Bradley Martin, Associate Broker

Sagely & Edwards Realtors

3101 Rogers Avenue

Fort Smith, Arkansas 72903-2952

www.bradleymartin.com

Cell: 479-650-6456

Fax: 479-782-9289

Fort Smith Trolley Museum

www.fstm.org

Hi Kimberly,

    I've been there too.  It's not a fun place to be but if you treat it right it can wind up working out for you.  When we have people bring things in, we explain to them right then and there that the item will be considered by a committee and that if the item is accepted, we will be back in touch with them.  If the item is accepted we then mail them a Deed of Gift, Artifact History Questionnaire and a cover letter explaining each document and its importance. 

    Not too long after I started here as Curator I had a gentleman call me who was irate that we'd sent him the paperwork.  "I'm a farmer and have been for years, and I know better than to sign anything a lawyer doesn't look over," he kept insisting.  I calmly explained to him what the Deed of Gift said, what it's function was, why we needed it and said that if he wanted to he could take it to a lawyer for their opinion.  I don't think he ever did that, but he did call me back later and say there was "No way" he was signing it because of the "fine print".  (Our Deed of Gift is pretty minimal really...all it says is that the donor acknowledges that they have ownership of the item and ability to donate it, and that they are formally signing over all legal claim, title and copyrights to the museum). 

      I explained to him again how important it was for us to have proper paperwork, and he didn't care.  At that point I suggested that he write us a letter stating that he was giving the item to us unconditionally as a gift for our use.  To my surprise, he was fine with that and the letter arrived shortly thereafter.  I put the original letter in his file, mailing him a copy and a personalized thank-you letter.  His file also contains a typed summary of all of our phone conversations, including dates, times and the general gist of the conversation.  To my surprise, this man who was never a member of our historical society before joined as a member that year, and has been one ever since.  He also always comes to our programs on a quarterly basis, something I did NOT expect to happen when the donation issue was going on. 

      I think many people, especially older people in smaller or rural areas are just scared off by the legalese a lot of DOG's contain.  If you can explain it to them in plain English, a lot of times they get over it.  I've had to do that more than once, and that's why we always send the cover letter with the DOG's.  If they absolutely won't sign it, the other responders have it right...see if they will write you a letter.  And document EVERYTHING!  Put everything in that file!  That way you can cover your butt later if you need to. 

Maggie Carlson

Director/Curator of Collections

Coronado Quivira Museum

www.cqmuseum.org

The Smithsonian Is Coming...Are You???

The Way We Worked hosted by the Coronado Quivira Museum

September 9, 2012-October 21, 2012