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Archiver > IOWA > 2001-12 > 1007692602


From: Cathie <>
Subject: [IOWA] Re: [IABENTON-L] DONATIONS VS. FEES
Date: Thu, 06 Dec 2001 20:36:42 -0600
References: <3C06E406.6EEB1EAA@rconnect.com>


Thank you list! I posed the following message to all of you for feedback
and feedback I got....a wide range of it and that's what I wanted. You ALL
said about the same thing in a different manner which is, in essence, about
the same thing I thought.
I don't believe that those of you who read too much into my request for
input realize that I never said if I was or wasn't going to "go for it" but
most of you agree that a donation is NOT a fixed rate and that it did sound
wierd....which is why I asked all of YOU for your HELP.
I thank you and appreciate you!!!
Cathie

Cathie wrote:

> Although I am not ignorant by any means, I wonder about things I can't
> find a logical or literary answer for....after all, I do
> research...'finding the answers to hidden questions'.
> I have been a volunteer for a historical society, done oodles of
> research myself in historical societies for my own personal use and been
> a mega-donor to several historical societies on a number of occassions.
> Keeping this simple, does it make sense for a County Historical Society
> to say, "We can not charge a fee, but accept the donations" when the
> original inquiry clearly stated, and I quote, "As a strictly volunteer
> and nonprofit organization, we must ask for donations to cover the cost
> of the research you want done. To open a search and the first half hour
> we ask for $5.00 and for each additional hour it is $7.00. Photocopies
> are .50 each. Upon receipt of your donation, we will forward the
> information found."
> I didn't think that the word 'donation' had a fixed rate. A donation is
> a gift, an endowment. Isn't a 'fee' a fixed rate? Keep in mind that if
> one doesn't send in the fixed rate amount, the items in question are
> held ransom.
> This isn't a joke....I would really appreciate some feedback on this.
> HELP!!!
> Cathie

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