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 initiatives.  Help us bring the undying lessons of George Washington’s life to all corners of America.

COLLECTIONS:

• FUNDED!  $600 for conservation of George Washington’s letter to Captain Peter Hog, dated January 25, 1774. Before the manuscript can be exhibited in the Gilder-Lehrman Gallery, it must be removed from its acidic mounting board.   

• $1,000 for conservation of George Washington’s invitation to Edmund Lee, dated September 3, 1798.  In order to place this paper piece in the upcoming 2010 exhibition, Bringing Them Home, masking tape must be removed from the invitation, and it must be separated from its acidic and deteriorated mounting board.   

• $1,800 for conservation of George Washington’s account with Benjamin Cawood from 1777 – 1787 before this manuscript can be placed on exhibition in the Gilder-Lehrman Gallery.  The document currently has multiple running tears along the upper and lower margins, and is partially severed along the center fold.

• $2,000 to digitize The Illustrated Mount Vernon Record, and make it available on Mount Vernon’s website.   From July 1858 to June 1860, just 24 issues of the Record were published.  This unique and rare serial documents the earliest nationwide efforts of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association to purchase and save Mount Vernon and would be invaluable to researchers both on and off the Mount Vernon estate.

• $2,000 for evaluation of 115 reel-to-reel tapes of eight-, sixteen-, and thirty-five-millimeter film of Mount Vernon estate events, productions, and special presentations from the 1920s onward. The goal of the evaluation is to develop a budget and three-year plan to migrate the tapes from film to CD format.  Once accomplished, these pieces will serve as invaluable tools for the public, as well as for Mount Vernon’s researchers and staff.

• $2,500 for conservation of a manuscript in the Special Collections entitled “Sales of furniture at Belvoir, August 15, 1774.”  The document details those purchases made by George Washington and others who attended the sale of objects that once furnished the Fairfax home.  The document is currently in three pieces and has one large tear.  Previous repairs must be readdressed before it is placed on exhibition in the Gilder-Lehrman Gallery.

• $3,500 for special Solandar storage boxes to properly house 35 Mount Vernon guest books dating from the 1870s to 1894 and later.

• $4,000 for conservation of two George Washington documents from the year 1775: George Washington’s account with William Herbert from March – July 1775 and a bill made out by George Washington and dated April 20, 1775.  These documents have suffered fire damage (prior to their entry into the Mount Vernon collection).  Both are fully laminated and, if possible, need to be delaminated.

• $5,000 to purchase and bind 50 theses and dissertations that relate to George Washington, his life and career, and Mount Vernon.  These scholarly materials will complement the library’s collection of books and serials.

• $7,000 for archival supplies to protect and re-house Mount Vernon’s Special Collections, including acid-free blotters, folders, boxes, polyester sleeves, barrier paper, special erasures, archival tape, and a heat sealant machine (for creating custom-made polyester folders on-site as opposed to ordering them). These supplies are necessary to conduct ongoing, phased-in conservation that can be accomplished in-house by the Curator of Special Collections.  

• $7,000 for archival materials to protect and re-house 25 Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association scrapbooks and photo albums.  Once organized and appropriately housed, the albums can be cataloged and included in the library’s general database. 

• $8,000 for one year of conservation to the library collection of 19^th-, 20^th- and 21^st-century materials. The library collections are in need of basic maintenance and conservation, which was deferred for some years, due to staff and funding shortages.  The funds provided will pay for the purchase of conservation supplies for in-house repairs and collection housing (i.e., archival boxes, pamphlet binders, mylar covers, etc.), the binding of books and serials, and the purchase of 12 foam book supports to assist researchers with reading fragile materials. 

• $10,000 to replace and upgrade the library’s 25-year-old microfilm reader that is no longer fully operational and cannot be repaired due to the unavailability of decades-old parts.   A new state-of-the art microform reader and printer is needed and will enable researchers to scan and save documents to a ‘flash’ drive as well as access the significant portion of Mount Vernon’s historical manuscript collection which has been microfilmed. 

• $10,000 is needed to purchase Early American Newspapers, 1690-1876 (Series 1 and  2).  Early American newspapers were often printed by small-town printers, who documented the daily life of hundreds of diverse American communities.  This digital collection—an extraordinary collection of primary source material for researchers and historians—offers 350,000 fully searchable issues from over 710 historical American newspapers.

• $10,500 to record the oral histories of past members of the Association’s board of directors.  The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association is recording the oral histories of former Regents and Vice Regents.  These women make up the Association board, which has managed the Estate and gardens for almost 150 years 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.

• $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.    

• $30,000 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.

• $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 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 Small 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.  

EDUCATION:

• $2,400 to $4,800 per dozen for barrels at George Washington’s Gristmill and Distillery.   Washington’s gristmill and distillery required innumerable barrels to pack his super-fine flour for export and his rye whiskey for transport to market in Alexandria.  Records indicate that Washington had a cooperage within 30 yards of his gristmill. To accurately interpret the extensive milling and distilling business conducted by Washington at his Dogue Run Farm, accurate flour and whiskey barrels are needed for display. These barrels are made by traditional coopers to exact 18^th-century specifications.

• FUNDED!  $4,000 for “Once Upon a Time at Mount Vernon.”  To begin teaching our youngest visitors about Washington’s remarkable career and character, Mount Vernon piloted a new storytelling initiative for young families.  Once Upon a Time at Mount Vernon engages our youngest visitors in the story of George Washington’s life.  Children are invited to fully participate and act out parts of the same Aesop’s fables that Washington would have heard as a child.  They are encouraged to help recreate George Washington’s life and his home with colorful pictures and simple words on an interactive storyboard.  We hope to continue and expand the program by offering it every weekend throughout the year.  A donation of $4,000 will help us provide additional staff training, provide costumes for our storytelling interpreters, and expand the artwork for our interactive storyboard.

• $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 Mount Vernon’s story 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.

• $25,000 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.

• $250,000 to fund for one year of our Education Department’s First-Person Performers Initiative that annually entertains and educates hundreds of thousands of guests on the Estate.  Our modestly sized 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.  This donation would support our existing troop of full-time character actors and allow an expansion of visitor activities.  Characters such as his beloved wife, Martha, and his enslaved manservant, Billy Lee, provide our guests with unique and deeply personal insights into George Washington’s character and leadership.

• FUNDED IN 13 STATES!  SEEKING FUNDS FOR 37 OTHER STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.  $500,000-$1,000,000 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 an 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.

PRESERVATION AND HORTICULTURE:

• $6,000 to purchase a grappling hook bucket attachment for Mount Vernon’s Bobcat tractor.  This versatile attachment would allow the Bobcat to pick up logs and debris with ease.  This tractor attachment will help our crews with forest cleanup, mulching, compost and livestock operations.  It will assist with hauling wood to our saw mill, where we mill lumber for use on the Estate.

• $9,000 to purchase two new turf aerators.   With more than one million visitors a year, our horticulturists’ major concern is the effect of millions of steps that compact the lawn surface in the historic area.  To combat this wear-and-tear, we must aerate the lawns with power aerators.  This process allows the lawn to breathe and allows organic matter to be added, seed to be sown, and water to penetrate more deeply. 

• $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. 

• FUNDED!  $13,000 for a landscape enhancement around George Washington’s tomb.  Many English boxwood shrubs and ornamental trees near the tomb have succumbed to disease and storm damage.  To rectify the situation, significantly sized American boxwood will be planted to replace the English boxwood, and cedars will be planted to complete a hedgerow.  Also, we will plant ornamental deciduous trees for shade and softening the tomb surroundings.  This planting of trees and shrubs will beautify the setting so deserved by this sacred ground.

• $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 five years and have fenced nine areas of up to one-quarter of an acre each.

• $100,000 to rejuvenate and enhance 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.

OPERATIONS AND GUEST SERVICES:

• $7,500 to upgrade our Security Control Room.  We 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.  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.

• $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.

PUBLIC RELATIONS:

• $25,000 to film scenes around the Estate in high-definition.  This footage would be kept on file as b-roll for lending to TV stations and film crews that are creating shows or news spots on Mount Vernon.  Our current b-roll of the Mansion and grounds is in a more traditional format, while high-definition is becoming the standard.

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.

Our “wish list” changes on a regular basis.  The latest updated version appears online at mountvernon.org/wishlist and is available through our Development office at: 

P.O. Box 110, Mount Vernon, VA 22121

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 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.

Your thoughtful gift of $25,000 or more in 2009 entitles you to become a 2010 member of the 1732 Society, our special new annual-fund donor group.  Commemorating the year in which the Father of Our Country was born, the 1732 Society offers its members special benefits—including special recognition at Mount Vernon events as well as in our publications.  Names also appear for one year on a special plaque in our Ford Orientation Center, where more than one million guests start their journey at Mount Vernon every year.

Updated June 2009