from the ICOM Code of Ethics for Museums:

8.12 Gifts, Favours, Loans, or Other Personal Benefits

Museum employees must not accept gifts, favours, loans, or other 
personal benefits that may be offered to them in connection with their 
duties for the museum. Occasionally professional courtesy may include 
the giving and receiving of gifts but this should always take place in 
the name of the institution concerned.






On May 2, 2006, at 11:48 AM, Matthew White wrote:

> I think it is generally considered unethical for museum staff to 
> accept personal benefit from doing your job, especially if you are 
> paid a salary. In the example of giving tours it may seem a little 
> heavy handed, but curators could really get in trouble when dealing 
> with donors and collectors if they recieved some sort of personal 
> remuneration for their work with collections. And you need one rule 
> for all staff and volunteers.
>
> My rule of thumb when dealing with tips, honoraria, stipends, etc for 
> me and my staff at a couple of institutions is that if you are "on the 
> clock" the money belongs to the museum. If you are not claiming the 
> time on a time sheet, the money is yours. There is also some 
> consideration of whether the extra cash was earned for doing a task 
> that is part of your regular job or not.
>
> Back in my (paid) docent/tour guide days I recieved infrequent tips 
> from patrons. I almost always put it into the donation box, and always 
> out of the tippers sight.  To do so in front of them might hurt their 
> feelings. Once two of us were on duty and a wealthy Board Member 
> tipped us both $20 and promptly left. We figured a) He had already 
> given thousands to the museum so whats $40 more or less and b) If he 
> were to tell anyone associated with the museum (which we doubted) he 
> would tell them we kept it whether we put it into the donation box or 
> not and who would believe a couple of punk, part time docents over a 
> wealthy patron? So we bought ourselves a nice lunch with it. I am not 
> sure it was ethical but we were poor graduate students at the time. We 
> reported what we did to the Director and Ass't Director and they were 
> fine with it.
>
> We also encouraged tippers to leave good comments about us in our 
> comment book, write letters of support to the museum or to their 
> elected representatives. Good reviews are more valuable than a few 
> dollars anyday.
>
> Another solution is to put the money into some sort of "social" or 
> "party" fund for the floor staff to pay for an end of school season 
> party or an appliance for the lounge.  This would allow the floor 
> staff to benefit from a job well done without crossing any ethical 
> gray areas.
>
> Sorry for the rambling thoughts.
>
> Have a good day,
>
> Matt White
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Cyndi <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: May 2, 2006 10:39 AM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] Tipping after a tour
>>
>> A tip is a personal gesture of the patron's appreciation of your 
>> work.  I think it is discourteous not to accept the gesture.  If you 
>> feel uncomfortable keeping the tip wait until the patron leaves, then 
>> put the tip into a donation jar.  My feeling is the patron may have 
>> already put money in the donation jar, so putting into the jar with 
>> the person standing there is a little rude.
>>  C. Miles
>>
>> Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>      There have been several times when visitors to our museum have 
>> given me a tip, rather than or in addition to placing money in our 
>> donation jar. It's easy enough for me to tell them that I cannot 
>> accept a tip and that I appreciate the gesture.
>>
>>  Sometimes it's a little more difficult - a few days ago a visitor 
>> placed a $20 in my hand said, "this is for you." I immediately placed 
>> it in the donation jar, and gave him a few patches and a decal (that 
>> are free with a donation).
>>
>>  Should I have waiting until after he left before putting the money 
>> in the donation jar? I didn't even consider keeping it for myself - 
>> should I have? How do you handle tipping?
>>
>>  Pam
>>
>>
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