RE: Galleries & Museums in New York City - Photography
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007, Dave Soemarko wrote: What Museum isn't "not for profit", except maybe something like Madame Toussaud's? They usually have a board of directors of very wealthy people who give big gifts and fund various activities. Businesses donate also for the "public relations." Philip Morris, for instance, has funded or contributed to funding of major shows at MoMA, tho objections were made to thus "sanitizing" cigarettes. In any event, admission fees don't support the museums, and yes, the Whitney, MoMA, Guggenheim, et al, do charge a set admission fee, though rates may vary by day or time, & they may have free times.For those that don't have a "suggested" price, do you mean they don't suggest a price, or they charge a fix price as in selling movie tickets? What I mean about the "tax exempt" thing is for an organization to be tax-exempt as a non-profit organization (and there are different categories), the museum should make their major income from donation but not from other activities like sales of things. That's why they technically don't want to "sell" their tickets but just hint it by calling it "suggested donation." So it is still a donation. Are the other museums that you mentioned also non-profit? However, a large portion of museum support -- also of NY Public Library -- comes from sales in their shops, so there goes your theory about "sales of things." In fact the Met is likely to have a sales room at the exit of every special show -- you come out still on another plane and into the bright lights and the ding of cash registers.... This has been severely criticized, but it's not going away. On the 3rd (or 4th?) hand, if I make a donation to, let's say, NPR, and a premium is offered for giving x amount, say a tote bag with their name on it, my receipt for the donation (in the form of a letter, to be submitted with my income tax) subtracts the "value" of the premium from the donation, or on the other hand, states that no goods were received. (NPR & NY Public Library, et al, are of course not-for-profit entities, otherwise they'd be Macy's.) J.
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