Your current, outright gift to Mount Vernon – or your planned gift, following careful financial, tax or retirement planning – will continue the preservation of Washington’s home and expand awareness about his glorious achievements.  You also will ensure educational opportunities about George Washington in years to come for millions of visitors, schoolchildren, and patriotic citizens—from sea to shining sea.

Since its inception in 1853, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association—protector of Washington’s legacy for more than 150 years, pioneer in historic preservation, and steward of the estate and gardens—has neither requested nor accepted government funding.  We depend on the private donations of Americans like you for our programs and endowment.

Below are some opportunities for funding specific projects at Mount Vernon.  We hope you will consider helping us finance all or part of one of these critical Mount Vernon initiatives.  Help us bring the undying goodness and lessons of Our First President’s life to all corners of America.  

• $5,000 to pay for one year of photography in our efforts to digitally catalog Mount Vernon’s collections.  The Collections department is arranging the photography of George Washington-related artifacts and other Mount Vernon objects to place them online.  Our goal:  the Mount Vernon website will become a world-class repository of information on the Father of Our Country.  These images will be used for exhibitions, publications, collections management, and conservation purposes.  The funds also will pay for supplies such as compact discs and disc sleeves, as well as batteries and memory cards for digital cameras.

• $5,000 to underwrite a podcast, an online media format that allows people to listen to what is, in effect, an online radio station. The term “podcast” is a hybrid of the words "iPod" and "broadcast"—it’s the latest media trend among today’s teens and young adults.  Our podcast would allow us to tell the story of "Saving Mount Vernon, 1858-2008: Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Preservation in America" to a broad, new audience—and propel Mount Vernon outreach into 21^st century technology.  The podcast would be available through a link on our website and also as a file that could be heard on any iPod or MP3 player.

• $7,500 to upgrade our Security Control Room.  Mount Vernon would like to purchase state-of-the-art security equipment to augment our procedures necessary for safely serving more than one million visitors each year, as well as protecting priceless artifacts.

• $10,000 to replace security cameras and monitors during 2008.  This equipment has a useful life of only three years.  With Mount Vernon annually receiving more than one million visitors and open for business 365 days a year, it is necessary that we have the best possible security equipment.

• $10,100 to eradicate exotic invasive plants from the forest edge.  Just beyond the Bowling Green gate is a beautiful 12-acre lawn surrounded by forest.  Numerous invasive vines have overtaken the natural tree line.  The area is in need of substantial removal of vines and invasive exotics, as well as planting of new understory trees, including the flowering trees that Washington loved: dogwoods, redbuds, serviceberries and sweet bay magnolias.  Professional arboricultural support is required. 

• $10,500 to record the oral histories of past members of the Association’s board of directors.  In conjunction with the 150^th anniversary of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association, we are recording the oral histories of former Regents and Vice Regents.  These women make up the Association board, which has managed the estate and gardens since 1860.  The resulting tapes, CDs and transcripts – an invaluable resource on Mount Vernon’s history – will be made available for outside researchers, media, and staff.  The reminiscences of people associated with Mount Vernon have been an important tool in the restoration and interpretation of the estate and gardens for nearly two centuries.  We want to preserve the memories, tactics, and ideas of our organization’s leaders.

• $11,000 for ten wheelchairs to help us ensure that all estate visitors can enjoy Mount Vernon.   Every day, we receive visitors with mobility challenges.  We want them to have as much access as possible to as many areas of the estate as they are able to visit with the assistance of these devices so that they, too, may enjoy the full Mount Vernon experience.

• $14,000 for the purchase of a John Deere Gator vehicle.  This all-terrain vehicle has a dump bed and will allow for the hauling of materials to work sites.

• $15,000 for the design, execution, and installation of a full-color acrylic painting of an aerial image of the Mount Vernon Gristmill and Distillery property.  This educational painting would serve as an interpretive sign for the 30,000 annual Gristmill/Distillery visitors.  It would be a historical rendering of the site as we believe it appeared during George Washington’s lifetime and show the full range of activities performed there more than 200 years ago.  The image will be informed by archaeological evidence, period depictions, site descriptions, and complementary evidence from similar buildings and sites.

• $16,000 for a radio repeater system for underground areas of the Mount Vernon compound.  Much of the systems associated with the new Ford Orientation Center, Donald W. Reynolds Museum & Education Center, and Mount Vernon Inn are housed in the basements of these buildings.  This makes it impossible to communicate via radio or cell phone.  Currently, emergency personnel would have to step outside to communicate in the event of a crisis situation.  Repeaters, however, would make it possible to communicate from these underground areas.

• $18,000 for the purchase of a tram.   This 14-passenger golf cart will help us transport guests from Mount Vernon’s large parking areas to the ticket office and around the grounds during special events.  This will help guests with limited mobility and attract potential visitors if they know in advance that they can take a tram from a distant parking place, rather than walk.

• $20,000 for a special Mount Vernon Video News Release.  The video equivalent of a press release, our Video News Release (VNR) will focus on "Saving Mount Vernon, 1858-2008: Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Preservation in America."  It will allow us to develop and distribute our story (script, sound bites, video clips, etc.) to local media outlets around the country.  Our VNR would be broadcast to a satellite transponder at a scheduled time, which would significantly increase coverage of this national story.  Stations across the country take in this type of feed daily to get the "soft" news for evening broadcasts.   The more people the story reaches, the more they will be inspired to learn about George Washington and visit the website and/or the estate.

• $25,000 for a hydrilla removal project.  An invasive aquatic plant that spreads quickly in the Potomac River, hydrilla catches river debris near the Mount Vernon wharf until storms or unusually high tides clean out the area.  A yearly harvesting schedule would allow us to present a much cleaner appearance of the wharf and shoreline locations to our visitors.

• $30,000 for one year of mountmaking, matting/framing, and labels for artifacts to be displayed in the Museum and Education Center galleries.   Displays in the galleries change every three months.  Specially crafted, conservation-appropriate mounts, mats, and frames enable our guests to experience Mount Vernon’s priceless treasures and protect them while on public view.    

• $35,000 for one year of reforestation on Mount Vernon’s 300 forested acres.   
• The exploding deer population around Mount Vernon means that few seedlings are ever able to fill spaces vacated by dead trees.  Deer eat the seedlings before they mature.  Consequently, Mount Vernon seeks to fund one forestry intern, deer fencing materials, and arboricultural efforts that will allow for the regeneration of trees in our scenic and historic forests.  We have been successfully protecting Mount Vernon trees for the last four years and have fenced nine areas of up to one-quarter of an acre each.

• $39,500 for conservation of prints in the Mansion.
• Long-term exposure to light, heat, and humidity has taken its toll on prints purchased by Washington that still adorn the Mansion’s walls.  These include prints hanging in the Large Dining Room, according to Washington’s estate inventory.   Gone for decades, they  were returned to Mount Vernon in the 1940s and have been on exhibit ever since.  Conservation and proper housing of these one-of-a-kind artifacts will ensure that they can continue to be displayed for generations to come.   

• $40,000 to replace our 14-year-old front-end loader and backhoe.  Years ago, Caterpillar donated a Cat 416 series II backhoe, which has served the estate well.  Essential for estate maintenance, this machine is continually necessary for digging utility lines, fixing irrigation leaks, removing tree stumps and undertaking a multitude of other tasks.  Suggested replacement is a John Deere 110 TLB (tractor-loaded backhoe), which is a 43 HP, all-wheel drive, diesel tractor with bucket and backhoe.                                                   

• $40,800 for eMuseum software and two server computers. In 2007, Mount Vernon’s Top 100 Treasures were cataloged into a new database, The Museum System (TMS).  We would like to share these exceptional objects with the world via the Internet —now standard practice among the world’s major fine and decorative arts museums and historic houses.  Doing so requires a companion web-based software program known as eMuseum, which can publish information from TMS onto Mount Vernon’s website.  One server is needed to run eMuseum and a second server to store digital images. 

• $50,000 to help us replace one of two snow-removal vehicles. This new vehicle, which will replace one purchased in 1994, will not only remove snow on the estate during the winter, but also serve as a daily work truck for our Operations & Maintenance technicians. 

• $65,000 to pay the annual salary and benefits of an actor to portray a new first-person character on the estate.  Our modestly sized, relatively new, first-person character program is enormously popular with visitors.  Despite its popularity, the program at its current funding level has the capacity to reach only one-third of Mount Vernon visitors each year.  These funds will support this additional full-time character actor who will reach many more visitors and represent someone close to George Washington, like our beloved “Martha Washington” currently on staff.  The character might be either Washington’s personal manservant, Billy Lee; his granddaughter, Nelly Custis; Dr. James Craik, his personal physician and lifelong friend; or his surrogate son, the Marquis de Lafayette.  The choice will depend on the best available talent at the time.

• $100,000 to rejuvenate, enhance, and replant the hanging wood and riverfront. 
• Mount Vernon’s awe-inspiring view across the Potomac River is maintained by frequent tree pruning.   These funds would allow for additional pruning to control growth, planting of 50 or more understory trees, as well as removal of fallen or damaged trees, unwanted underbrush, and invasive vines that are now overtaking trees.

• $500,000 to endow in perpetuity the Teachers Institute for teachers from one state.  Our unique George Washington Teachers Institute has been growing for the past nine years, providing teachers of grades three through twelve with a week-long immersion study program hosted at Mount Vernon.  Through this “train the trainer” form of continuing education, participants gain a new and deeper understanding of George Washington – farmer, family man, adventurer, military leader, entrepreneur, businessman, and politician – as well as his unique legacy in creating and shaping American democracy.  Award-winning author David McCullough has noted that “we are raising a generation which is historically illiterate” and that all too quickly our Founding Fathers are becoming the “Forgotten Fathers.”  This program directly helps offset these trends.  Every summer, we now host teachers from more than a dozen states.  Equipped with their new knowledge and perspectives, these teachers return home to educate both students and peers.  Our long-term goal is to serve teachers from all 50 states.

Of course, we also always welcome unrestricted support as well as donations for our endowment. Endowment funds can extend Mount Vernon’s long-range organizational vigor into perpetuity and serve as a “rainy day fund” that could be especially relevant in the wake of catastrophic events like September 11, 2001 – after which the Washington, DC region’s tourist industry was temporarily devastated.

For more information or to inquire about supporting Mount Vernon, please contact our Major & Planned Gifts office at:

1-800-780-1799

wishlist@mountvernon.org

Gifts to Mount Vernon can be funded with gifts of cash, stock, or other assets.

Please contact us today by telephone or email. We can help you determine which project is right for you and show you tax-wise methods of making a significant gift to Mount Vernon.

Updated November 2008