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Chairs and Special Gifts

Chairs and other special gifts are excellent ways to memorialize loved ones and ensure that your own personal values are advanced well into the future. Although the Cato Institute always welcomes donations to its general operating fund, you can also direct your contribution to a specific department or policy area. For example, Cato’s first endowed chair, the B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies, is currently held by Ilya Somin. Other contributions have supported our Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies, underwritten our Global Freedom Initiative, assisted in the mass distribution of our pocket-sized Constitution, and supported many other special projects such as internships and Cato University scholarships.

We want to help you leave the legacy that is most meaningful to you. Please let us know if a chair, targeted endowment, or other special gift might be of interest to you.

Other Ways to Give

Whereas we have discussed some of the most popular ways of giving, our list is not exhaustive. So feel free to approach us if you have a gift-giving idea not discussed here.

For example, you may have a valuable stamp collection or some antique furniture. You may have a home which you would like to pass on to Cato. Or you may have a life insurance policy that is no longer needed to protect your family. If you have one of these gifts in mind, contact us so that we can structure the gift in a way that works for you and for Cato.

Defending Our Heritage of Liberty

Cato speaks with a powerful voice: its principled defense of liberty makes it a rudder for all who care about freedom. We greatly appreciate your support for Cato’s efforts in promoting a free society, limited government, and the rule of law.

With the hope that you will consider Cato in your plans, we encourage you to contact us to discuss the giving strategies presented here. We’d like to hear your ideas about what you want to do to help the Cato Institute achieve its mission to expand and strengthen civil society. Working together we can achieve that goal.