Finance

Be financially resilient and well managed as a charitable business

How much money do you need to get started and what income will you need to generate to operate? Where will this money come from? As an independent museum you will probably need to generate much of your own income – an entrepreneurial approach is essential. You may wish to charge for admission and/or for activities, earn money from a shop or café or develop other commercial activities- e.g. venue hire, weddings and events. You also need to test that your ideas for making money will work. It is easy to assume a shop or cafe will earn money and be profitable, but they can cost you a lot of money to run. Think about how you might start to build up contingency funds or reserves to deal with unexpected costs or challenging times.

You will need to consider a diverse mix of income generation sources and maximise all the available opportunities to support your business model. You may be able to fundraise through a supporters’ group, business sponsorship or an ongoing programme of fundraising initiatives. External funders e.g. National Lottery Heritage Fund or philanthropic trusts and foundations are often able to support specific projects or building developments, but can rarely help with day to day running costs. Gift Aid may be another potential source of income for you if you are a charity.

You need to work out how your museum can pay for itself. Further advice can be found in the AIM Success Guides:

If your museum is an AIM member it receives free membership to the Charity Finance Group. CFG help their members understand what is happening in the world of charity finance, so you can better support your organisation and its experience for your visitors and supporters. Click here to find out how to claim your CFG membership>>

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Finance

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