There should be a gift policy in your museum's code of ethics or personnel
policy- I think most museums do something similar to the government of
anything under a certain amount is okay. For certain types of museums, this
policy is pretty important.

Pamela

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Nicholas Burlakoff [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 9:00 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: tips given to security guards and other staff
>
> The reason that tips and gifts should not be given to, or accepted by,
> employees as individuals fall into the following categories:
> 1) Customary practices. Museums are not restaurants or taxicabs and
> employees do not provide an individual service in expectation of a tip.
> 2) There can be serious ethical questions raised by accepting gifts that
> are
> related to the museum's collection. Thomas Hoving relates one experience
> where a bribe was solicited by a foreign museum head in the form of a
> "gift."
> 3) Personnel morale. Folks who are not in a position to benefit will in
> very
> short order criticize folks, who are in a position to receive tips. For
> example, a curator, guard, or docent may be offered a tip but seldom will
> the janitor or exhibit builder be so rewarded. My experience is that folks
> love to count benefits others receive, that they don't, and then resent
> the
> recipients. We had an example of this posted on this list. A question was
> raised about gifts to curators and directors. The people who do not
> receive
> a benefit also have the tendency to exaggerate the value of the benefit
> that
> they don't receive. In museums I have headed, just as there were strict
> prohibitions for receiving tips, so all gifts given to employees as part
> of
> their job function, or position at the museum, became the property of the
> museum. The only exemption to this were trivial gifts such as decals,
> postcards, brochures, or tee shirts. Books, catalogs, reproductions etc.
> always belonged to the museum. Additionally, by not allowing personnel to
> accept individual gifts we helped them from feeling obligated to give
> gifts
> in return, and the museum does not have to develop a gift fund for
> reciprocating these courtesies.
> 4) Simplicity. A policy that is pretty much an absolute prohibition is
> easy
> to understand and difficult to evade. If a policy is instituted that calls
> for interpretation, it is a guarantor that some unforeseen gross violation
> will occur at some point. Then an argument will ensue with all sorts of
> intellectual trickery and rationalizations and bad feelings, in the end,
> on
> both sides.  When people know: no tips and no gifts, life is simplified in
> this area immeasurably. Enforcement of discipline is also simplified, in
> most instances.
> The reason that I was particularly careful and adamant in this area when I
> headed a maritime museum is that the Coast Guard interprets the receipt of
> even one cigarette as "payment." So if anyone accepted a gift in our
> museum
> and then were given a ride on our ship they would, according to the
> Coasties, become "fare paying passengers" undermining our Coast Guard
> classification and inviting legal sanctions at worst, and insurance
> problems
> at the least. I can't adequately describe the joy of spending one
> blistering-hot August afternoon in a cabin of a 17th century vessel
> arguing
> with a Coast Guard Commodore about a party of dignitaries that we were
> scheduled to take an orientation cruise on our vessel. Trust me, a policy
> of
> no gifts or tips makes life much simpler for everyone.
> Cheers, -Nicholas
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
> Behalf
> Of Katherine H. Child
> Sent: Saturday, May 15, 2004 4:10 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: tips given to security guards and other staff
>
> Talk about gifts! We recently had our Japanese Friendship Doll restored by
> the Japanese company that originally made most of the dolls (late 1920s).
> When the doll was returned to us, she came along with two "sister" dolls
> (made in honor of our doll's "visit" home) that were specifically for me
> and
> our Director of Education. Neither of us felt comfortable about accepting
> the dolls, so they are currently in our collections storage along with the
> Friendship Doll accessories. We don't really know what to do with them.
> These dolls are worth several hundred dollars apiece.
>
> Katherine Child Jonelis
> Curator
> Phoenix Museum of History
> 105 N. 5th Street
> Phoenix, AZ 85004
> Phone: 602-253-2734 ext. 228
> Fax: 602-253-2348
> [log in to unmask]
>
> For more information about the Phoenix Museum of History and its programs,
> please click here:
>               www.pmoh.org
>
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