The CMCH cannot accept unsolicited donations through the mail or in person without your submission of an Object Donation Form and follow-up communication from the CMCH staff.

Donation offers are reviewed first by the curatorial staff that makes recommendations to the CMCH’s Collection Steering Committee. The committee is made up of staff knowledgeable in both the scope of the CMCH’s collection as well as the conservation issues associated with artifact and document care.

The committee uses the criteria specified in the CMCH collecting scope, as well as its current collecting goals, to guide its decisions. It also takes into consideration the condition of the object and the availability of the CMCH resources required to store and care properly for the artifact or document as well as cataloging the material to make it accessible. The sensitive nature of materials or ownership of copyrights may also factor into acquisitions decisions.

Typically, the process takes about three months. If a curator accepts your donation, it will be submitted to the Collection Steering Committee, which meets monthly, to review donations proposed during the previous month. However, regular reviews may be postponed when staff time is otherwise committed to the development of exhibitions or special programs. If your proposed donation is accepted by the Collections Committee, you will be contacted by the curator to arrange to have the donated materials shipped, picked up, or dropped off at the CMCH. The final step is issuing a Deed of Gift for the donation, which legally transfers the property to the CMCH.

The CMCH does not provide appraisals of the monetary value of materials proposed for donation or for any other reason because the Internal Revenue Service regards museums and libraries as interested parties. Monetary appraisals prepared for donors by such institutions are subject to question or disqualification.

However, professional appraisers will perform this service for a fee. To find a licensed appraiser in your area, contact one of the following organizations for a referral.

American Society of Appraisers
http://www.appraisers.org

International Society of Appraisers
http://www.isa-appraisers.org

Appraisers Association of America
http://www.appraisersassoc.org

The CMCH is recognized as a qualified charitable organization, thus the fair market value of your donated materials is generally tax deductible. To take advantage of your deduction, you must file tax form 1040 and, depending on the value of your donation, tax form 8283.

To ensure that you receive the maximum tax benefit, it is recommended that you consult with your own accountant, attorney, and/or the Internal Revenue Service. You may also consult Internal Revenue Service Publication No. 526, Charitable Contributions, and Publication No. 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property.

The CMCH cannot guarantee that any objects or documents donated to its collection will be exhibited unless expressly collected for that purpose. Only a small fraction of the collection is on view at any given time. Documents are typically made accessible for research purposes in the Waterman Research Center.

However, the CMCH does allocate a significant portion of its annual budget to maintaining optimal conditions in its storage areas and galleries to ensure the long-term preservation of all collection materials.

Objects from the collection are occasionally loaned to other institutions for temporary exhibitions, and many artifacts and documents in the collection are made available for research purposes.

The CMCH cannot return accessioned collection materials to the donor. Once the Collection Steering Committee accepts your donation for the collection, you will be asked to sign a Deed of Gift, which legally transfers ownership of the materials to the CMCH.

The CMCH may, with approval from the Board of Trustees, remove objects and documents from the collection through a process called deaccessioning. Artifacts or documents that are damaged beyond repair, have a condition that puts other parts of the collection at risk, are duplicative of other items in the collection, or are outside the scope of the collection may be considered for deaccessioning. Deaccessioned material may be donated to another museum or cultural or educational organization, destroyed, or sold. Any proceeds from the sale of deaccessioned material are placed in a restricted collection acquisition fund.

The CMCH does not accept long-term loans. While it does accept loan materials on a short-term basis in conjunction with exhibitions and other programs, the CMCH prefers to commit its resources to the storage and preservation of materials in the collection.

The CMCH makes most of the prints, photographs, archives, manuscripts, architectural drawings, published materials, paintings, sculpture, works-on-paper, costumes, textiles, and household and industrial objects in its collection available to the public for research through its Waterman Research Center. Viewing copies of films and listening copies of sound recordings are limited in number.