At least in the realm of public libraries, a Friends
group is a completely separate organization from the
library or museum it raises funds for. They have their
own officers, bank accounts, etc. Of course, there
should be some official certification that a certain
Friends group does raise funds for a certain
institution, so donors are certain where their money
is going.

And, of course, any 501(c)3 organization is legally
separate from the main institution.

A museum volunteer group is exactly what the title
indicates. It is a group of volunteers helping the
museum with whatever duties the museum requests of
them. Such an organization has no legal status away
from the host institution. Thus, any fund raising done
by such a group has to be done under the legal
umbrella of the host organization.

It is not unusual for a Friends group to become
inactive. The Friends of the Library organization for
the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall in
Carnegie, Pennsylvania was minimally active for
several years until it was disbanded a few years ago.
Thus, the Library now does their own fund raising.

gaw

--- "Burchett-Anderson, Theresa E."
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:26:42 -0500
From: "Burchett-Anderson, Theresa E."
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Subject: [MUSEUM-L] University Museums
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> Our university museum has a 501c3 "Friends"
> organization.  Over the past
> few decades this friends group has just been
> relatively inactive.  In
> the past the organization raised money for special
> projects,
> acquisitions, and brought artists in the museum for
> demonstrations and
> workshops.  All of the organization's accounts fall
> under the
> university's foundation office.  It does not seem
> that the museum or the
> organization takes advantage of its 501c3 status and
> benefits.  If we
> revive this friends group, should be revive it as a
> 501c3 or disband the
> 501c3 and revive it as a museum volunteer group?
>
>
>
> Could other university museums provide me with the
> pros and cons of
> having 501c3 organizations versus having a volunteer
> group?

gaw

Glenn A. Walsh
Electronic Mail - < [log in to unmask] >
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