LetterAgent
Mail physical letters by just asking your AI assistant.
Address it to the department that handles your subject, not to the museum in general: donations to development, research questions to the relevant curator or archivist, and programme questions to education or public programmes. A letter addressed to a department reaches the right desk far faster than one addressed only to the museum name.
| Your subject | Address it to | Include in the letter |
|---|---|---|
| A money donation | Development Office | Amount in words, how you want it used, whether it is a gift or a pledge |
| Donating an object | Curator of the relevant collection, or Collections Department | Photos, measurements, history of the object, how you acquired it |
| A research question | Curator, Archivist, or Library | Your exact question, dates, names, and what you already checked |
| School or group visits | Education Department | Group size, ages, preferred dates, any access needs |
| An event or programme | Public Programmes | Event name and date, your question, your contact details |
Write to a named person when you can find one. Museum websites usually list curators by collection area, and a name on the envelope gets past the general mail sorting pile. When no name is listed, use the department title instead of a guess: "Curator of Photography" beats a wrong name, and it still lands with the right team. Avoid addressing a letter to "the director" unless your subject genuinely concerns the whole museum, since directors forward such mail onward and that adds weeks. For small museums with no departments listed, the general office address is correct, and a clear subject line in your first sentence does the routing work for you.
Money and objects need different letters. For a money donation, state the amount, whether it is a one-time gift or a pledge paid over time, and any restriction you want on its use, such as education programmes or a named collection. Say whether you want public recognition or prefer to stay anonymous. Museums issue tax receipts in both the United States and Canada, but the rules and forms differ, so ask for a receipt in the letter and keep a copy for your own records. For an object donation, never mail the object itself with your first letter. Describe it, include photos, and explain where it came from and why it matters. Museums accept only a small share of offered objects, because every accepted item brings storage, conservation, and cataloguing work, so a clear, honest description helps the curator decide quickly.
Curators and archivists answer specific questions much faster than broad ones. "Do you hold letters from nurses who served in 1917?" will get a reply; "Tell me about your war collection" may sit unanswered. Give dates, full names, places, and the sources you already checked, so staff do not repeat your work. Say what you plan to do with the answer: a school project, a book, a family history search. That context helps staff judge how deep to go and whether a visit or a paid research service fits better. If you need copies of documents, ask about the process and any fee in the same letter rather than sending a second one later. Keep the letter short: one page covers most research questions, and a second page should hold only a list of names or dates.
Programme questions go to education or public programmes, not to curators, and ticket problems go to the box office or visitor services. Mixing them up is the most common reason museum letters stall. A letter about a school visit should name the teacher or group leader, the number of students, and two or three possible dates, since programmes book up and a single date often fails. A membership question should include your membership number if you have one, but never include a full credit card number in a letter. If you are writing to praise a programme or an exhibition, say which one and when you visited: staff pass specific praise to the team involved, and vague praise rarely reaches anyone.
Use the mailing address on the museum's official contact page, not the address shown on a ticket or a map listing, which may be a visitor entrance or a satellite site. Large museums sometimes have separate mailing addresses for development offices or archives, so check the department page too. In Canada, include the province and postal code in full; in the United States, include the ZIP code plus the four-digit extension when the museum publishes it, since that routes mail inside large buildings. Keep a copy of your letter and note the date you mailed it. If you have heard nothing after a month, a short follow-up letter that references your first letter's date usually gets a faster answer than starting over. With LetterAgent, you describe the letter to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed on 8.5 by 11 inch paper, single-sided, and mailed in a double-window envelope.
Ready to mail it? Send your letter with LetterAgent: describe it to your AI assistant, approve the exact quoted price, and it is printed and mailed.
LetterAgent is a working name. Prices include print, postage, and our service fee. US prices in USD, Canadian prices in CAD (Canadian prices exclude applicable sales tax, added at checkout). Currently in private testing.
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