The dos and don’ts of donating art to museums

One of the biggest mistakes that a collector can make when deciding to donate art is to assume that their favourite museum will want it. “Collectors often think, ‘I live in Chicago, so I want to give this to the Art Institute of Chicago,’ but 99 per cent of the time they’re going to say no,” says Michael Darling, co-founder of Museum Exchange.

Founded in 2020, Museum Exchange is the first — and only — matchmaking platform for aspiring art donors and US and Canadian museums; it aims to avoid these rejections.

Instead of offering artworks to museums directly, would-be donors list those pieces they would like to give away in one of Museum Exchange’s online catalogues. Museums and other non-profit institutions then submit proposals for art that interests them. “We help collectors find museums that would benefit from their piece and, chances are, put it on view more often than a big marquee museum,” says Darling.

In 2024, 551 artworks were donated through Museum Exchange, which charges donors a flat fee for every artwork successfully donated and also helps with cataloguing, appraisals, shipping and tax forms.

Leading art institutions are now grappling with unwieldy permanent collections, finite space and, in some cases, diminished budgets for cataloguing, storing, conserving and insuring new works. From programmes such as Museum Exchange to upfront expectations that cash will accompany paintings, collectors are having to change the way they donate art to museums and galleries.

That is complicating matters for aspiring donors, particularly given the considerable tax breaks available for collectors or their estates. Nearly 40 per cent of respondents to the 2024 Art Basel and UBS Survey of Global Collecting said they wanted to donate some of their art to a museum or other charity in the next year.

The result is a balancing act. Institutions are actively seeking donations of art that fills gaps in their collections or advances acquisition goals, such as improving diversity, while trying not to seem ungrateful for turning down the vast majority of unsolicited donations.

For more information see Kathryn Tully “The dos and don’ts of donating art to museums,” The Financial Times, July 7, 2025.

Special thanks to Joel C. Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.