TAM ANNUAL MEETING CALL FOR PAPERS

The Texas Association of Museums is issuing a call for papers for a
special topic session to be presented at its Annual Meeting to be held in
Midland, Texas, April 9-12, 1997.  Preliminary proposals are being
solicited and are due by September 1, 1996.  They should be approximately
250 words and discuss how they would address the following issue:

        "A tenuous balance has long existed between nonprofit
organizations and federal, state, and local governmental bodies.  The
rationale for the creation and continued existence of nonprofits is that
they deal with public needs and promote the public good in the stead of
tax-supported governmental agencies.  To achieve these ends, nonprofits
have traditionally been tax-exempt, have been able to solicit and accept
charitable donations for which donors have been able to take a tax
deduction, and have even enjoyed some measure of public funding.

Some trends in recent years affect this traditional arrangement:

*  The roles of for-profit and non-profit organizations are blurring.
Museums, which have preservation and public service expectations, are
competing with for-profits and tourist attractions that operate free of
such service expectations.

*  The legitimacy of the tax-exempt status of nonprofits is being
challenged nationally and in some states as legislators search for
additional tax revenues.

*  The charitable deduction has periodically come under fire and would be
eliminated altogether in some flat tax proposals.

*  Funding from governmental agencies to museums is in decline while
funding cuts to social service agencies have intensified the competition
for private funds."

Two proposals representing contrasting viewpoints will be selected by
October 1, and the participants will be notified immediately thereafter.
Final presentations should be approximately 30 minutes in length.

Send proposals by snail mail to:  Texas Association of Museums, 3939 Bee
Caves Rd., Bldg A, Ste 1-B, Austin, Texas 78746.

Questions may be addressed to:  Gary N. Smith, [log in to unmask]