This toolkit provides an overview of how to donate your personal records or objects to an archive or a museum. It includes background information on donating, as well as a step-by-step guide to the process of donating.

Read the What Are Archives and Museums Toolkit to learn more about the basics of archives and museums and what they do. Note: Every archive and museum is different, and practices are constantly changing. This guide is meant to be an introduction, not a definitive authority.

Why Donate?

Records and objects need to be cared for properly in order to prevent damage and degradation. However, most people don’t have access to the tools and training necessary to preserve their records and objects long-term. Donating your records or objects will allow them to be cared for properly by professionals so that future generations can learn from and enjoy them.
Your records and objects may be very valuable to historians and researchers who study the Italian-Canadiancommunity. You are a part of the Italian-Canadian story! Donating your records and objects will help ensure researchers have access to them and can use them to include your story as part of Canadian history.

What Can I Donate to Archives or Museums?

Museums

Objects, especially those with a rich history.
For example, textiles, tools, toys, etc.

Mixed Collections

Some archives also accept objects, and some museums also accept unpublished records.
Mixed collections of objects and records that relate to each other are best left together.

Step by Step Guide

1. Gather Your Donations

Do NOT rearrange, modify or cull records before donating them.
Archivists usually try to keep collections in their original order.
This order can hold useful information, and best represents to future researchers how the records were used by their original creator.
Do NOT try to “touch up” or modify objects before donating them.
Modifying objects can damage them and may erase valuable historical information.
It is important to gather information about where your donation came from, who created it, and how it was used.
The history of who owned your donation before you and how you came to own it is referred to as “provenance”.
Recording provenance is important because it proves the donation has not been stolen or dealt illegally, and it provides valuable historical information. When researchers look at provenance they can better understand the value of the records to the original owner which provides context to a donation. It is also useful for museums who display the donation because it allows curators to tell a richer story about the individual items.

2. Decide Where to Donate

Consider the following:
What type of material do you want to donate?
Records should generally go to archives, and objects should generally go to museums.
Does your material relate to a specific place?
Most cities and regions in Canada have some form of archive and/or museum, most of which accept donations.
Materials with provincial significance will sometimes be accepted by provincial museums or provincial archives [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_archives_in_Canada]
Does your material relate to a specific subject?
Some Italian-Canadian clubs or groups may have their own archives or museums, such as Casa d’Italia in Montreal or Il Centro in Vancouver
There may be a subject-based museum or archive related to your materials, for example, military museums, queer archives, etc.
If they are publicly available, it is a good idea to familiarize yourself with an archive or museum’s policies around donation and collections before contacting them.
Make sure your donation fits within the archive or museum’s collection policy or area of focus.

3. Get in Contact with the Archive or Museum

Different archives and museums may have different donation processes.
Look on the website of your chosen archive or museum for a page outlining their donation process and what is needed from donors.
Often this process will involve emailing an archivist or curator, or filling out an online form. ICAP can help you with this! Contact us to learn more.
Though most archives and museums will have donation information on their websites, some small archives and museums may not. In this case, it may be necessary to phone or email the archive or museum.
Sometimes, donors may be able to bring a very small number of records or objects into an archive or museum on a walk-in basis.
However, especially if you are donating a larger collection, or if you are trying to donate to a larger archive or museum, it is best to confirm an appointment ahead of time.

4. The Archive or Museum Will Appraise Your Donation

The process through which archives and museums decide whether or not to keep donations is called appraisal.
Different archives and museums have different areas of focus, and this will impact which donations they will accept.
Archives and museums may take into account whether they already have similar records or objects in their collections, as well as a donation’s age, physical condition, and rarity.
In certain cases, the archive or museum will be able to give you a decision right away, but appraisal often takes some time.
Sometimes museums will require the short-term loan of an object to give staff time to appraise it.
Some museums may also require donations to be reviewed by a committee.

5. The Archive or Museum Will Accept or Decline Your Donation

Caring for donations takes a lot of space, time, and resources. Unfortunately, archives and museums cannot accept every donation offer they receive.
An archive or museum declining your donation does not mean it isn’t worth preserving! It may not fit with the archive or museum’s area of focus, or they may already have a similar item in their collection.
Keep looking! Another archive or museum might be a better fit.
Sometimes, an archive or museum will accept some of your donation, but not all of it. For instance, a museum may only want two out of four objects.

6. Transfer Ownership of Your Donation to the Archive or Museum

Generally, archives and museums will only accept donations they can own.
This requires legal ownership of the donation to be transferred to the archive or museum through a form, such as a “Deed of Gift” form.
Important Note: When you donate your records or objects, they become the property of the archive or museum they are donated to. This means you will no longer have control over what happens to them.
Before you sign the form, someone at the archive or museum will likely discuss the institution’s donation policies with you.
Make sure you understand all of these policies, especially those regarding what happens if the archive or museum decides to deaccession (remove) your donation from its collection.
Where possible, most archives will ask donors to donate the copyright to their records as well.
Archives may also allow you to specify any restrictions on access you would like to place for privacy.
For example, you may request a certain record not be made available to the public for a decade, until someone’s death, or only in person and not online, etc.
In some cases, you may be able to get a tax write-off for your donation.
Ask if it’s possible to get an appraisal and tax receipt.
Examples of questions to ask before transferring ownership might include:
What is your deaccessioning policy? What will happen to my donation if you decide to remove it from your collection?
Who will have access to my donation? Will it be digitized and posted online?
Can you put restrictions on access to my donation? For example, is it possible to keep certain documents private until the people described in them pass away?
Is it possible to get a tax receipt for my donation?

7. Physically Transfer Your Donation to the Archive or Museum

Most of the time, donations will be physically transferred to the archive or museum during the in-person meeting where ownership of the donation is transferred.
In some cases, you may be asked to drop off the donation, or to arrange a time for staff to pick up the donation from your home or office.

What Happens Next?

Why Isn’t My Donation on Display?

If you donate to a museum, there is no guarantee your object will be exhibited.
This does not mean your object isn’t having an impact!
Objects in storage are being kept safe for future generations, and can be incredibly valuable to researchers, historians, and possible future exhibits.

How Long Until My Donation is in the Catalogue/Online?

As exciting as it can be to see your donation become publicly available, there are many steps a donation has to go through before it can become fully integrated into an archive or museum’s collection.
In archives, it will take time to arrange donations in the correct order, and to properly describe and store them.
In museums, it will take time to properly label and store donations, and for catalogue records to be properly written and created.

If you’d like more information on donating your collection, contact ICAP [link to admin@icap.ca]. We can help you!

If you’re not ready to donate but would like to learn more about managing your collection safely at home, click here