Loans or donations to museums

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by billyb

The fear of donating items to the Hall and not having them display those items on a somewhat timely fashion scares me. Scott, your experience sounds like a winner all the way. Loaning the items with the agreement of displaying them sounds like a much better choice. What time duration would you recommend?

Billy, IMHO a 1-3 year loan is probably ideal. Here are other items to consider:

1) All items be insured against damage or loss as another poster previously mentioned. When I did this I submitted replacement value for each item, and admittedly I hedged on the high side.
It's understood that many scarce items may not easily be replaced.
2) That the museum is absolutely solvent. Museum's do sometimes become insolvent for a number of reasons, including lack of traffic, etc. This happened recently with the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, IA.
3) They guarantee that the items will be displayed, the proper use of non-UV lights, etc.
4) Return of items at the end of the term will be via FEDEX Next Day and insured at the expense of the museum.

[billyb]

Thank You Scott, all sound suggestions.

[Dave Grob]

In thinking about loaning items to a museum for display, you also have to realize that not all museums are the same. Larger, more established museums typically have a combination of permanent, semi-permanent, and temporary (topical displays) all running in conjunction with each other. These exhibits are planned for in advance and curated accounting for display space requirements, current or similar artifacts already on display/within the collection, graphics, etc. Their (the Museum’s) desire and willingness to accept and display your item (s) may largely depend on timing. For significant artifacts or collections, you may end up simply being told “thank you, but it just does not fit right now.” Don’t be discouraged by this, as I have had institutions contact me after the passing of time and requesting a loan as circumstances change.

Dave Grob

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Jayworld

I would suggest you get all your ducks in a row with whatever museum(s) you are considering loaning your items and make sure to read through the loan contract to your satisfaction.

^^If donating or loaning this is great advice.^^ This was my biggest problem. The person who runs the museum also runs all the historic places in town. I owned a construction company for 20+ years and had easily done over 6 figures of work for them over the years with 0 problems. I was too trusting and believed everything she said and got nothing in writing.

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

1) All items be insured against damage or loss as another poster previously mentioned. When I did this I submitted replacement value for each item, and admittedly I hedged on the high side.
It's understood that many scarce items may not easily be replaced.
2) That the museum is absolutely solvent. Museum's do sometimes become insolvent for a number of reasons, including lack of traffic, etc. This happened recently with the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, IA.
3) They guarantee that the items will be displayed, the proper use of non-UV lights, etc.
4) Return of items at the end of the term will be via FEDEX Next Day and insured at the expense of the museum.

^^More great advice.^^ I had a great talk with the lady behind the counter at the Bob Feller Museum not long before it closed. Actually it is MLB that screws these great little places over causing them to close. I don't get how this works or why it is done but this is how it was explained to me. I will use the Feller museum as an example. As long as Mr Feller was alive they are allowed to have former players come and do autograph sessions and other events. These events are their main income. As soon as Mr Feller passed they are no longer allowed to bring in any former players to do these events. Without Mr Feller or any former players doing events they quickly run out of $ and have to close.

I would highly recommend donating/loaning items to museums even with my horrible experience. Just don't do it as stupidly as I done, get every aspect of the transaction in writing.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by bnorth

^^If donating or loaning this is great advice.^^ This was my biggest problem. The person who runs the museum also runs all the historic places in town. I owned a construction company for 20+ years and had easily done over 6 figures of work for them over the years with 0 problems. I was too trusting and believed everything she said and got nothing in writing.



^^More great advice.^^ I had a great talk with the lady behind the counter at the Bob Feller Museum not long before it closed. Actually it is MLB that screws these great little places over causing them to close. I don't get how this works or why it is done but this is how it was explained to me. I will use the Feller museum as an example. As long as Mr Feller was alive they are allowed to have former players come and do autograph sessions and other events. These events are their main income. As soon as Mr Feller passed they are no longer allowed to bring in any former players to do these events. Without Mr Feller or any former players doing events they quickly run out of $ and have to close.

I would highly recommend donating/loaning items to museums even with my horrible experience. Just don't do it as stupidly as I done, get every aspect of the transaction in writing.

Ben is correct about all of this info, as it was the same thing that I heard.
It should be noted that Van Meter, IA is so far off the grid, that incidental traffic to the museum was always practically non existent. You would have to plan for a trip to Van Meter to catch the museum which was very nice, BTW.

[billyb]

This is all very good information, great thread.

[icollectDCsports]

I'd want to know just who exactly was going to handle your items. The museum representative may be professional and inspire confidence, but the person or persons who handle, set up for display, remove from display, and package items for return may not always be as experienced or professional. And, let's face it, there are some folks who think of old sports items as nothing more than neat junk. I've heard of some bad experiences due to such folks, usually well-meaning but either not respectful or knowledgeable, making mistakes with sports memorabilia on loan. Odds are you'll be fine and you'll be doing a service to your community, but get the info you need to provide the appropriate level of comfort with the various issues raised by the insightful posts here.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by icollectDCsports

I'd want to know just who exactly was going to handle your items. The museum representative may be professional and inspire confidence, but the person or persons who handle, set up for display, remove from display, and package items for return may not always be as experienced or professional. And, let's face it, there are some folks who think of old sports items as nothing more than neat junk. I've heard of some bad experiences due to such folks, usually well-meaning but either not respectful or knowledgeable, making mistakes with sports memorabilia on loan. Odds are you'll be fine and you'll be doing a service to your community, but get the info you need to provide the appropriate level of comfort with the various issues raised by the insightful posts here.

Steve Harding, the curator of The Nolan Ryan center had curated other museums previously, so I was confident that the result would be good.
The final result was excellent. In many ways, I believe that the exhibit was much nicer than even Cooperstown.

PS
One final thought. I had custom acrylic ticket holders made for my tickets that were used in the exhibit by a guy out in So Ca. This eliminated handling errors because the tickets were protected.
The ticket on the right was from Nolan's 500th career strikeout. This was also his 1st pitching appearance with the Angels, 1st win, & ironically his career win # 30 which was his uniform number. Note the # 14 on the ticket. This was ticket # 14 in the Ryan Milestone ticket wall and the key for the display had the description of what the milestone was...

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by Scott Garner

Steve Harding, the curator of The Nolan Ryan center had curated other museums previously, so I was confident that the result would be good.
The final result was excellent. In many ways, I believe that the exhibit was much nicer than even Cooperstown.

PS
One final thought. I had custom acrylic ticket holders made for my tickets that were used in the exhibit by a guy out in So Ca. This eliminated handling errors because the tickets were protected.
The ticket on the right was from Nolan's 500th career strikeout. This was also his 1st pitching appearance with the Angels, 1st win, & ironically his career win # 30 which was his uniform number. Note the # 14 on the ticket. This was ticket # 14 in the Ryan Milestone ticket wall and the key for the display had the description of what the milestone was...

Really like those acrylic holders for the tickets. Just the right size and they don't detract from the tickets.