Digitizing the Steichen Collection
Naval Institute volunteers Sandy Schlosser, Jim Hildrew, and Joe Handleman have been researching and scanning the elite Steichen Unit photographs onsite at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., since June 2011. They have collected about half of the approximately 10,000 available images. Once scanned, each image will be catalogued and tagged with metadata to make it fully searchable in USNI’s online photo gallery. This is the first time the Steichen Unit photographs will have been gathered into a special collection and made available to the public electronically.
Thanks to this valuable volunteer labor, the Naval Institute can earmark donations to enable the photographic archives to progress much further. The Institute is using gift income to pay for laptop computers, portable scanners, Photoshop software, website support, and to reimburse mileage. You can help by making a tax-deductible gift to benefit photo preservation and other projects. Go to the Institute’s website, www.usni.org, or mail your gifts to the Naval Institute Foundation, 291 Wood Road, Annapolis, MD 21402.
It’s Never Too Soon to Plan for the Tax Man
Charitable giving is not just a year-end event. Decisions with tax consequences are likely to occur throughout the year, so it’s important to have a plan in place, regardless of the season.
Now is the time to create a checklist documenting any 2012 activity with tax consequences, to receive full credit for your charitable transactions. Tax advisers report that a common pitfall is the failure to follow IRS rules for substantiating gifts, resulting in a missed opportunity to claim a contribution.
Remember to make all of your gifts to qualified charitable organizations—ones that the IRS recognizes. Always ask an organization for proof of its charitable status prior to making a gift, or check the IRS website (www.irs.gov) and search for Publication 78. Both the U.S. Naval Institute and its fundraising arm, the Naval Institute Foundation, are classified by the IRS as 501(c)(3) charitable entities.
Keep receipts, canceled checks and credit-card statements as a record of your cash gifts. In addition, if your gift is $250 or more, you must have a dated receipt from the organization stating the amount of your gift and whether you received anything of value in return for it. The Naval Institute Foundation provides written acknowledgment of all gifts greater than $5.
Please keep the Naval Institute in mind for your charitable giving. Your tax-deductible gifts strengthen our organization. By including the Institute in your estate planning, you invest in the Institute’s future. Every program and educational initiative produced by the nonprofit Institute—our magazines, books, oral histories, conferences, photo archive, and writing contests—relies on charitable gifts. Membership dues, book sales, and advertising income get the projects started, but all are underwritten—and made more successful—through donor support.
For more advice on tax and estate planning, go to the Naval Institute’s website, www.usni.org. Click “Donate,” then “Planned Giving.” You may also contact Sue Sweeney at (410) 295-1054 and at [email protected].
Read Memorial Gifts
We are honored that Edith Read Wey, daughter of longtime Naval Institute member Naval Reserve Commander William A. Read Jr. has directed memorial gifts in her late father’s name to the Institute. Commander Read died in Palm Beach, Florida, in October 2011.
The Foundation also gratefully acknowledges support from the following:
Helen S. Cluett
Monnie B. and Thorne Barnes Donnelley
Patricia and William B. Follett
Carolyn G. and John R. Henthorn
Shandon S. and David B. Land
Frank A. Miller
Brian D. Pfeifler
Beth S. and Ross T. Willey
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