Who uses Museum Exchange?

Museum Exchange is built for the people and teams involved in making a donation happen from start to finish. Activity in the platform falls into three core user groups: donors, institutions, and representatives.

Donors

Donors are the individuals, families, estates, collectors, or representatives who want to offer an item or collection to an institution.

Donors typically use Museum Exchange to:

• start a new donation
• sign required documents
• coordinate next steps related to shipment or delivery

In short, donors use Museum Exchange to move a donation from interest to completion in a more organized and transparent way.

Institutions

Institutions are the museums, archives, universities, historical societies, or other collecting organizations reviewing potential donations.

• institution users typically use Museum Exchange to:
• browse the Museum Exchange catalogue
• coordinate internal review and approvals
• submit proposals for donations to donors
• manage required documentation and signatures
• book shipping & receive delivered items

For institutions, Museum Exchange helps keep the donation process clear, trackable, and easier to manage across multiple stakeholders.

Representatives

Representatives are the people acting on behalf of a donor during the donation process.

Depending on the situation, a representative may:

• submit or manage donation information for a donor
• help coordinate communication between parties
• upload supporting documentation
• review workflow progress and statuses
• assist with signatures, approvals, or next steps
• help keep the process organized and moving forward

Representatives help support the donation process when another person or organization needs someone to act on their behalf.

How these roles work together

A typical donation involves collaboration across all three groups:

• A donor submits an item or collection to Museum Exchange for donation.
• An institution reviews the catalogue for donations they may be interested in and decides to submit a proposal to receive a donation .
• A representative may help coordinate, manage details, or move the process forward on behalf of the donor.

Each role sees and does different things on Museum Exchange, but they all contribute to the same goal: helping donations move forward with greater clarity and less back-and-forth.