Donors and Archives

Aaron D. Purcell

doi:10.5771/9780810892187

Summary

Donor work and fundraising is essential for any vibrant archival program. Without new collections and new funding, archives programs can stagnate, and their operations can become vulnerable to economic downturns. Archivists spend a lot of time managing collections, other archivists, and researchers in their reading rooms, but often not enough time considering the stuff that makes up their collections, where that stuff comes from, and how that stuff—and the sources of that stuff—can be valuable tools for advocacy, promotion, and fundraising for their archival programs.

Donors and Archives: A Guidebook for Successful Programs reviews the complex landscape of donor work, archival donations, and institutional fundraising for today’s archivists. It provides practical approaches to enhance donor relations for all types of archival programs, such as academic, government, private, and corporate archives. The book covers the planning, the process, and the partners needed for successful donations and donor programs.

Arranged into four sections, the book offers practical advice and best practices in a number of areas including: how donations work, who donates to archives, how to prepare for donors, how to evaluate and manage the stuff from potential donors, how to work with an institution’s development office, what are the obligations and expectations of archivists and donors, how to develop donor strategies, how to work with friends and supporters of the archives program, what happens after the donation is complete, and what is the overall value of donors to archival programs.

Donors and Archives: A Guidebook for Successful Programs highlights the importance of development and fundraising for archives, while focusing on the donor and potential donor. Their interest, their support, their enthusiasm, and their stuff are vital to the success of archival programs. Archivists involved in donor work and fundraising will find the practical advice and best practices in this book applicable, replicable, timely, and valuable.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2015
ISBN-Print: 978-0-8108-9217-0
ISBN-Online: 978-0-8108-9218-7
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 201
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Preface No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
4. 1. Overview No access
  2. Sources in Related Fields No access
  3. Archival Literature on Donors No access
  4. Organization No access
  5. Notes No access
1. 1. Types of Archival Programs No access
  2. Collection Clarity No access
  3. Sources of Donations No access
  4. 1. The Right Thing to Do No access
    2. Sense of Immortality No access
    3. Institutional Allegiance No access
    4. Tax Deductions No access
    5. Because They Have To No access
    6. Cannot Bring Themselves to Throw Away Material No access
  5. The Deed of Gift and Other Donation Forms No access
  6. Internal Communications No access
  7. Key Points No access
  8. Notes No access
2. 1. Archival Accountability and Responsibility No access
  2. What the Donor Wants and Needs No access
  3. What the Archivist Wants and Needs No access
  4. Ownership, Rights, and Permissions No access
  5. Reasonable Agreements and Resources No access
  6. Long-Term Commitments No access
  7. Key Points No access
  8. Notes No access
3. 1. Effective Communication No access
  2. Identifying Donors No access
  3. Saying Yes and Saying No No access
  4. Know What to Ask For and When to Ask No access
  5. Key Points No access
  6. Notes No access
1. 1. Initial Contact and Conversations No access
  2. Negotiations No access
  3. 1. Preparation for a Site Visit No access
    2. Private Homes and Residences No access
    3. Storage Units and Unusual Locations No access
    4. Departments, File Rooms, and Warehouses No access
    5. Outcomes of the Site Visit No access
  4. Key Points No access
  5. Notes No access
2. 1. 1. Manuscript, Printed, and Archival Collections No access
    2. Photographic and Electronic Material No access
  2. Appraisals and Donors No access
  3. Agreement No access
  4. Transfer of Material No access
  5. Key Points No access
  6. Notes No access
3. 1. From the Loading Dock to the Backlog No access
  2. 1. The Role of Processing Archivists No access
    2. The Basics of Processing No access
    3. Collection Management and Donors No access
    4. Deaccessioning and Collection Management No access
  3. Going Public with a Donation No access
  4. Working with Donors in the Long Term No access
  5. Key Points No access
  6. Notes No access
1. 1. 1. The Regulars and the Phantoms No access
    2. The Heart Is in the Right Place No access
    3. The Unassuming and the Rich and Famous No access
    4. The Sick and Elderly No access
    5. The Difficult, Demanding, and Non-Donors No access
  2. 1. The Easygoing No access
    2. The Collectors No access
    3. The Packrats No access
    4. The Scholars No access
    5. The Office Manager and the Records Officer No access
  3. Key Points No access
  4. Notes No access
2. 1. The Origins of Modern Philanthropy and Institutional Fundraising No access
  2. Institutional Development and Fundraising No access
  3. 1. The Role of a Development Officer No access
    2. The Role of an Archivist No access
    3. Archival Education for Fundraisers No access
    4. Events, Campaigns, and Other Collaborations No access
    5. Making Archives Programs Part of Institutional Development No access
  4. Key Points No access
  5. Notes No access
3. 1. Who Helps Archives and Why No access
  2. Stakeholders No access
  3. Boards and Advisory Groups No access
  4. Centers and Interdisciplinary Organizations No access
  5. Friends Groups No access
  6. Volunteer Groups No access
  7. Kitchen Cabinets No access
  8. The Archival Profession No access
  9. Key Points No access
  10. Notes No access
1. 1. 1. The Stuff of Research No access
    2. Needed and Wanted Resources No access
    3. Sustainability in Tough Times No access
    4. Working with Today’s Donors No access
  2. 1. Step 1: Gather Information (Identifying) No access
    2. Step 2: Chart the Vision (Clarifying) No access
    3. Step 3: Organize the Program (Implementing) No access
    4. Step 4: Ongoing Strategies (Adapting and Sustaining) No access
  3. Key Points No access
  4. Notes No access
Index No access Pages 195 - 200
About the Author No access Pages 201 - 201