You are 100% in the right.  Staff members of a museum should never be directly involved in the appraisal of objects, meaning appraising the objects themselves or paying for the appraisals.  I'm not quite sure which musuem you work for but U.S. museums are actually prohibited by IRS regulation from appraising donated objects or in arranging appraisals of gifts for which donors receive income tax benefits.  This is not only to protect the museums but also to protect the donor from be investigated in cases of over-evaluations.  You should make it clear to your co-worders that the staff of your museums should stay objective in the case of appraisal, this means not paying for them.  The only role museum staff should play is to provide recommendations on appraisers.

----- Original Message -----
From: Debra Loguda-Summers <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:02 pm
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Question regarding appraisals and Museum
To: [log in to unmask]


> Hello,
>  
> I have a question regarding Museums and appraisals. 
>  
> I know were are not to give appraisals on donations but, I am having 
> trouble convincing some of the staff that we should not be paying for 
> a donors appraisal and then letting the donor write the amount off on 
> their taxes.  Am I wrong in thinking this??? 
>  
> I am stuck between a rock and a hard place at the moment because a 
> staff member told the donor we would have the items appraised and let 
> them know.  It isn't the first time it has happened and I need hard 
> facts to back up my thoughts that this is wrong.  HELP
>  
> You can contact me off line  [log in to unmask] 
> 
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
> 
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at  . 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).

=========================================================
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).