In a message dated 3/4/2002 1:34:18 AM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> When donors pay for discrete chunks of your institution, I don't have a
>  problem with seeing their names emblazoned on the chunks, although it can
> get
>  a little silly.  In a visit to a West Coast museum last year, I was much
>  amused to note that nearly every wall, nook, and cranny in exhibition
>  galleries bore a donor's name.  I can't recall the exact wording of the
>  attributions, but I believe the titles were something like "The John Doe
>  Wall".  Touring offices, I half-expected to see donor's names on
> wastebaskets
>  and desks, although it didn't get that silly.

I worked for a museum that sold all the offices and in the cubicle farm, you
could buy a desk. It was pitiful.

Here's my issue with the whole thing. Given this is an ethical form of
fundraising, what happens when every building, gallery, meeting room,
doorknob and toilet has a sponsorship plaque on it? How do you then raise
money? Selling naming rights is an easy, lazy way to raise money and it is
something that museum directors in 10, 20 years will be paying for. Are there
not other ways to raise money and what type of donor behavior are we teaching?

 I remember when things were named after people who represented the skills a
museum or school was striving for- so you could look at NASM's Garber Center
and remember the wonderful things Paul Garber did, or the dorms in my high
school were named after distinguished headmasters. It was a way of teaching
about the past and the values of an organization.

Although, if this is going to become a trend, let me volunteer to find a
sponsor for Reagan National Airport!

Pamela

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