Support the Fund
Philanthropic support is critical to promoting leadership and innovation, enabling the Library to test new ideas, leverage those ideas to scale, and respond to evolving community needs. While city funding provides the Boston Public Library with a strong base of support, gifts at all levels make innovation and expansion of new services and programs possible.
Support the Fund
Philanthropic support is critical to promoting leadership and innovation, enabling the Library to test new ideas, leverage those ideas to scale, and respond to evolving community needs. While city funding provides the Boston Public Library with a strong base of support, gifts at all levels make innovation and expansion of new services and programs possible.
Patrons of the Courtyard is the Boston Public Library Fund’s leadership annual giving society. Named for one of the most inspiring spaces in the Central Library, donors support preserving and sharing the Library’s vast treasures, elevating democracy through dynamic public programming, and creating new opportunities for visitors to acquire skills, find employment or housing, and share joy in the sheer pleasure of learning.
Annual Fund
Through the Annual Fund, your unrestricted gift up to $2,500 helps ensure that the Boston Public Library thrives as a vital, dynamic resource where human connections are formed, democratic ideals are strengthened through public discourse, and individuals from all backgrounds and walks of life are welcomed.
Endowment
Named endowed funds can be established with a gift of $50,000 or more and may be added to over time to support the Library’s efforts to share treasures, activate democracy by serving as the community’s public square, and unlock opportunity for all of Boston’s citizens. Gifts are a permanent legacy and are frequently established by friends and families, often in memory or in honor of family members or loved ones.
To learn more, please contact Paula Sakey at psakey@bplfund.org
Ways to Give
If you have any questions, please contact Carol Estes-Schwartz at cestes@bplfund.org
Checks may be made payable to the Boston Public Library Fund and mailed to the Boston Public Library Fund, 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116.
The Fund accepts Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover. Credit card gifts can be made here or by mailing to the address listed above.
As a Conservator, your donation will be made automatically every month until you decide to cancel it. Click here to support the Library in an easy, flexible way that works for your budget and schedule. You may use a credit card, debit card, or bank account information to set up these payments.
Many friends of the BPL elect to make gifts to the BPL Fund that commemorate a loved one's life, birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion. We will gladly notify those you wish to know of any gifts made in their honor. When you make your gift, please note the name of the person you wish to commemorate.
The donor-advised fund (DAF) is becoming an increasingly popular way to make a charitable gift. DAFs can provide you with immediate tax benefits while making your charitable giving easier. Learn more and recommend a gift using DAF Direct by clicking here, or contact Paula Sakey at psakey@bplfund.org
A gift of appreciated securities provides benefits like an immediate charitable deduction for the full market value of the stock and avoidance of capital gains taxes that would normally be due upon sale.
- Call your broker with instructions to transfer your security to the Fund’s account on (name a specific date). Your broker will need the following information to make the transfer:
Broker name: Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC.
Account name: Boston Public Library Fund, Inc.
Account # 03341600
DTC: 0013
2. Contact Theresa Meckel, Director of Finance and Operations, at 617-859-2028 or info@bplfund.org to alert the Fund to the transfer, including the name of security, number of shares, and date of transfer. The Fund will confirm the transaction with our broker and then send you a letter documenting the transfer and mean value of the security on the day it is received in our account. Your broker should send you a confirmation as well, but the letter from the Fund will suffice for your tax records.
- Please note: The Fund cannot accept stock certificates or bonds directly. For those whose securities are not held in street name, please deliver the securities to your broker and then proceed as above.
Wire your gift from anywhere in the world and in any currency (subject to limits imposed by US laws and regulations) directly to the Fund. Your bank of choice should be able to complete this process for you. Please contact Beth Barclay, Director of Individual Giving, for the Fund bank account information by calling 617-859-2027 or emailing info@bplfund.org and also let the Fund know how you would like your gift to be credited.
Planned gifts include bequests through your will or living trust, retirement plan or life insurance policy beneficiary designations, charitable trusts and charitable gift annuities. For more information on planned giving, please head to giftplanning.bplfund.org.
Many employers will match your gift to the Boston Public Library Fund. By completing a matching gift form through your company, you may be able to double, or even triple, the impact of your gift. For more information about matching gifts, please contact Paula Sakey at psakey@bplfund.org
See if your employer will match your donation!
Dedicate a Boston Public Library book to someone you love. Through our bookplate campaign, you can print a name and personalized message inside a Boston Public Library circulating book. To learn more, please head to bplfund.org/dedicate-a-book.
