Volunteers
8
Philanthropy Journal of North Carolina
Carolina Theatre chooses
interim volunteer director
The Carolina Theatre in Durham will
be run by volunteer board member
Monte Moses while it seeks a new exec
utive director.
July/August 1994
Donor turbulence
Poor handling costs Georgia Museum gift of plane
An aviation museum has lost its
claim to an airplane it received
as a gift after a juiy found that
the museum failed to take prop
er care of the plane.
By Joseph Neff
A tussle between two aviation
/\ museums over a vintage air-
/ \ plane has ended with a sim
ple lesson: If you want to keep a gift,
be a good steward and honor the
expectations of the donor.
Poor handling of a donated air
plane doomed the attempt by Stone
Mountain Aviation Museum in
Cummings, Ga. to keep title to the
flying machine donated by a North
CaroUna businessman.
The victor in this case is the
Western North Carolina Air Museum
in Hendersonville.
The spoils consist of a vintage
North American SNJ-5, a World War
II era plane used for training pilots.
The. case dates to 1983. Grant
Zlckgraf, a retired businessman from
Macon County, North Carolina want
ed to donate his plane to a museum.
Like many donors, the elderly
Zickgraf hoped that someone would
preserve his gift for others to enjoy.
Milt Kimble, president of the
Stone Mountain Museum, lobbied
Zickgra,! to donate the plane to the
GIVING
museum, which Kimble had recently
formed. Kimble and Zickgraf have
known each other since the 1950s.
Kimble portrayed his fledgling
museum as a bona fide project,
promised to keep the plane in tip-top
shape and pledged to allow Zickgraf
to fly the plane whenever he wished
to, according to Zickgraf’s complaint.
“That’s what I meant for them, to
keep the plane in top shape and so
forth and I was going to help them
and we were going to build a real
museum,” Zickgraf testified at trial.
On November 25, 1983, Zickgraf
donated the plane to the Stone
Mountain Aviation Museum. He took
a $35,000 tax deduction that year on
his federal income taxes.
Some months later, Zickgraf
dropped in at the museum, located
on the grounds of Stone Mountain
Airport of which Kimble is president.
To Zickgraf’s consternation, he
found children playing inside the
plane, which was sitting outside with
the hatch open. The inside was
soaked. The radio and instruments
were unworkable, a rear seat was
removed and the oxygen equipment
was gone.
There was no museum hangar,
Zickgraf said, and in fact, no muse-
The Vintage North American SNJ-5, a V/orld War II era plane, was used for training pilots.
Photo courtesy of Western North Carolina Air Museum
urn: no sign, no guests and no other
antique or restored aircraft.
So, seven months after giving the
plane to the Stone Mountain
Museum, Zickgraf took the plane
back to North Carolina. In 1989, he
gave it to the Western North
Carolina Air Museum after thor
oughly investigating the Henderson
ville museum.
In 1991, Kimble and the Stone
Mountain A\iatiqn Museum filed a,
complaint, saying they held title to.
the plane. This was the first legal-
motion they filed since Zickgraf took
the airplane back in 1984.
At trial, the issue centered on
whether the plane was a valid gift to
the .Stone Mountain Museum.
Zickgraf s lawyers argued that their
client had made a conditional gift:
Stone Mountain could have the plane
Look for AIRPLANE, page 9
Ounce of prevention
Nonprofits gain awareness of liability
An increasing number of North
Carolina nonprofits are taking
steps to protect volunteers
and board members from
potentfai lawsuits. Strategies
includfe additional insurance
policies and improved volun
teer training programs.
By Barbara Solow
rhen it comes to liabili
ty, leaders of North
. Carolina nonprofits say
perception is as important as reali
ty.
Although there have been few if
any major lawsuits filed against
nonprofits, many organizations are
becomiug more vigilant about pro
tecting volunteers and board mem
bers from potential legal hassles.
“You have to balance it out,”
says Phylliss Whitaker, director of
volunteer personnel for the
Greater Carolinas chapter in
ACCOUNTABILITY
Charlotte of the American Red
Cross. “You don’t want liability to
be such a concern that you can’t
provide services, but you also want
to be able to handle things that
come up.”
Before beginning a new pro
gram or service, Whitaker contacts
the Risk Management Division at
national Red Cross headquarters
for suggestions on volunteer
screening and training programs
designed to prevent accidents and
mishaps.
The Red Cross also has a gener
al insurance policy that covers vol
unteers.
So does the Big Buddy program
in Wilmington - an umbrella
agency for five area youth pro
grams.
“In the six years I’ve worked
with the agency, we’ve never had
any incidents,” says Program
Director Jennifer Cooper. “Still, it’s
somewhat of a comfort to our vol
unteers to know there is general
liability insurance.”
North Carolina’s Nonprofit
Corporations Act protects nonprof
it board members from liability for
actions they perform as part of
their volunteer duties. An npdate
of the act, which went into effect
July 1, extends that protection to
employees of nonprofits that file
reports with the state.
Under the state’s Good Samar
itan Act of 1993, volunteers who
provide first aid or emergency
assistance at accident sites or non
profit clinics are also shielded from
liability.
Despite the passage of “volun
teer protection laws” in 49 other
states, concerns about liability in
the nonprofit arena are on the rise.
Part of the reason is that while
such laws raise the requirements
Look for LIABILITY, page 9
Looking at liability
boards and volunteers
E xperts recommend the follow-
mgsteps for nonprofits looking,
to protect volunteers and board mem-,
bers from lawsuits:
• Know fedeial state and local
regulations that-will affect yom> work-'
This would include such laws as the
,\mericansw1tli Disabilities .4ct.
• Develop, deal’management poli
cies and organizational mission state
ments. - .
• Set up careful screening and
training programs for volunteers,
• Consider expanding insurance
coverage to -include volunteers and-
board members..
Here are some resources on non
profit liability
• The North ;Carolina Center for
Nonprofits in Raleigh publishes a
booMet called “Employment Law for'
North Carolina Nonprofits” that
mclades su^stions on poiides that
.can reduce ejqiosure to lawsuits The
center also is a .sponsor of the
Nonprofits Mutual Risk Retention
'iXlrdup, which was set up to provide
ulsurance at reasonable and stable
rates to nonprofits CaU (919) 571-
' 0811 tor information or to schedule an
appointment at the resource center.
- » The Human Serviees Corp. in
Greensboro offers workshops and
-. Coasdlfing senires on liability issues
■tornonproRts, Call (910) 294-^28
• The National Center for
• Niaiprofit Boards in Washington has
'.published a special edition of its
'•nevvslettcr called “Board Members
and Risk. A Primer on Protection
from Liability.” Call (202) 452-0262
. » The Nonprofit Risk Management
Center in Washington has written a
scries of “community service briefs”
■ on'liability, insurance and risk-man-
a^mont issues including “Managng
Volunteers Within the Law ” Call
(202)785-3891.
Habitat, homes
to be built in Wake
County
Construction has begun on
an eight-unit apartment
building on Polly Street in
Raleigh that will provide
transitional housing for
homeless families. The pro
ject is sponsored by ffobitot
for ffumonity, with support
from GE Capitol Mortgage
Corporation and Pan
Lutheran Ministries.
Volunteer center
has moved
The Volunteer Center of
Greater Durham has a new
address: 136 East Chapel
Hill Street, Durham, NC
27701. For information
about the organization's
programs and services, coll
(919) 688-8977.
Community theater
seeks artists
The Tholion Association
community theater in
Wilmington is looking for
directors, choreographers,
music directors and design
ers for its 1994-95 season.
Ploys to be staged include
"Gypsy," "The Dining
Room" and "Biloxi Blues."
Coll (910) 251-1788 for
details.
Big sweep begins
on N.C. waterways
The annual Big Sweep, a
statewide litter cleanup, will
be held the third Saturday in
September. Volunteers from
across the state collect and
record litter from lakes,
streams, rivers and beaches.
Coll (919) 856-6686 for
details.
Raleigh Artsplosure
seeks volunteer
Artsplosure, a nonprofit arts
organization in Raleigh, is
seeking a part-time volun
teer receptionist. The orga
nization sponsors First Night
Raleigh and the Spring Jazz
& Art Festival. Coll Beth
Berngortt at (919) 832-
8699 for information about
the position.
Staff Photo