This seems like a key opportunity to educate an intern.  These are at least
some of the lessons:
  -using his or her time to match a grant is simply what museums do -they
use every legitimate means at their disposal to total up in-kind matches,
and he'll do the same when he is developing a grant someday.
  - there is really no relationship at all between his hours and the grant
funded job you are creating  (though, presumably if he qualified (thanks in
part to this internship), he could apply).
  - his opportunities arise from other museums doing what you are doing, and
the matching hours of some other intern may be contributing to some other
grant funded jobs that may supply his next job.
  - the job you are creating with grant funding likely will create a vacancy
somewhere else, and that vacancy roles down to another vacancy, eventually
to the entry level position that the intern would qualify for as a first
job.
  - every single job we can create in the field makes it easier for him to
find employment over time.

As an aside, I remember some years ago an argument going around saying that
trained museum professionals shouldn't volunteer in museums on the
assumption that the museum would pay someone if you didn't volunteer, and so
it was "taking a job from someone else."  As the years and reality have
unfolded, that seems not to be true, and, in fact, something of the reverse.
If the museum has a great corps of volunteers they are more likely to be
successful, which leads to better likelihood of developing enough income to
develop paid position(s), which is almost always better because it is
usually more reliable, more consistent, and more malleable than a volunteer.



Lucy Sperlin
(a retired professional speaking as a volunteer and working hard to get more
paid staff!)




-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of David E. Haberstich
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 6:36 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Fundraising

I have a different ethical question that someone might be able to answer.
It's about matching grants and "in-kind" services.  In my office, we're
trying
to raise some money to get funds from a grant released to us.  An intern has
been asked to keep track of the time he works on the project so that it can
be
considered an in-kind contribution, but he objects because the money we
receive
would be used to hire someone else.  He doesn't like the idea of working for
free so that someone else can be paid (and there are other projects he can
work on).  I see his point and sympathize with him--the concept makes me
nervous--but others seem to think he's out in left field and resent his
attitude.  Is
he right, or is he being unrealistic?  Comments would be welcome.

David Haberstich

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