My suggestion is that you turn this over to your development staff to handle as a gift in kind. By not handling it through your registration/collections department, it makes it clear that these items are being acquired for the purposes of fundraising, not for the collection. (the donor should consult with his accountant about the tax implications, though, since I believe the IRS will not consider this to be "related use" and therefore the amount he is eligible to deduct from his taxes will be different) Anyway, a clearly worded thank you letter is probably all that is necessary in terms of documentation. I would not use the same deed of gift form used for gifts to the collection, again, just to keep the two activities separate - fundraising vs. collection acquisition. If necessary, a simple receipt document can be drawn up and signed by both parties. Either way, whatever paperwork you generate just needs to state what was given, when it was given, identify both parties (the donor and the institution), and for what purpose the items were given. (i.e. that the institution plans to sell the pieces to raise needed funds) As long as there is a paper trail indicating these items were not part of the collection, there is no restriction on how the funds generated from their sale may be used unless there are donor imposed restrictions.
Hope that's helpful.
Cristin J. Waterbury
Director of Curatorial Services
National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium
A Property of the Dubuque County Historical Society
350 East 3rd Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001
Ph: 563-557-9545, ext 204
Fax: 563-583-1241
Email: [log in to unmask]
www.rivermuseum.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Shannon Lindridge
Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2013 10:18 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] donation for auction
A situation has come up; I haven't had to deal with in the 15 years of working in museums. I have searched the museum_l archives with no luck. Here is the situation: the institution I work for has been offered three paintings. The paintings are not suitable for our collections and the donor is fine with our proposal to sell the paintings at auction and have the proceeds benefit the museum. The paintings were owned by the donors' late wife and he does not want to deal with sending them to auction--I get the feeling he just wants to be rid of them. I am unsure how to proceed. I know museums acquire items for fundraising auctions, but what type of paperwork is involved? He is essentially transferring ownership, but our deed of gift wouldn't be appropriate, would be we use a Gift-in-kind form/letter? Should we request a copy of his wife's will stating these paintings are owned by him? If the will is in probate, I can go get a copy myself. Do we have to tag the funds from the auction for collections use, or can they be used for general operating expenses?
If you have had experience with this type of donation I would like to hear how you handle the legal transfer of ownership/the auction and how the proceeds are used.
Thank-you, Shannon Lindridge, registrar
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