FEDERAL TAX EXEMPT STATUS
McDuffie History Project, Inc. is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt charitable and educational organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. This recognition supports our work to preserve, document, and share the history, genealogy, people, places, communities, cemeteries, and records of McDuffie County and surrounding areas. Contributions to the organization are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
The mission of McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. is to preserve, document, research, and share the history, culture, genealogy, cemeteries, records, people, places, and communities of McDuffie County, Georgia, through public education, digital preservation, and accessible historical resources.
To become a trusted public resource for preserving, understanding, and sharing the full history of McDuffie County, Georgia, by making local history more complete, accessible, honest, and respectfully preserved for future generations.
McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. is guided by truth, dignity, stewardship, public access, transparency, and respect for the full history of McDuffie County. We are committed to preserving local records, cemeteries, family histories, photographs, oral histories, and overlooked stories with care, accuracy, and accountability.
We believe local history belongs to the people whose lives shaped it. Our work seeks to make McDuffie County history accessible to descendants, residents, students, researchers, educators, and the public while honoring the dignity of Indigenous peoples, enslaved and freed African Americans, families, communities, and institutions whose stories are essential to a fuller understanding of the county’s past.
The Ethics Policy of McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. establishes standards for responsible historical research, public trust, stewardship of records, respectful treatment of families and cemeteries, and ethical use of nonprofit resources. It requires accuracy in research, careful handling of sensitive history, protection of privacy, proper permissions for donated materials, responsible use of images and oral histories, transparent records and finances, and timely correction of errors. The policy applies to directors, officers, volunteers, contractors, researchers, and others acting on behalf of the corporation.
MHP GIFT ACCEPTANCE AND COLLECTION POLICY
The Gift Acceptance and Collections Policy of McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. establishes standards for accepting, declining, documenting, preserving, and using donations of money, records, photographs, documents, books, maps, oral histories, cemetery materials, artifacts, digital files, and other historical materials.
The policy ensures that gifts and collections support the corporation’s charitable, educational, literary, and historical purposes; protects the organization from accepting materials with unclear ownership, unreasonable restrictions, legal concerns, privacy issues, preservation burdens, or costs beyond its capacity; and requires appropriate documentation, donor permissions, and responsible stewardship of accepted materials.
The policy also recognizes that donated historical materials may involve family privacy, copyright, sensitive community history, descendant concerns, and long-term preservation responsibilities. It guides the corporation in handling donated and collected materials with care, accuracy, transparency, and respect.
MHP CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
The Conflict of Interest Policy of McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. protects the organization’s charitable, educational, literary, and historical purposes by requiring directors, officers, and key persons to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.
The policy covers financial interests, family relationships, vendor relationships, business interests, organizational relationships, and other circumstances that could affect, or appear to affect, a person’s judgment on behalf of the corporation. It requires disclosure, review, recusal when appropriate, and documentation in the corporate records.
The purpose of the policy is to ensure that decisions are made in the best interests of McDUFFIE HISTORY PROJECT, INC. and not for private benefit, personal advantage, or improper influence.