EO 41   Gifts to the University

1.  Policies and Procedures

1. The University welcomes donations, gifts in trust and bequests to be used for the advancement of its objectives.
2. Gifts may be in any amount or form according to the wishes of the donor, and restricted or unrestricted for use in the donor’s area of interest. The gift may permit the use of both the income and principal of the fund for the designated purposes, or the donor may limit the fund to use of only the income. The most useful gift is the flexible one, where sufficient freedom is permitted to meet changing conditions at the University while still meeting the general goals of the donor.
3. A gift may be sent directly to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations with the specifications stated for its use. If the gift is to be in the form of a charitable trust, the deferred giving officer in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations should be contacted. Wills, notices of probate, or questions concerning gifts from an estate should be directed to the deferred giving officer. When making gifts in trust or by bequest through a will, donors should be advised to seek their own legal counsel.
4. Procedures for departmental transmittal of gifts to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations are outlined in Administrative Policy Statement 36.2, “Gift Processing Guidelines.” Information about gifts to the University may be obtained at any time from the Director of Development or from members of the Development and Alumni Relations staff.

2.  Gifts and Loans to University Museums: Burke Museum, Henry Gallery and the Plestcheeff Institute

The following principles, which are designed to assist the development and operation of the University of Washington museums, including the Thomas Burke Memorial Washington State Museum, the Henry Art Gallery, and the Plestcheeff Institute for the Decorative Arts should govern the solicitation and acceptance of gifts (other than monies) and loans.

A. Gifts

1. Appropriateness—In the judgment of the appropriate curator or acquisitions committee, a particular gift is appropriate to the museum’s mission.
2. Feasibility—Acceptance of the gift will not, in the judgment of the museum director, place excessive burdens on the available museum space, staff, or budget.
3. Conditions—Gifts accepted by a museum should be accepted without special conditions regarding their ownership, use, display labeling, attribution, future disposition, etc. In general, fractional gifts will be avoided except when the attendant legal questions can be resolved to the satisfaction of the donor, the museum, and the University.
4. Policies and Practices—Each donor will be advised by the appropriate administrators of the pertinent points of the University policies and practices regarding acceptance of loans and gifts.
5. Approval—Gifts to University museums can only be accepted by the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations upon the recommendation of the museum director, acting upon the advice of the appropriate curator or committee.
6. Acknowledgment—Following acceptance by the Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations, all gifts to a museum will be acknowledged by a museum director, curator, or other appropriate persons within the University.
7. Use—The museums should be free to use gifts in any suitable museum context such as reference, research, exhibition, teaching, school instruction, sale, exchange, etc.
   1. The disposition of an object will take place only upon the recommendation of the appropriate curator and with the approval of the director of the museum.
   2. Disposition of museum objects will be governed by applicable University regulations and professional museum standards. Modes of disposition follow in preferred order: (1) transfer to a UW museum, library, or collection; (2) transfer to a Washington State museum, library, or collection; (3) sale, exchange, or transfer to a non-profit museum or educational institution; (4) sale at public auction; (5) destruction and disposal as waste. Funds received from the sale of objects are to be used for the purchase of other art, artifacts, or specimens for the collections.

B. Loans

1. All loans to a museum should be initiated by the museum staff with the approval of its director who will, in determining the suitability of a loan, consider the implications for space, staff, and budget.
2. Extended or permanent loans will be accepted only from governmental, educational, or eleemosynary institutions which cannot otherwise give the loan material to the museum.
3. Temporary loans of material for exhibition or study may be accepted from individuals or organizations for relatively short periods of fixed duration; an object offered or promised as a gift may also be accepted as a temporary loan for a specified period pending the actual gift transaction.

June 1, 1972; AI, January 27, 1977*; November 1978; January 31, 1994; August 21, 2002.

* By Executive Order, unnumbered, the President, November 7, 1969, established a permanent Campus Art Collection, to embrace all works of art owned by the University but not including the Henry Gallery collection. At the same time an Art Collection Committee was appointed to inventory and catalog present holdings, devise plans for additional acquisitions, and designate locations for display of art works.

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For related information, see:

• Board of Regents Governance, Standing Orders, Chapter 1, Sections 8 and 9, “Gift Evaluation and Acceptance” and “Disposition of Gifts”
• Board of Regents Governance, Standing Orders, Chapter 3, “Gifts to the University”
• Board of Regents Governance, Regent Policy No. 50, “Naming Policy”
• Executive Order No. 37, “University of Washington Public Art Commission”
• Administrative Order No. 5, “Delegated Authority for Gifts to the University”
• Employment and Administrative Policies, Chapter 205, “Campus Art Policies”