainder trust, life insurance policy, or retirement fund. These gifts provide essential support for the Museum’s future.
Planned gifts might also come in the form of gifts that generate lifetime income for you or your chosen beneficiaries. They might also involve making a gift from a tax-advantageous source, or appreciated asset, or a combination of philanthropic structures.
We honor those with planned gift intentions with membership in Cornell’s Cayuga Society.
Making a Difference at the Museum
Elizabeth “Betty” Miller Francis ’47 touched many lives and organizations through her philanthropy and passion for travel, the outdoors, and art. Her bequest supports an annual exhibit at the Johnson Museum, including Taking Shape: Abstraction from the Arab World, 1950s–1980s.
“Having an endowment fund to support exhibits is really critical,” says Ellen Avril, Chief Curator and the Judith H. Stoikov Curator of Asian Art. “It is something we can count on each year, gives us flexibility and nimbleness to respond to opportunities, and even if there are future budget cuts or less endowment payout, the restricted use of this fund means we can mount exhibits not only in good times, but in bad.”
Cornell’s Office of Trusts, Estates and Gift Planning has dedicated staff available to you to offer guidance on how to make an impactful gift to the Museum that integrates your timeframe and financial goals.
For more information about how your gift can have the most impact at the Museum, please contact Courtney Campbell, the Museum’s director of development.