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Raise Funds
Managing collections is an expensive business. In addition to the ongoing costs of maintaining a safe and environmentally controlled environment, there are the costs of bringing in expert advice and building skills for your own staff. According to Collections Trust Chief Executive Nick Poole, museums, libraries and archives all need to take a creative and proactive approach to fundraising to ensure the long-term preservation of our shared culture. - Read the full article
Getting Started
Collections holders all need to raise funds. Whether in the form of revenue, grant-aid or other sources of funding support, we need to secure investment in order to develop and deliver better services to users and visitors. There are many different approaches to raising funds and the resources in this section are intended to provide a general introduction to a range of skills, from networking and bid writing.
- Overview of Fundraising activities for museums, libraries and archives
- List of funding sources for collections-holding organisations
Making the Case
Making the Case is a report designed to assist you with your funding applications for documentation projects, applying the experiences of organisations that have made successful applications. The report was commissioned by MLA East of England and EERAC (East of England Regional Archives Council), and was managed by the Collections Trust (formerly MDA).
Guidelines and Factsheets - Funding Applications
The Association of Independent Museums provide an electronic version of their paper on Fundraising for Museums
- AIM Fundraising for Museums Paper
(external link)
The Scottish Museums Council (SMC) provide the following resources:
- Developing a Fundraising Strategy (SMC)
- Organising a Fundraising Campaign (SMC)
- Approaching Companies (SMC)
- Approaching Trusts and Foundations (SMC)
- Successful Applications (SMC)
Lottery distributors and other sources of grant-aid and project funding are becoming increasingly important to collections-holding organisations.
- Find out about the Heritage Lottery Fund
- V&A Purchase Grant Fund
- Art Fund Collect
Guidelines and Factsheets - Other Activities
The Scottish Museums Council (SMC) provides an excellent range of factsheets on different aspects of fundraising.
- Developing a membership scheme (SMC)
- Establishing a friends group (SMC)
- Government Funds (SMC)
- Raising money locally and organising an event (SMC)
- Tax Effective Ways of Giving (SMC)
The Accreditation Resource Directory on Collections Link contains resources which are useful whether or not you are applying for accreditation. Go to 1.5 Sound financial basis for more resources.
