How You Can Help StLGS This Holiday Season

St. Louis Genealogical Society (StLGS) has had a busy, productive year, and, with your help, we are looking ahead to another exciting schedule of genealogy events in 2026. Many genealogy societies continue to struggle, losing members, lacking volunteers, and coping with reduced finances. However, we continue to stand solid in the genealogy community because of our wonderful, loyal members and friends, and as this year comes to a close, we are asking you once again to remember the society in your year-end giving plans. We have accomplished a great deal this past year, due to your support and generosity, and we are excited about what is in the future.  We continue to be very proud of what our society has done and will do in the upcoming months!

We remain incredibly fortunate to have a dedicated and talented group of volunteers on our technology team. During 2025, our website has remained our top priority, and we began to work on a long-awaited and much-needed website redesign. 

Our goals are to make the site:

• Easier to use 
• More responsive
• Fully functional on smart phones and tablets

All of this is taking hours of planning and maintenance to consolidate existing pages and keep the site fully functional while we work with professional website designers.

• Our indexing and proofreading teams have worked with our projects director to update dozens of congregations pages, adding thousands of new records to our website. 
• Our last set of St. Louis City/County biographies brought our total to more than 350. 
• We have continued to publish our Quarterly journal, maintained our Ask Louie research service, and published this weekly blog. 
• Our Facebook group has grown to include more than 4,300 genealogists who regularly post questions and help each other with answers. 
• Our Facebook News and Events page has the latest information on all of our events and meetings, and our other social media accounts remain active as well.

Coming Up for 2026

• We are committed to being more visible at community events, with dates already on our calendar for the Missouri River Irish Fest in May and America's 250th birthday party at Jefferson Barracks in June.
• We hope to complete digitizing our remaining film and microfilm collection this coming year so the data they contain can be preserved and made accessible to researchers.
• Our 2026 schedule is in place thanks to the hard work of our programs committee, and we couldn't be more excited to share it with you. Go to the Calendar of Events page on our website to download a flyer and to see what is on offer for the first part of the new year.
• We hope to welcome you to our office for our annual Open House in March, and March will also see the revival of a favorite StLGS event, our Trivia Night. 
• We will have a hybrid Family History Conference in April to help celebrate America's 250th birthday. 
• Our annual research trip to Salt Lake City is booked for the middle of October at a beautiful new hotel.
• After the success of our all-day workshop this fall, we hope to host at least one more in the coming year. And, of course, other events may be added as the year progresses.

How can you help?

There are so many ways you can pitch in! Our costs for printing, postage, office supplies, and, most of all, upkeep on our office computer network and website continue to increase. Despite these rising costs, we have carried on, providing you with the excellent quality you expect. 

• Any amount you can send will be much appreciated. Please visit our website to donate today in our secure store.
• Recently, StLGS members received a fundraising letter from our co-presidents, and we are hoping members will use the envelope provided to send in a check or credit card donation. All gifts to StLGS are tax deductible to the extent allowed by current law. 
• You can also help by keeping us updated when you move. When membership mail is returned to us undelivered because of an outdated address, you miss out on important information, and we waste money and materials. To update your address, phone number, and/or email address, just send a note to membership@stlgs.org. (Please note that if you make any changes to your online account on our website, we do not see those changes!)

Matching Donations

Because StLGS is a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) organization, we qualify for matching donation funds from companies that offer them. In the past, we have received matching funds from AT&T, MasterCard, and Boeing. Does your employer support matching donations? If so, please think of earmarking your donation to StLGS that way.

As a not-for-profit 501(C)(3) organization, StLGS will gladly accept appreciated securities (stocks), real estate or other assets, and these donations may offer tax advantages. (Please consult with your financial advisor for details.)

If you have friends or relatives who would like to join you in supporting the society, please encourage them to do so.

Your membership and support are vital to the future of the society! We are so very grateful for whatever you can do to help us keep StLGS strong and healthy in these challenging times.