Impact Generations of Designers

Legacy gifts provide NYSID with the fiscal strength to deliver superior education to our students year after year. They allow us to plan for the future. You don’t need to be super wealthy to impact the lives of students and help establish the vanguard of the interior design profession for years to come. Whether you’d like to donate hundreds, or hundreds of thousands, we make the process of planning your gift easy and meaningful.  

The most common legacy gifts are beneficiary designations of a retirement plan, IRA, or life insurance policy, or bequests made in a will. Many gifts provide immediate and valuable tax benefits. You may be inspired to direct your donation to scholarships, awards that help NYSID reward faculty members for excellence, or resources for the library or studios. We work closely with you to execute your vision. 

When you make a planned gift to NYSID, you become a member of the 1916 Society, named for the year architect Sherrill Whiton founded the decorative arts program that would become the New York School of Interior Design. You become part of the past, present and future of this College, which has always been so closely entwined with the profession. Members of the 1916 society receive:

  • Acknowledgment once a year in Atelier, the magazine of NYSID

  • Recognition on the NYSID website 

  • Exclusive invitations to special events and programs 

  • Free admission to Dialogues on Design, a popular series of talks with interior designers produced by NYSID moderated by Dennis Scully, host of the Business of Home podcast.  

The legacy donors of the 1916 society include:

  • Barbara Bernie

  • Melinda Bickers

  • William N. Breger

  • Ruth V. Burt

  • Jack Cogill Burgess

  • Fradkin Family Trust

  • Ross Francis

  • Beatrice Gneses

  • Joseph Grusczak and William De Graff

  • Albert Hadley

  • Fred Kass

  • Valerie Mead

  • Sylvia Curry Owen

  • Neal A. Prince

  • Arthur Satz

  • David Scott

  • Maria and Bill Spears

If you have already included a gift in your will or other estate plan to NYSID, won’t you let us know?  When you make a gift, please use our Federal Tax ID #: 13-1662715.

“By establishing a legacy gift to NYSID, you can chart future programs and ensure that NYSID’s students will continue to have the same opportunity as I had: to become the designer they were meant to be.”
— Alumnus David Scott, BFA ’91, Principal of David Scott Interiors, Chair of the 1916 Society

More Information

For information about joining the 1916 Society and assistance in structuring a planned gift, please contact:

Joy Cooper
Director of Development
212-472-1500, ext. 430
giving@nysid.edu