You have the power to make a difference in the cultural life of your community.  Your personal donation helps bring the country’s best available actors, directors and designers to our theatre to create remarkable original productions.  Your personal donation also makes those productions accessible to everyone in our community through our subsidized ticket programs for students, seniors and the economically disadvantaged.  Since 1979, we have served over 200,000 students and senior citizens, and partnered with over 50 community-based organizations.

By joining our Producer’s Circle, at the $1,000 giving level, you also bring yourself closer to the art.  Your membership grants you exclusive access to behind-the-scenes discussions and events where you can see your contribution at work.  Hear from the artists while they are in rehearsal for the next play you will see.  Discuss the vision behind each production with the creative team.  Receive backstage tours to see the inner workings of the scenic design. 

No matter how much you are able to give, your donation in essence makes you a producer of our work.  In addition to supporting the theatre’s annual operations and productions, you may designate your support for specific MRT programs, including our education programs, senior programs, artistic initiatives or endowment.  Merrimack Repertory Theatre is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and contributions are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.  To help you realize the most from your donation, we offer a variety of giving options:

Gifts of Cash 

Click here to make a secure, on-line donation by credit card; call Jeff Prescott, Development Assistant, at 978.654.7552 to make a credit card donation by telephone; or mail a credit card donation or check payable to “Merrimack Repertory Theatre” to:

Merrimack Repertory Theatre
Development Office
132 Warren Street
Lowell, MA 01852

For your convenience, we accept Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express.

Stock Gifts

In addition to a charitable tax deduction, a gift of appreciated stock can offer additional tax savings by avoiding capital gains tax.  Click here or contact Ed Cyrus, General Manager, at 978.654.7560 for stock transfer information.

Matching Gift Program

You can make an even bigger impact when your employer matches your contribution.  If you or your spouse's company has a Matching Gift Program, you can receive benefits for your gift plus your company's match.  Simply complete the form supplied by your HR department and send it to MRT along with your gift.

Tribute/Memorial Gifts

To honor someone, to celebrate a special occasion, or as an expression of sympathy in memory of a loved one, make a tax-deductible contribution to MRT's Tribute Fund.  Tribute/Memorial Gifts are recognized in a special section of MRT playbills for one year.

Planned Gifts

Although a gift of cash is always welcome, there are many other forms of giving, including “planned gifts.”  These giving techniques do require a bit more planning, as the name implies, but can allow you to increase your support, plan for retirement, and shelter your heirs from taxes.  Planned giving grants you membership into our “Living Legacy Society,” a special group of donors who have helped to secure the long-term sustainability of MRT through their wills or other estate plans.

• Bequests: Leave a legacy by remembering MRT in your will.  You can defer a gift of real estate, securities, personal property or cash until after your lifetime.  Shelter your heirs from federal estate taxes by designating a specific amount or percentage of the residue for MRT.
• Sample Bequest Language: "I give, devise and bequeath to Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Inc. (EIN: 04-2664784) of Lowell, Massachusetts the sum of $____ [or ____% of the residue of my estate, both real and personal], to be held, administered, and used by Merrimack Repertory Theatre for the unrestricted support of the area of greatest need at the time the gift is received.  I instruct that all my charitable gifts shall be made, to the extent possible, from property that constitutes 'income in respect of a decedent' as that term is defined in the Internal Revenue Code."
• Charitable Gift Annuities: Consider a high-yield, tax-deductible gift annuity.  By making a gift of cash or other qualifying asset and entering into a gift annuity agreement naming MRT as the beneficiary, you can receive guaranteed payments for life.  These payments will not change regardless of future interest rate fluctuations.
• Life Insurance: You can donate a life insurance policy to us or simply name us as the beneficiary.  For the gift of a fully paid policy, you will receive an income tax deduction equal to the lesser of the cash value of the policy or the total premiums paid.  You must name us as owner or beneficiary of an existing policy in order to qualify for the federal charitable contribution deduction.
• Retirement Assets:  Avoid the two-fold taxation on IRAs or other benefit plans by naming MRT as the beneficiary of the remainder of the assets after your lifetime.  
• Charitable Remainder Unitrust: Create a hedge against inflation over the long term by creating a trust that pays you a fixed percentage of the trust’s assets as revalued annually.
• Charitable Lead Trust: Reduce gift and estate taxes on assets you pass to your heirs by creating a charitable trust that pays fixed or variable income to MRT for a specific term of years, with the principal retained for your heirs.

For more information on Planned Giving, please consult your attorney or accountant or contact Steven Leon, Executive Director, at 978.654.7558.