AIM’s Economic Impact Toolkit helps museums estimate their economic contribution and impact (their overall, or gross, economic impact) for the purposes of advocacy. It supports museums to make a case to economic and tourism stakeholders – such as local councillors, MPs, and funding bodies – by helping them calculate their net additional economic impact.
The Toolkit also includes up to date spend metrics by locality where possible.
Dr Stephen Connolly (Director, DC Research) and Jonathan Durnin (Director, Durnin Research) first produced a report – the Economic Impact of the Independent Museum Sector – and developed the AIM Economic Toolkit, in 2010. The Toolkit was refreshed in 2014 and updated in 2019.
A new version of the research and the Toolkit was developed in 2024 to enable the sector to assess impacts following several economic shocks – such as the pandemic and cost of living crisis – which have affected visitor patterns.
The 2024 Toolkit also saw the introduction of an accompanying downloadable Excel spreadsheet to assist with calculations.
Since 2010, the AIM Toolkit has been used by many museums and been adapted by sector developers and advocators. It has helped museums make the case in a range of different scenarios, strengthen influence and even secure funding, as well as celebrate success and drive advocacy.
New for 2025
The September 2025 update to the Toolkit includes the latest tourism metrics at national and locality levels, sourced from Visit Britain, Visit Scotland, Welsh Government and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
The update also includes volunteer impact metrics to consider the scale and value of volunteering. Volunteering is not typically found in traditional economic impact assessments, and it is therefore not included in the overall gross and net economic impact calculations. However, it may provide a useful advocacy message for those museums for whom volunteering is an important consideration.
These improvements and updates have been incorporated into both the downloadable Excel spreadsheet, as well as the corresponding Toolkit report, available at the link below.
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