Suzanne, 

That's a good question, because endowments are a wonderful way to assure
future stability for an organization.

At our small historical society, an endowment was set up by a volunteer who
was concerned that there be ongoing professional leadership in our mostly
volunteer organization. She designated it to pay for staffing at our
Archives and Museum. 

The concept of an endowment is to have enough in a fund so the original
capital is never depleted while you are taking a percent of interest,
dividends and fund growth to pay out each year for the purpose designated by
the donor(s). In the world of Foundations or others who hold endowment
money, use of endowment funds is legally dependant on what the donor
designates in their contract or letter of transmittal when they donate the
money.

So for an endowment for a Registrar, you would need to find a donor willing
to give enough money to get the endowment started and to designate it for
that specific purpose. (Alternative, your Board of Directors can initiate a
fund.) Then get enough other donors to have the fund grow to the point that
taking 3% to 5% per year for the Registrar's pay will not deplete the
original capital in the fund. (The fund has to be earning enough more than
what is taken out, to allow growth over time, to the figures could be
different depending on current market conditions but the method would be the
same.)

If you do the math, that means you need a fund of $100,000 for every $3,000
- $5,000 of payroll costs.... (i.e. for a $30,000 position you'd need a fund
of $1 million dollars if you are taking 3%, or $600,000 dollars if you are
earning enough to take 5%.  

So, obviously, the fund needs to be in an investment location that will
generate each year more than the % that you are taking. In doing so, the
percent you take grows as well.

Lucy Sperlin
Butte County (California) Historical Society


-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Quigley
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 9:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Endowed positions

Pardon cross posts, please.
> Hi all, 
> Just wondering if anyone has ever heard of an endowed position for a
registrar? If so where? If not, what do you think about the idea? Any ideas
about how one would go abouget aiding the money? I'm assuming it would not
come from a vendor.
> 
> Directors have them, curators have them, academic faculty have them,
librarians have them! Why not our profession?
> 
> +++Sent from my iPhone+++
> Suzanne Quigley
> 917 676 9039
> www.ArtAndArtifactServices.com
> fb Art & Artifact Services

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