
Join & Support
The Preservation Society
of Newport County
Your Support Makes Our Work Possible
Each year, we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors to experience Newport’s rich history through our houses, landscapes and dynamic programming.
The Preservation Society of Newport County is a nonprofit organization and relies on generous donations from the public. Your support through membership or charitable gifts advances our mission, provides essential operational support and advances critical preservation work.
Your gift, no matter how big or small, keeps our historic properties — and the stories they tell — accessible to visitors of all ages.

Annual Fund
Your gift to the Annual Fund provides essential funding to protect, preserve and present our 11 historic properties and landscapes, offer innovative educational programs and host unforgettable events. Without the generous support of friends like you, we could not fulfill our mission to share the story of America’s vibrant architectural and cultural heritage.
Your gift to the Annual Fund supports all facets of preservation and interpretation at the Newport Mansions, including:
- New and enhanced interpretation of our properties, such as the Third Floor of The Breakers and The Elms Landscape.
- Digitizing our collections for online access.
- Implementing climate mitigation measures across our houses.
- Hosting lectures, exhibitions, family programming and other opportunities to educate and engage our community about Newport’s history.
Every gift makes a difference. Thank you for your support!
Capital Priorities
Significant and pressing preservation needs continually arise and evolve across our properties. Accordingly, the Preservation Society strives to advance important capital projects on an ongoing basis.
Generous support from individuals, corporations and foundations allows us to undertake major projects to preserve our houses and landscapes, recently including:
- A comprehensive restoration effort at Rosecliff.
- Enhanced lighting systems to support the reimagined interpretation of Hunter House.
- A new geothermal climate-control system at Chateau-sur-Mer.
- Replacement of exterior shingles and other restoration work at Isaac Bell House.
- Ongoing restoration of spaces on the third floor of The Breakers.
- The nearly completed Breakers Landscape Revival.
We honor our duty to protect these cultural landmarks. Your generosity ensures meaningful progress on capital projects.




Ways to Give
Checks can be mailed to:
The Preservation Society of Newport County
424 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
If your gift includes a specific designation, please include a letter or note on the memo line of the check.
We accept all major credit cards and can process gifts over the phone at (401) 847-1000, ext. 176, via the website, or in person at The Breakers Welcome Center.
Gifts of appreciated securities (stocks, bonds, or mutual funds held for more than one year) are an excellent way to support The Preservation Society of Newport County.
For more information on how to make a stock gift, please contact Director of Institutional Advancement Sarah Iwanski at siwanski@newportmansions.org or (401) 847-1000, ext. 167.
Multiply the impact of your support for the Preservation Society by matching your contribution. Please check with your employer’s Human Resources department for details.
A gift to the endowment will ensure that the Preservation Society has a steady source of income, even in the face of budgetary challenges, and can pursue first-rate educational and scholarly activities well into the future. Your contribution to the endowment is a self-renewing gift in that the Society’s current spending policy of five percent per year allows the principal to grow while generating a reliable income stream in perpetuity.
Planned Giving
A Conservator is one who provides resources by which preservation is achieved. When a donor thoughtfully provides for The Preservation Society of Newport County in an estate plan, they act as a Conservator of the Society, ensuring that future generations are able to achieve the Society’s mission with certainty. The Conservators Circle was established to recognize and thank those members and friends who have provided for the Society in their estate plans.
As supporters of the arts and historic preservation, we are all well aware of the significant cost of showing and maintaining the outstanding historic properties owned by the Preservation Society. Through planned gifts, especially with highly appreciated assets, donors are able to provide substantial support while continuing to care for their own life needs. The benefits of planned gifts, by their nature, continue well beyond a donor’s lifetime.
In the case of The Preservation Society of Newport County, planned gifts ensure that important historic properties will be maintained for the use, study and enjoyment of future generations, and that a unique chapter of the social and economic history of our country will be preserved.
We cordially invite you to become a member of The Conservators Circle. A growing number of generous members and friends are helping us prepare for the future by arranging for a planned gift to the Society. You are eligible to join The Conservators Circle if you have arranged for one or more of the following planned gifts: bequests and wills, charitable trusts, or life insurance.
Please consider supporting the Preservation Society’s future through a provision in your estate plans. If you have already done so, kindly let us know so that we may enroll you in The Conservators Circle.
One of the most popular and easiest planned gifts is the bequest. Many donors choose to make their ultimate gift through their will. If you already have a will, it is not necessary to rewrite your entire will to make a bequest to the Preservation Society. You can simply instruct your attorney to prepare a codicil – an amendment – to your current will. A bequest can specify how the gift is to be used, such as for general purposes, for the collections, for the gardens, or for a specific property.
A Charitable Remainder Trust is a gift plan that provides a life income to the donor or other beneficiary. Under this arrangement, a donor irrevocably transfers assets to a trust for a designated period of time, during which payments are made to the donor or to a designated beneficiary. At the end of the trust period, the remaining assets are transferred to the Preservation Society to be used for whatever purposes the donor determined. Tax advantages to the donor are substantial, including the avoidance of any capital gains tax in the appreciated property and the generation of a substantial charitable deduction. Donors may choose to have either a fixed payment (Charity Annuity Trust) or a percentage of the trust assets, re-valued annually (Charitable Unitrust).
The Charitable Lead Trust is often used by families who wish to pass family assets, such as a business or real property, intact to the next generation at substantially reduced estate taxes. Often described as being the opposite of a charitable remainder trust, a lead trust provides the Preservation Society with income for a stated period of time, after which the assets are distributed to family members as stated in the trust agreement.
A gift of a whole life insurance policy may be made by naming the Preservation Society as irrevocable owner and beneficiary of a new or existing policy.
Corporate Partners
Partners in Preservation
The Preservation Society of Newport County is proud to have Bartlett Tree Experts and BankNewport as Partners in Preservation, with a major financial commitment to preserving the historic integrity of Newport.
Partners in Preservation provide significant unrestricted gifts in support of the Society’s work in preservation and public academic programs. With the help of these corporate partners, the Preservation Society is working to ensure that these great American buildings can continue to be enjoyed by many generations of visitors to come.

We invite you to consider a philanthropic gift to the Preservation Society from your business or corporation. Gifts to our organization care for our historic properties and enhance our entire operation. We are happy to discuss ways that membership or access to our properties can benefit your business or employees.
The Newport Mansions hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year coming from all 50 states and more than a hundred countries around the world. Because of this visibility, the Newport Mansions present a valuable sponsorship opportunity for discriminating companies.
The Preservation Society of Newport County offers a wide range of exciting sponsorship opportunities for local, national and international corporations. Corporate sponsorship opportunities range from $10,000 to $350,000 and include a variety of attractive benefits. To discuss corporate philanthropy or sponsorship opportunities at The Preservation Society of Newport County, please contact director of Institutional Advancement Sarah Iwanski at SIwanski@NewportMansions.org.
Contact Us
We are here to help you!
If you have a general questions about membership, the best way to reach us is via email at members@newportmansions.org. During business hours, this email is continuously monitored. Please feel free to call us at 401-847-1000 ext 111 or others listed below.
Jamie Asciolla
Sr. Membership & Advancement Services Associate
Ext. 176
jasciolla@newportmansions.org
Laura de Ramel
Advancement Officer
Ext. 175
lderamel@newportmansions.org
Katarina Diepholz
Advancement Communications Associate
Ext. 177
kdiepholz@newportmansions.org
Tara Flynn
Senior Advancement Officer
Ext. 191
tflynn@newportmansions.org
Sarah Iwanski
Director of Institutional Advancement
Ext. 167
siwanski@newportmansions.org
Emily Parrow
Sr. Advancement Administrator
Ext. 173
eparrow@newportmansions.org
Samantha Talbot
Membership Coordinator
Ext. 111
stalbot@newportmansions.org