No one's mentioned my favorite tactic. I used to send the second copy of the Deed of Gift as "return receipt". Then the little green post card was proof the donor got my letter. Often this gave my letter enough perceived importance that the donor signed and sent back the D-o-G. I also used a carefully worded deposit receipt for items brought in to the museum. It gave us the right to dispose of items after a period of time past notifing the donor we didn't intend to accept their object. Potential donors were asked provenance questions as well and completed an information form. For most donors (local history museum) this helped them understand that we were just as interested in the story associated with the object as the object itself. I co-authored a technical leaflet for the Illinois Heritage Association (TECH. INSERT 101 (Sept.-Oct. 1999): "Documenting Collections," by Diane Gutenkauf, Sally DeFauw, and Steph McGrath.) that can be purchased from them at: http://illinoisheritage.prairienet.org/tilista.html Hope this helps. Diane Gutenkauf [log in to unmask] ========================================================= 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).