How about adding 'major' to this line? Keeping in touch with extant major depositors is good practice. Maybe level 2, though (if there is a level 2)?

Defining major is another problem though... Big collections, but also prominent collections, probably count here, especially the point re copyright/IPR where the biggest risks to the service probably lie.

Services have various approaches to this issue. Something as simple as adding depositors to the circulation list for your newsletter is likely to result in your being told when they die or move. It is also helpful for keeping depositors informed and engaged with your service.

While this arguably should be the case recent depositors, there shouldn't be any expectation that offices will keep in touch with depositors who deposited records ten, twenty or more years ago. Name me the County Record Office which maintains current details of folk whose last dealings with them were in 1964!

After some bad experiences with deposits, our private archive turned to donation only. How would that fit in with this requirement?
Our main concern now is the accuracy and efficiency of the accession process rather than keeping in touch with donors.

Our museum colleagues (in joint organisation) only accept outright donations, but we have made the case for continuing with deposits as the only realistic way of getting many collections. I agree that it's not really practical to keep in touch with someone who gave one item 30 years ago, particularly when it was identified as a "deposit" when they really just wanted to give it and have no more to do with it.

Even when you have a signed form assigning copyright, in instances where there were multiple creators, the copyright in many collection items remains vested in other individuals, not the depostors.
A second level could be one where there are evidenced processes for gaining appropriate copyright licensing or transfer of ownership from IPR owners outside of the original deposting group.

Re Fiona's comment, I don't think there's a problem - if you don't need to keep in touch with donors, you simply can't be assessed on this criterion, but that shouldn't affect aiming for a level 1 overall.