By Lauren Ross, Director of Development
Earlier this year the Museum received a very generous and transformational bequest from one of our long-time donors, Hilarie Gade, who passed away in 2025. In her honor, we are naming our new Planned Giving Society the Hilarie Jane Forst Gade Legacy Society.
Hilarie believed deeply in the Museum’s mission, and gave generously every year, along with her life partner, John Peters, to support our work. They recognized that the opportunities the Museum offers people – to build community, learn, develop, grow, and connect to Lake Champlain and our history – are critical ways to make the world a better place. Hilarie cared profoundly about doing that.
The Museum was founded in 1985. Hilarie was a supporter from the very beginning. Forty years later the Museum is still thriving. And Hilarie’s bequest helps put the Museum on a solid path for the next 40 years.
We hope that Hilarie’s gift will inspire other donors. Planned gifts are important to us to ensure a long and productive future at the Museum.
The Museum has an annual budget of approximately $1.9 million. With that we maintain our operations, our programming, and our free admission policy. Every year we work to raise that amount from individual donors, family foundations, local businesses, and government grants. Our annual fundraising, along with earned income from maritime programs and archaeological contract work, brings in just under that, and the 4% “draw” from the earnings of our endowment helps close the gap.
Planned gifts provide the Museum with some breathing room. They help create future sustainability, and open up possibilities for the Museum we otherwise wouldn’t have. They allow us to invest in the people who create and run our programs, supporting equitable salaries, improving benefits and offering professional development opportunities. Planned gifts allow us to invest in deferred maintenance projects that often are very hard to fundraise for (which is why they become “deferred”!).
Hilarie’s gift earlier this year was an extraordinary affirmation that she believed in the Museum’s mission and that she wanted the Museum to prosper for years to come. We are deeply grateful for her amazing gift, and honor her as we build the Hilarie Jane Forst Gade Legacy Society. We will do our best to fulfill her dreams for our community.
Hilarie would have been the first to tell you that not every planned gift has to be large. The thought and intention in each planned gift makes it extraordinary. Please consider a Planned Gift to the Museum when you make your own plans. To find out more about how to do that, please visit our Planned Giving page.