Open Forum

Good morning Ruth, 

I don't know if there is an easy answer to this. If you are looking for example agreements, AAM does have a a library of sample documents in their "Resources and Publications" section of the website. You may also be able to reach out to your local or adjacent historical society, they may have similar agreements or relationships (unless you are the local historical society).

If I were making a pitch to a City on why they may want to donate their collections, I would probably make two arguments (assuming these are both true). One, a museum is better equipped to preserve collections and make them accessible to the public (through which the museum builds community, improves quality of life, and drives tourism). And second, collections management is a long term financial commitment, so by donating them to the non-profit the City is saving money. Both of those points can be bolstered with figures and speak directly to what a City Manager wants.

However, the relationship between the municipality and the non-profit is going to be your critical factor. I used to work for a city-operated facility, where the relationship between the City and non-profit wasn't great, and we had to renegotiate terms of use and it took years! Whereas, I am currently working on a similar project, but the relationship between the two groups is much better and we're making great progress.

Always happy to chat, 

This is a very interesting topic. I wish I had more direct insights to share. Over the years I've learned of a number of municipalities that have transferred and/or abandoned their roles as museum trustees, but I seldom see any description of how this was carried out. The long term trend has been for municipalities to lose interest in or commitment to museums, and yet if they stop operating a collections-based museum they may simply resign the collections to permanent storage and proceed with operating the "museum they want" instead of maintaining the "museum they have".

Taxing entities including municipalities are guided by very specific state and federal laws on how they can dispose of any government-owned items. This is because tax dollars have been used in the purchase and/or maintenance of those items and they are being held in the public trust. An example of a lawful transfer I've seen includes non-monetary transfer to another taxing entity... i.e., the municipality can "donate" items to another municipality or public institution. Our institution has benefitted from transfers of items in this way. If they have a non-profit organization that is their fiscal agent, such as a Friends Of group, that non-profit is usually able to sell items on behalf of the municipality (or they can sell items themselves). If the municipality can prove it is in the public good to sell items for a very small sum (sometimes as low as $1) to a local organization so the collection remains in the community, they can make that case and transfer collection items in that way. There would still have to be money exchanged for the collection, even a nominal amount. We have transferred at least one collection item since I've been here in that way.

If you're working with elected officials, be aware they then risk being seen as poor stewards of taxpayer dollars, so they might have to feel out the community to determine if residents will support their decision. The positives are all about the impact of having this collection preserved and kept in the community and releasing the municipality of the burden of caring for a collection if they have struggled to do so.