While I agree that financial support from the public would be greatly appreciated, I think that museums who develop or foster an attitude of quid pro quo are not serving the public in the way in which I personally believe museums should. The museum I work for spent years wondering why they weren't getting more from the community. In order to answer that question, we've started asking the question, "What have we done for them lately?" We are in the business of serving the community and providing public benefit to all. That might not be part of the technical definition of "non-profit" but I think it is part of the spirit. Erica S. Maniez Museum Director, Issaquah Historical Society 425/392-3500 [log in to unmask] www.issaquahhistory.org > The museum doesn't "owe" its > visitors any more than what a for-profit business owes its customers: you > get what you pay for. > ========================================================= 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).