We use an "In-Kind Goods and Services" Donation Form. It is not our
collection acquisition document. The form contains the donor's contact
information and signature, a brief description of the items or services
donated, a place for a total dollar value of the gift and disclaimers
stating that the museum did not provide any goods or services in
consideration for the donation. As well as a paragraph similar to our
acquisition form where we are given outright, unconditional, unrestricted
title and interest to the items donated. We keep a copy of the form on file
and the original goes to the donor for tax purposes.

We use this form for items donated and intended to be used up. (i.e. copy
paper, items used in our education collection, reference books,
groundkeeping services, craft items...) We found it to be a very useful
form. I would be happy to fax or send a hard copy to you. Sorry I don't have
a digital version.

Good Luck,

Kristie Dobbins
Amherst Museum
New York

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Hiller, Rebecca Eileen
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 10:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Non-artifact donations


I would like to hear how different organizations track and acknowledge
non-artifact donations.  As a financially strapped institution we often
receive donations that are not meant for our collections.  We have received
things like wheel chairs, paper, a copier, ect.  In the past, the museum has
not really tracked this or kept an official record.  I would like to change
this so that we have official documentation, an acknowledgement of the
donation, and a receipt to give donors for their own records.

I do not want to use our collections Certificate of Gift and, in thinking
about the in's and out's, some issues have occured to me.  Should we use the
same kind of language we have on our Cert. of Gift to protect ourselves if
we decide to sell the donation...we have several wheelchairs and strollers
and we do not need that many so right now if we sold some of them we have no
way to really protect ourselves if the donors should be upset (we can't
contact them either because we haven't tracked who gave what and personnel
have changed) Sticky, Sticky, Sticky.  Also, should we diffirentiate things
like paper--which gets used up, and things like the copier which does not.

Ahhh...it should be so much simpler.

Thanks in advance,

Rebecca





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