ABSTRACT
Museums and money go together. Museums need assured funding to undertake their day-to-day work as well as additional funds to carry out one-off projects (see Unit 85). Identifying sources of operational income as well as capital funds is thus an ongoing challenge for museums of all types. In general terms, it is considered more difficult to generate operational income or additional operational income than to raise capital funds for museums. This is because one-off projects may require significant amounts of funding at one time, but they do not require the sort of continuous funding that the museum’s operation requires. If the museum wishes to increase the level of its activities, for example through new staffing or new programmes, it will generally require additional operational funding for the purpose unless it can reprioritise its existing funds. Museum managers will therefore need to consider how to identify and secure additional income.
