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IRA Giving
Support the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through your Individual Retirement Account (IRA)

Learn more about the tax advantages associated with these gifts.

If you are over 70½ years of age, you may be able to take advantage of income tax savings by making a gift to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra with a distribution from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA).

Here is how it works:

  • Direct your IRA administrator to process a distribution to the CSO.
    This is usually done with a form provided by the financial institution that holds your IRA. In some cases, individuals will have an IRA checkbook, in which case you can simply write a check payable to the CSO from your IRA checkbook.
  • After age 72, the gift can count toward your annual required minimum distribution (RMD) and not as income for tax purposes.
    You may distribute a total amount up to $100,000 in a calendar year to the CSO and other charities, completed by December 31 of the year in which you intend to make the charitable distribution.

Important Note: In order for this gift to count towards your RMD in a year, please make sure that it arrives at the CSO by December 15 of that year. This is to ensure enough time for the check to be deposited and processed by the bank.

You may need to provide the following information to the financial institution that holds your IRA:

  • Name & Address: Chicago Symphony Orchestra; 220 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60604
  • CSO’s Tax ID Number: 36-2167823
  • Contact Information: 312-294-3100 or gifts@cso.org

It is helpful to let us know when you have made an IRA gift, but there is no form you need to complete with the CSO to provide support through your IRA.

Sitting in Orchestra Hall and listening to the CSO play, I always feel great joy and a sense that my spirit is being filled with beauty. When I was considering my support, my financial advisor suggested that I might do so through my IRA. It was so easy to arrange my gift to such a treasured institution in this way. Long live the CSO! —Rebecca West

You can also support the future of the CSO by naming the Orchestra as a beneficiary of your IRA to receive some portion of the funds remaining at your passing.

Similar to making an annual distribution, the financial institution that holds the IRA often has a simple form that you can complete.

If you decide to include the CSO as a beneficiary of your IRA, let us know! We would appreciate the opportunity to honor your commitment and thank you by welcoming you as a member of the Theodore Thomas Society.

The CSO does not pay taxes on gifts received when it is named as the beneficiary of an IRA. On the other hand, IRA beneficiary designations to individuals will be taxed.

Learn More

To learn more about making a planned gift to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra or becoming a member of the Theodore Thomas Society:

For More Information

We would be happy to help you understand the options available and the ways to go about setting up a plan that is just right for you. Contact a member of our team to help answer any questions you might have.

Contact Planned Giving

Brian Nelson
Manager, Endowment Gifts and Planned Giving
312-294-3192

Karen Bippus
Director, Endowment Gifts and Planned Giving
312-294-3150

220 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60604