I believe your fundraiser is putting the cart before the horse.   It is
absolutely *not* standard for your fundraiser to tell you how to manage your
collection. You drive the engine, she provides the fuel.  She doesn't get to
tell you where you're going or how you're going to get there.  She has
overstepped her bounds, in my opinion.

All gifts to our institution - and I believe this is current standard
practice - are unrestricted gifts.  We make no promises regarding
exhibition, treatment, lending, or any other aspect of collection
management.  We do let donors know whether a gift will be accessioned or
accepted as "property" only, and what that entails, but we never allow
donors to tell us what to do with our collections once they are signed over.
We do of course acknowledge all donors in newsletters, on labels, and in an
annual report.

Having said that, we have in the past accepted gifts with restrictions (over
20 years ago, before we had an up-to-date collections management policy).
Believe me, we have come to regret that previous staff members allowed those
donors to make restrictions, and in fact we have gone to some lengths to get
new, non-restrictive, deeds of gift.  Promises that seem easy to keep today
can easily become onerous responsibilities in a decade or two (or ten).

Jill R. Chancey, Curator
Lauren Rogers Museum of Art
Laurel, MS
[log in to unmask]
(phone) 601-649-6374
(fax) 601-649-6379).

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