Support
Making a gift to Poplar Forest now will make a difference.
If we as individuals are accountable to those who succeed us, we have today an exceptional opportunity to demonstrate that trust. Once in a great while we have the opportunity to achieve something significant, something that will endure. The protection, restoration, and preservation of Thomas Jefferson’s retreat is such an opportunity. The American public is grateful to the visionaries who saved Mt. Vernon and Monticello. They will be equally grateful to you.
Your gift will have an immediate impact.
Thomas Jefferson’s retreat depends on contributions from people like you. The task of preserving it and keeping it open to the public is led by the nonprofit Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, a 501(c)(3) organization.
Your contribution makes it possible to
- continue the effort to rescue the last, still-unprotected parts of the heart of the retreat—to meet our responsibility to secure Thomas Jefferson’s sanctuary for future generations
- Discover and excavate new archaeological sites— to reveal Jefferson’s vision for his most private landscape as well as what living here was like
- Restore the interior of Jefferson’s very personal design for his octagonal house, handcrafting the features with the same materials and techniques used by his original workmen
- Provide hands-on and distance-learning experiences for school children about Thomas Jefferson and what life was like in his time
- Give the opportunity for hands-on training to a new generation through field schools in archaeology and architectural restoration
- Keep Poplar Forest open to everyone seeking deeper insight into Thomas Jefferson and his ideals for private life— how he pursued a rewarding personal life of curiosity and creativity
- Provide the maintenance essential to care for the buildings and grounds
- Prepare for Poplar Forest’s future use and preservation
Gifts of any amount make a difference. Consider becoming a member of the Friends of Poplar Forest. You can make a gift now, or contact the development office to explore special opportunities or planned giving options like bequests.
We encourage you to not only support Thomas Jefferson’s retreat financially, but to visit and see first-hand what your gift is helping to achieve.
Be a part of this unique time in Poplar Forest’s history. Be part of the team that brings to light new knowledge about Thomas Jefferson—and brings back into focus what Jefferson created here. Together we can give future generations an irreplaceable link to Thomas Jefferson and his ideas.
“I deem it the duty of every man to devote a certain portion of his income for charitable purposes; and that it is his further duty to see it so applied as to do the most good of which it is capable.”
Thomas Jefferson