Budgets, Fundraising, and Grant Writing

Raising Money for your Collections

• Approximately 75 percent of the museums in the United States are small institutions that are run mostly by volunteer staff with a budget under $250,000.
• Seeking funding for these institutions to cover operation, education, preservation, and collection management is imperative to their survival.
• Federal, state, city, and private funding is available to assist museums if volunteers or staff make the time to actively fund raise on behalf of the museum.

Your Role in Fundraising

As the person tasked with overseeing the management of the collection you will want to be involved in fundraising for the collection and may be the one to initiate projects. Grant writing is a great way to raise money for buying artifacts, improving storage conditions, processing collections, hiring staff, conservation, online and in person exhibits, museum hardware and software, the list goes on!

There are a lot of grant resources available to museums. Here are a couple of options.

Federal Grants

INSPIRE! Grants for Small Museums

Inspire! is a special initiative of the Museums for America program. This special initiative is designed to inspire small museums to apply for and implement projects that address priorities identified in their strategic plans. Inspire! has three project categories:Collections Stewardship and Public Access, Lifelong Learning,and Community Anchors and Catalysts. Grants range from $5,000 - $50,000. No cost sharing requirement.

Museums for America (MFA)

The Museums for America (MFA) program supports projects that strengthen the ability of an individual museum to serve its public. MFA has three project categories: Collections Stewardship and Public Access, Lifelong Learning, and Community Anchors and Catalysts. Grants range from $5,000–$250,000 with a cost sharing requirement.

Native American/ Native Hawaiian Services Program

Native American/Native Hawaiian Museum Services (NANH) grants support Indian tribes and organizations that primarily serve and represent Native Hawaiians. They are intended to provide opportunities to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge through strengthened activities in areas such as collections stewardship, exhibitions, educational services and programming, and professional development. Grants range from $5,000 - $100,000. No cost sharing requirement.

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture support activities that build the capacity of African American museums and support the growth and development of museum professionals at African American museums. Grants range from $5,000-$250,000. No cost sharing is required for applications requesting amounts from $5,000-$50,000.

State Grants

Most states offer grant funding for museum and/or preservation activities. Visit the State Grants page to find opportunities in your state.

Corporate or Private Funding

Foundation Directory Online (FDO)

Fundraising & Grants Directory

The SPARK Grant-Finder Tool

Grant Writing ~ Don't be afraid of it!!

Think of grant writing as being given the opportunity to say "If I had X amount of money this is what I could achieve! I will be asking you to write a small grant proposal to get more comfortable with this process as your final paper. Following is the format the proposal should take.

Grant Proposal

Imagine that you are a collection manager of a museum (this can be our class museum, an existing institution or one that you invent) and you would like to seek funding from the Carey Museum Foundation for a project of your choice (preservation, conservation, exhibition, access, processing, cataloging) up to $75,000. After you identify the project you would like to fund write a proposal that includes:

1. Cover letter with: Name and brief overview of the organization requesting funds and its purpose b. Reason for the funding request c. Amount Requested

2. The Statement of the Problem which should include:

• The material / objects included
• The specific problem the project will address and why the project is a high priority
• Why funding from this grant program is essential

3. Intended Result- Identify each intended result and describe anticipated benefits.

4. Plan of Work - Provide a detailed outline of the proposed work activities and a timetable that shows when each phase of the project will be completed. Explain who will be responsible for performing each project activity.

The entire proposal should be four pages minimum.

The guidelines for the grant proposal, along with an example, are available here and an additional example is available here. Let me know if you have any questions in the Google Classroom.