Hi Lissa,

Thanks very much for your detailed response!

All donated items are donated to the museum itself and accessioned by the relevant curator (History, Geology, Paleontology, and Anthropology being the 4 departments here). There is a part-time registrar on staff but I think she just handles paperwork, while the actual accession process goes through the curator in question. The collections/artifact values are not included in budget conversations as line items. This particular museum is a county museum, which adds another layer of difficulty regarding monetary donations. All monetary donations and fundraising activities happen through the museum association, a separate non-profit which is managed by non-county employees but housed on-site at the museum. This association runs all memberships as well. The museum itself uses PastPerfect for collections management, but I don't know how much access the association has to those files. I know PastPerfect has a donor/development feature but I haven't used it personally. I've heard of Raiser's Edge but have no familiarity with it. Great tips about the differences between eTapestry and Sales Force, thanks very much!

This position seems like it will be primarily bookkeeping. I've been a volunteer with the Education Dept for some time and with a relatively new director at the association, I've heard some grumbling about funds being inaccessible and some general confusion.When I dropped off my application in person, the association director asked me specifically about my knowledge of QuickBooks and budget management, and mentioned that she was considering the creation of a satellite position in which the employee would maintain account numbers from home.

Thank you again for your reply; it's greatly appreciated!

Dani Trynoski

630-430-9541

On Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 8:18 AM, Lissa Kramer <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Dani,

Quickbooks is what most museums use for accounting, but has little to do with fundraising. Many small museums use PastPerfect for relationship management as well as collections and volunteer management; it has its pros and cons for managing donor relations. Some small museums have gone to using SalesForce for this purpose because it's somewhat less expensive than the higher-end programs like Raiser's Edge. Another program by Blackbaud called eTapestry is getting some very good word of mouth praise because, again, its relatively affordable and created specifically for nonprofits, unlike SalesForce. Given the choice, I would start out with eTapestry.

Is the position you're after more on the bookkeeping side or development? These are different roles in most nonprofits because one requires a high level of project management and knowledge of the "development cycle", while the other is technical. Keep in mind that a museum is a very specialized nonprofit; different laws and ethics apply. If it's bookkeeping, make sure you read up on applicable museum law particularly regarding the charitable deduction. If there are any collections, it is essential you are well versed in AAM and ICOM codes of ethics as the IRS does maintain that collections are not subject to the balance sheet using these codes as justification. Items donated for the public good in perpetuity have no resale value, therefore cannot be legally appraised for tax receipts by any museum. A potential donor can have an item appraised by an outside, independent party for this purpose prior to donating it to a museum. If this is a collecting institution, your collections manager should be the go-to expert for this.

Hope this helps,

Lissa

On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 10:34 PM, Danielle Trynoski <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi listserv,

I have an upcoming interview with a local museum association and I am expecting some questions regarding the use of QuickBooks. I have experience using the software as a facility manager in past positions to do basic accounting & budget management, but have not used it in a non-profit/fundraising environment. Do any listserv members use QuickBooks for their development/fundraising efforts, and what has been your experience with it? Do you use another software for your accounting?

Thanks for the input,

Dani Trynoski
630-430-9541

Seeking opportunities in the museum industry in the LA Metro area and the Inland Empire

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