JohnG wrote: Greetings -
I am curious to learn what type of transfer paperwork do museums use when the receive a donated artifact from the donor? It is a letter that describes the asset and states it is a donation on letterhead? This could be for a boxcar shed, a wheelset or some other metal parts that had been saved.
Looking forward to what has been used and also what is done to generate a paper trail for an asset in a collection that has no paperwork?
Thanks in advance! John
You are asking, in effect, two different questions.
What is the correct and best practice, moving forward? Any item which is donated to your museum should be described in a "Deed of Gift" -- there are many templates online. It is signed both by your donor and an authorized representative of your museum (e.g. an executive director). While the language can vary, the instrument contains an important set of attestations from the donor, that the object is in fact owned by the donor, that they are not aware of any conflicting claims of ownership, and that the donor is giving the object to your museum (preferably without any restrictions; if there are restrictions, they should be approved in advance and stated explicitly). In turn, your museum will send a contemporaenous acknowledgment of donation. It will reference the deed of gift, describe the object, and contain the important statement (for the purposes of the donor's tax deduction) that no goods of services were given to the donor in exchange for the gift.
As others have mentioned, it is illegal for the receiving organization to state a cash value in this letter, or to refer the donor to a specific appraiser. Depending on the value which the donor wishes to claim as a deduction, there are different IRS rules for establishing the value.
But it sounds like the hidden question you are really asking is how to handle "found in collection" objects where you do not have such paperwork establishing museum ownership. The answer to that is unfortunately rather complicated, and can vary from state to state. In many cases, the object is treated as abandoned property. The museum must go through a notice process and then there is a period of time in which claimants can come forward to make an ownership claim. Just because a claim is made doesn't mean the museum must give the object over. After a sufficient time elapses and there are no claims, the abandoned property becomes legally the property of the museum.
If the object in question potentially has high value, it is best to get the advice of an attorney specializing in these matters in your state. As others mentioned in this thread, an object which has been exhibited to the public on a regular basis for a long period of time gives you a strong claim of ownership.
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