Open Forum

Greetings from Sunny Florida! 

I am looking to revamp our process of receiving gifts in kind. Right now, we use a temporary custody form that asks prospective donors what they would like us to do with their item if it is not selected for accessioning. So often, and I am sure this is not unique to us, donors expect to be able to simply drop items off to us and immediately receive a receipt for their taxes. We never give them a value for their gift without a certified appraisal and we rarely accession something that has been "dropped off."

The form we have currently is not very user friendly and I need to give it a glow up. Could you share yours? 

I would also appreciate any materials you have that you use to communicate with staff and the public the how tos, whys, and why nots of accepting everything that is offered.

Thank you!  

Greetings from Sunny Florida! 

I am looking to revamp our process of receiving gifts in kind. Right now, we use a temporary custody form that asks prospective donors what they would like us to do with their item if it is not selected for accessioning. So often, and I am sure this is not unique to us, donors expect to be able to simply drop items off to us and immediately receive a receipt for their taxes. We never give them a value for their gift without a certified appraisal and we rarely accession something that has been "dropped off."

The form we have currently is not very user friendly and I need to give it a glow up. Could you share yours? 

I would also appreciate any materials you have that you use to communicate with staff and the public the how tos, whys, and why nots of accepting everything that is offered.

Thank you!  

Hi Melissa! Thanks for this question. Its great to see it coming from someone in the advancement office! Here are key points to know about the the Temporary Custody Receipt (TCR):

1. It helps the museum avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest.  If someone is leaving you a case of copier paper, no TCR is needed.  If someone is leaving you something that even looks like it could be part of your collection, a TCR is needed. The collection staff should then formally consider it for acquisition into the collection.
2. IT helps the museum avoid needing to use Florida's abandoned property law for museums

The basic process with the TCR is this - 

1. If the item is rejected for the collection, it can be returned to the owner or disposed of at the best interest of the organization (transfer somewhere else, sale, destroy, etc). If not returned to the owner their person can receive a thank you letter that says the item was declined for the collection (This will be sufficient for their taxes)
2. If the item is accepted for the collection, the property owner should receive a Deed of Gift.

The two most important things about this process are

1. Avoid situations where it looks like the museum is contravening its mission of preservation by selling "old-looking" things at the gala auction.
2. Avoiding abandoned and undocumented property on your museum's site. In Florida, you're governed by statute 0267.0723. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0267.0723. These state laws are based on the same principle of unclaimed liquid funds managed by your state controller, but accounts for the fact that historic and artistic items have intrinsic value and should not be liquidated.

And finally!

I have found that donors are more than receptive to understanding the museum's ethical and legal position in these situations. Rather than being frustrated, they're often impressed that we run such professional operations. 

The easiest thing for you to do is make all such TCRs unconditional gifts. If you don't offer anyone the opportunity to get their contribution back if rejected for the collection, you avoid a lot of potential headaches. This won't work for everyone, but you can certainly state the norm and indicate that "exceedingly rare exceptions require the approval of the Executive Director and Board Chair" or something like that. 

All of this should be thoroughly laid out in your Collection Management Policy (which is a board-approved policy).  It is also good practice to evaluate any potential acquisitions for the collection at the donor's home, with photo documentation, and not receive it on your property until the Deed of Gift has been signed or the Collection Committee has voted to accept the item for the collection. Still use a TCR for these situations because it helps to track process and donor intent. This way, you don't lose track of all the "things we haven't decided about yet" and documents intent - one of the key parts of transfer of title (donor intent, museum possession, signed contract)

** disclaimer ** This is not legal or tax advice. I am not any kind of lawyer, but I have been doing this work for almost 30 years ** disclaimer **

Erin

Greetings from Sunny Florida! 

I am looking to revamp our process of receiving gifts in kind. Right now, we use a temporary custody form that asks prospective donors what they would like us to do with their item if it is not selected for accessioning. So often, and I am sure this is not unique to us, donors expect to be able to simply drop items off to us and immediately receive a receipt for their taxes. We never give them a value for their gift without a certified appraisal and we rarely accession something that has been "dropped off."

The form we have currently is not very user friendly and I need to give it a glow up. Could you share yours? 

I would also appreciate any materials you have that you use to communicate with staff and the public the how tos, whys, and why nots of accepting everything that is offered.

Thank you!  

Hi Melissa! Thanks for this question. Its great to see it coming from someone in the advancement office! Here are key points to know about the the Temporary Custody Receipt (TCR):

1. It helps the museum avoid even the appearance of conflict of interest.  If someone is leaving you a case of copier paper, no TCR is needed.  If someone is leaving you something that even looks like it could be part of your collection, a TCR is needed. The collection staff should then formally consider it for acquisition into the collection.
2. IT helps the museum avoid needing to use Florida's abandoned property law for museums

The basic process with the TCR is this - 

1. If the item is rejected for the collection, it can be returned to the owner or disposed of at the best interest of the organization (transfer somewhere else, sale, destroy, etc). If not returned to the owner their person can receive a thank you letter that says the item was declined for the collection (This will be sufficient for their taxes)
2. If the item is accepted for the collection, the property owner should receive a Deed of Gift.

The two most important things about this process are

1. Avoid situations where it looks like the museum is contravening its mission of preservation by selling "old-looking" things at the gala auction.
2. Avoiding abandoned and undocumented property on your museum's site. In Florida, you're governed by statute 0267.0723. https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/0267.0723. These state laws are based on the same principle of unclaimed liquid funds managed by your state controller, but accounts for the fact that historic and artistic items have intrinsic value and should not be liquidated.

And finally!

I have found that donors are more than receptive to understanding the museum's ethical and legal position in these situations. Rather than being frustrated, they're often impressed that we run such professional operations. 

The easiest thing for you to do is make all such TCRs unconditional gifts. If you don't offer anyone the opportunity to get their contribution back if rejected for the collection, you avoid a lot of potential headaches. This won't work for everyone, but you can certainly state the norm and indicate that "exceedingly rare exceptions require the approval of the Executive Director and Board Chair" or something like that. 

All of this should be thoroughly laid out in your Collection Management Policy (which is a board-approved policy).  It is also good practice to evaluate any potential acquisitions for the collection at the donor's home, with photo documentation, and not receive it on your property until the Deed of Gift has been signed or the Collection Committee has voted to accept the item for the collection. Still use a TCR for these situations because it helps to track process and donor intent. This way, you don't lose track of all the "things we haven't decided about yet" and documents intent - one of the key parts of transfer of title (donor intent, museum possession, signed contract)

** disclaimer ** This is not legal or tax advice. I am not any kind of lawyer, but I have been doing this work for almost 30 years ** disclaimer **

Erin

Greetings from Sunny Florida! 

I am looking to revamp our process of receiving gifts in kind. Right now, we use a temporary custody form that asks prospective donors what they would like us to do with their item if it is not selected for accessioning. So often, and I am sure this is not unique to us, donors expect to be able to simply drop items off to us and immediately receive a receipt for their taxes. We never give them a value for their gift without a certified appraisal and we rarely accession something that has been "dropped off."

The form we have currently is not very user friendly and I need to give it a glow up. Could you share yours? 

I would also appreciate any materials you have that you use to communicate with staff and the public the how tos, whys, and why nots of accepting everything that is offered.

Thank you!