Southeastern Railway Museum

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The Southeastern Railway Museum is very fortunate to have dedicated members, supporters, and volunteers. Each contributes to the mission of this museum in their own way and each effort of support by everyone is deeply admired.

We are proud to be the State of Georgia’s Official Transportation History Museum. However, we do not receive any financial support from the state and our continued success as a museum depends on the financial support of people who support our mission.

We deeply appreciate your financial support.

Direct Donations

Donate by Mail

Fast Track to the Future — Our Capital Campaign

This campaign was launched to help provide long term funding of the Mission of the Southeastern Railway Museum. As of February of 2023, we have received 84 pledges totaling $876,772 representing 88% of our campaign goal! We could use your help if you are able to participate to help us cross our finish line of $1 Million plus campaign expenses. 

To read more about this campaign, please check out our brochure.

We appreciate our business sponsors and have highlighted many of them below.

ACS Railroad Solutions

Direct Donations

Donation Information

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Tribute Gift

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Donor Information

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Donor Address

Donations by Mail

If you prefer to make your donation by check, please mail to:

Southeastern Railway Museum
Attn: Accounting
PO Box 1267
Duluth, GA 30096-0023

More Ways to Donate

Equipment Wishlist

The museum has the following items on our wish list of needs:

  • Backhoe (something along the lines of a Case 580 or John Deere 310 series machine): Our current one is used for a wide variety of museum tasks and was acquired, used and well worn and is consuming a significant amount of volunteer time maintaining it instead of the museum.
  • Commercial lawn equipment: the museum’s 30+ acres wear through residential equipment very quickly.
  • Light weight steps/platforms for entry to various cars: Currently we use wooden steps for access to various rail cars and for the cars that are outside this creates an ongoing maintenance challenge as well as the challenge to move when cars need relocating. We’re looking for aluminum or light weight steel steps (including handrails/guardrails) 4 feet wide with a top platform approximately 4 foot by 4 foot. Platform height needs to be adjustable between 42 – 52 inches.
  • Scissor lift: for maintenance of lights, cranes and Christmas decorations, the museum needs a medium weight articulated man-lift with 30′-40′ reach.  As some of the maintenance is outdoor lighting, it needs to be capable of more than concrete floor operations.
  • Fuel and Lubricants: for Operating Equipment
  • Services: Landscape and Building Maintenance
  • Website: design and maintenance

If you’re interested in donating an item on our wish list or other items, please reach out to the administrator via the museum’s contact page. 

Qualified Charitable Distributions

In our fund-raising efforts we have always been fortunate to have financial donors of every age and all of those donations are always deeply appreciated and much needed to help us achieve our mission.

In the process of seeking financial support and pledges we have been made aware of a tool that will enable supporters to not only donate funds to the museum but to also save personal tax dollars in the process using a process called Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). Contact your financial adviser for ways to help.

Leave a Legacy—Planned Giving

A planned gift is generally considered to be a gift that is arranged during your client’s lifetime that comes to fruition in the future. Planned gifts are a way to ensure that you create your own charitable legacy, even if those plans can’t be implemented until later.

A Gift in Your Will or Trust

The most common form of planned giving is a charitable bequest in a will or trust. . Your bequest can be a specific amount, a percentage of your client’s estate or even the residual balance of the estate after all other bequests have been made. The Museum can accept both designated and unrestricted funds.

A Gift of Retirement Funds

Perhaps the most tax advantageous bequest, and in some ways the simplest, is to name the Southeastern Railway Museum as the beneficiary of your IRA, 401(k) or 403(b). This can be done by changing the beneficiary designation through your IRA providers web site. Retirement benefits are usually taxed as ordinary income upon distribution to a beneficiary. As a public charity, however, the Southeastern Railway Museum generally does not pay income tax. A gift of retirement assets may only be worth 60-80% of their value to individual beneficiaries on an after-tax basis, but public charities can enjoy 100% of the value. One additional way to give from retirement accounts is the Qualified Charitable Distribution, where individuals above 70 1/2 can gift funds from their IRA directly to charity. This approach does fulfill your minimum required distribution but is not tax deductible. This tool is especially helpful to those who have an overfunded IRA.

(c) 2019-2023 Southeastern Railway Museum.