Very true. Past Perfect has a form for temporary custody, which makes
this very easy. You can print off blank forms and leave them at your
admissions area. It has a place to check that it is an unconditional
donation, etc. as well as contact info. and a signature. However, donors
should be very strongly discouraged from leaving things without speaking
with someone in collections - that's how we end up getting stuff from
the 20th century left when we're a 19th century museum! Very annoying.

In any case, Past Perfect's form is helpful to use.

Sabrina Henneman
Registrar
Genesee Country Village & Museum
www.gcv.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Lucy Sperlin [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 11:32 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Returning Deed of Gifts


Sabrina, you're right. I've had that happen. Heirs often think that they
can
claim things their parents or grandparents "left at the museum" long
ago, so
you do need to have some proof of legal ownership. The older the
collection,
the more likely you will have to field such requests from later
generations.


From a long ago seminar on legal aspects of museum work, I learned that
a
good way to back up that nicely typed Deed of Gift which makes the donor
feel that you have made much of his gift, is to have the donor sign a
Gift
Receipt when the donation is brought in.  It would be the paper on which
you
get the donors address and information about the item(s) when the
donation
comes in, often, especially with large groups of items, prior to making
a
decision about actually accessioning into the collection. That way, if
the
donor doesn't return the typed DOG, (as someone pointed out most return
it
the first try, more on the second, but a few never do) you still have a
signature stating that it was given to the museum as an unrestricted
donation.

The Gift Receipt is usually hand written and sometimes messy as you have
made notes by listed items, adding in the information they give you
about
where, how and by whom the item was used, etc., so it is still an
important
PR thing to send the nice looking Deed of Gift document for your (and
their)
permanent records.  The Gift Receipt should also record their preference
about disposition ("dispose of as museum sees fit", etc.)in case the
museum
decides not to take all the offered items and gives you a clear record
of
accountability should you be unable to get them to return to pick up
non-accessioned items.

Lucy Sperlin
The Patrick Ranch
Chico, CA



-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf
Of Sabrina Henneman
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 10:32 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Returning Deed of Gifts

I agree. I'd think that without a deed of gift, which is really a legal
document, that a donor or other family members could easily come back
and say that the museum was wrong- it was a loan, not a gift, etc. and
that just because we have a letter from the museum saying it's a gift
doesn't prove their intent...and so forth.

I guess I'll have to take a look at the RCAAM-L archive.

Sabrina Henneman
Registrar
Genesee Country Village & Museum
www.gcv.org 

-----Original Message-----
From: Amanda Thompson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 1:14 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Returning Deed of Gifts


Janice:

Do you know if this is true in all states?  This seems extremely
simplified
to me.  If this were true, why is there a section for museums in the
Texas
abandoned property code?

Thanks!
Amanda Dyer
Curator
Bell County Museum

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Janice Klein
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 10:27 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Returning Deed of Gifts


This topic has been much discussed on the Registrars listserv (RCAAM-L).

A Deed of Gift is not a legal requirement, it is "only" museum
policy/procedure.  For a gift to be legally valid three things need to
happen:
    1. an offer needs to be made
    2. the offer needs to be accepted
    3. the object needs to be physical transfered to you

If you have all three of those things, the object is legally yours.

The Deed is a Nice Thing to pull all three of these together, but it is
not
required.   If you have a piece of paper (even a temporary receipt) that
says the object was offered as a gift, a letter thanking the donor for
the
gift and the object itself, you have all that the law requires.

Having said that, I usually don't send out the IRS 8283 Form until I
have a
signed Deed.   But if the donor doesn't want the IRS form and doesn't
send
back the Deed, I don't bug them.

janice

Janice Klein
Director, Mitchell Museum of the American Indian
[log in to unmask]
www.mitchellmuseum.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thursday, July 07, 2005 10:06 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Returning Deed of Gifts


I sometimes have a hard time of donors returning Deed of Gifts.  I
include a self addressed, stamped envelope, but that doesn't seem to be
enough.

Would appreciate any advice on the matter, or a link to previous
discussions.

Regards,

Joshua K. Blay

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