The Legacy Fund is a new way to support the Dance Institute of Washington. Each gift is invested, so it keeps helping students year after year.
Rather talk it through? Call 202.371.9656
If you want dance to survive, you need DIW to survive.Kahina Haynes, Executive Director
Federal arts funding has pulled back sharply, and arts organizations across Washington, DC are cutting programs, shrinking and in some cases closing their doors.
DIW chose to open its doors wider. It is a school, a community hub and a landmark cultural institution in the nation’s capital, and it has trained more than 46,000 students since 1987. The Legacy Fund is how DIW secures that future on its own terms, with money that does not depend on the grant decisions of any single year.
From 2027 to 2030, DIW is raising $4 million for the Legacy Fund. The Gladys Kessler Estate has already committed the first $2 million, so DIW is now asking supporters like you to give the other $2 million.
Once the $4 million is raised and invested, a share of its growth each year can pay for scholarships, training and studio space, while the $4 million itself stays in the fund.
You can give to DIW in two ways. A gift to this year’s budget is spent this season. A gift to the Legacy Fund is invested, and it keeps helping students year after year.
| What the gift does | A gift to this year’s budget | A gift to the Legacy Fund |
|---|---|---|
| Pays for classes, teachers and costumes this season | A share of its growth, each year | |
| Spent within the year | ||
| Kept in its own invested account | ||
| Keeps helping students year after year | ||
| Can grow over time | ||
| Helps DIW keep classes going through a hard year | ||
| Tax-deductible if you itemize | ||
| Best for | Helping students right now | Helping students in the years ahead |
Both kinds of gift matter: DIW needs this year’s budget to run its classes, and the Legacy Fund to keep them going in the years ahead.
Yes Partly No
Joins the money DIW spends this season.
Classes, teachers, costumes and lights.
Next year, DIW raises this money again.
Kept apart from DIW’s yearly budget.
The Board and DIW’s bank follow a written investment policy.
Each year a share of the growth is spent. The gift stays invested.
Money set aside so classes and scholarships can continue through a hard year.
The Kessler gift and early gifts are invested. DIW spends only the growth, following a written policy set by its Board.
A fund whose gifts stay invested permanently. DIW plans to open it so donors can leave gifts that outlast their lifetime. timing to confirm
Eight in ten DIW students train on a full or partial scholarship.
More than 1,000 students train at DIW each year, from first classes to pre-professional.
Hours of subsidized rehearsal space each year, for local artists and companies who need a place to make work.
Community partners, from schools to Howard University’s dance department, who use DIW as a home.
We exist to launch the next changemaker. One who knows how to extend a leg and extend opportunity to others.Kahina Haynes, Executive Director
“Forty years is long enough to have a history. It is also long enough to have a responsibility.”
Choose an amount to compare a one-time gift with the same gift to the Legacy Fund, over 30 years.
Example only. It assumes the fund earns 7% a year and spends 4% a year, so the gift keeps growing. Investment returns vary, and DIW’s Board sets the yearly rate.
Choose a way that suits you. Some ways can also lower your taxes, so please ask your tax adviser how each applies to you.
| Way to give | Helps students this year | Nothing to pay today | Can lower your taxes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give now | |||
| Give onlineAnyone, at any amount | If you itemize | ||
| Employer matchIf your employer offers one | Same as your own gift | ||
| Gift of stockIf you own shares that have grown | May avoid capital gains tax | ||
| Donor-advised fundIf you already have one | The money is already set aside | Deduction already taken | |
| From your IRAIf you are 70½ or older | Not counted as income | ||
| Give over time | |||
| Pledge over timeIf you want to give more than you can at once | Paid in parts | Each year you pay | |
| Give after your lifetime | |||
| Will, trust or beneficiaryIf you want to leave a gift later | DIW receives it later | May lower estate taxes | |
Yes Partly No
We will walk you through each option and send everything in writing. There is no pressure to decide on the call.