Ways to Give

• Give online now using our secure giving form and a debit or major credit card.
• To donate by phone, please call us (215) 717-3131. To speak to a member of our staff, please call Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• To donate by wire transfer, please review these instructions.
• To donate by mail, please send a check payable to “Curtis Institute of Music”

Curtis Institute of Music
Attn: Advancement
1726 Locust Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

If you’re holding marketable securities with long-term capital gains, consider contributing shares of stock, rather than cash. If you’ve owned the security for more than a year, the charitable deduction is the current market value of the security and you avoid federal income tax on the long-term capital gain. Your broker or investment advisor can wire your gift to Curtis quickly and safely by using the Depository Trust Company (DTC) wire transfer system. Please refer to our Wire Transfer Instructions for more details and consult your professional tax advisor.

A gift to Curtis from your IRA is an attractive option for IRA owners who have reached age 70½. Ordinarily, an IRA owner must report withdrawals as income and pay federal income tax on them. These provisions allow IRA owners over age 70 ½ to make gifts directly from their IRAs to qualified charities. Qualified charitable distributions count toward the IRA owner’s required minimum distribution (RMD) and are not reportable as taxable income (up to $100,000). The result is a tax break for those who do not itemize deductions. Check with your tax advisors to see if this option might be of benefit to you.

Donor-advised funds are increasingly popular. If you have made gifts to a donor-advised fund, such as the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, National Philanthropic Trust, the Schwab Charitable Fund, or Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, you can direct grants from your account to Curtis. If you do so, please remember that you cannot receive benefits (goods or services) from Curtis in return for the gift.

There are numerous ways to arrange a planned gift to Curtis, including bequests, beneficiary designations, and life-income plans. Those who advise the school of intention to include Curtis in their estate plans become members of our Founder’s Society. For additional information, please call the planned giving office at (215) 717-3126 or email [email protected].

This information is not intended as tax or legal advice. Always consult your own professional advisors to determine how these suggestions would apply to your situation. 

Curtis welcomes gifts of musical instruments that improve the school’s collections and support its students’ training and performances. The opportunity to practice and perform on fine instruments can significantly enhance a young musician’s training. With guidance and supervision from Curtis’s faculty, instruments are loaned to students for special performances, for auditions, or for their entire enrollment. Instrument gifts to Curtis can be made during your lifetime or with a specific bequest in your will. 

Curtis has been an all-Steinway school since its founding in 1924, and we welcome the opportunity to discuss gifts of Steinway grand pianos to the school. You can also make an important impact at Curtis by funding the purchase of a high-quality orchestral instrument. For example, the school is constantly upgrading its collection of timpani and percussion, trumpets, and harps. 

To learn more about donating musical instruments please contact [email protected] or (215) 717-3131 or fill out the form at the link below.

Curtis welcomes gifts of works of art or archival collections that improve the school’s collections. We welcome the discussion of non-instrument, non-cash gifts. For more information, please contact [email protected] or 215-717-3131 or fill out the form below.