Hi Wesley,

 Regarding your question about board member donations, I can give you a response from my experience as a museum director at two very different museums.

Both museums requested, at a minimum, that board members purchase memberships to the museum, at whatever level the board member felt they could comfortably afford.

At one of the museums I worked at it was also understood that a "range amount" was expected from board members, and this was an amount beyond the membership. 
But the value of the donation (beyond membership) was more important than an actual dollar amount.

In other words, if board members were "expected" to give, for example, $5,000 beyond their membership dues, that did not mean that an individual board member had to hand over a check, or even make monthly installments, that totaled that target amount. 

If in-kind services totaling that amount were received by the museum from, or because of, the board member, or if the board member donated something of equal value for the annual auction, etc., that action was just as valuable and was considered to fulfill the "range amount".

 This was of great help in the situation that the personal incomes of board members varied so widely; some individuals had tens of millions of dollars and others had very meager incomes. Obviously, a person can have tremendous value for a board/museum beyond financial means, and the "adjustment" for considering other kinds of giving was a great help in such an instance.

All best to you with your board!

Jill Hoffman, Ph.D.
Helen DeVitt Jones Curator of Education
and
Faculty, Graduate Museum Science Program,
Museum at Texas Tech University
Lubbock, Texas
806-742-2432
[log in to unmask]
________________________________________
From: Museum discussion list [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Wesley S. Creel [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 12:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Board of Trustee required donation levels

Good Morning Museum-List people,
1.)     Recently, I was asked by a museum colleague, “Is it customary for members of a museum’s Board of Trustees to be required – as a requirement of being a member of the Board of Trustees – to make an annual minimum monetary donation to the museum?”
I am aware of one art museum in another state (back in the early 1980s), which required its Board members to annually:  a.) be a “personal” member of the museum’s membership program at a $2,000+ level; b.) have her/his business at a “corporate” membership level of $1,000+; and c.) use her/his influence to secure an annually prescribed amount of funds for Board of Trustees’ identified projects/activities in the form of various gifts, sponsorships, etc….  It was my understanding that each Board member knew this before becoming a member of that museum’s Board of Trustees, and each Board member knew that if she/he did not annually respond to this financial requirement of serving on the Board, the President of the Board would “ask” that person to resign from the Board.
2.)     It is my intent to respond to my museum colleague’s question. But before I do, I thought it would be prudent, on my part, to give my museum colleague a more “up-to-date” response.
3.)     So, I am asking my Museum-List-Serve colleagues the same question…..“Is it customary for members of a museum’s Board of Trustees to be required – as a requirement of being a member of the Board of Trustees – to make an annual minimum donation to the museum?”  Please note, that for confidentiality reasons, you do not need to name the museum.  However, if you know of such a museum, I would like a sense of a monetary commitment the Board member would have to make.  I will use your response to this question to answer the question posed by my museum colleague.
By the way, I will post my response on this List-Serve.
Thank you,
Wesley
Wesley S. Creel
Administrator of Programs
Pink Palace Family of Museums
Memphis, TN
Office 901.320.6370
www.memphismuseums.org<http://www.memphismuseums.org/>


========================================================= Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).