Funding the archives sector

Funding the archives sector research report

The National Archives and the International Centre for Archives and Records Management Research and User Studies (ICARUS) at University College London have undertaken a research project to investigate the current funding landscape of the UK archives sector.

The project aims were to investigate:

how archives in the UK are funded
what funding resources are underdeveloped within the sector
what advice and training support can be delivered by The National Archives to improve access to funding resources

The project advisory group included representatives from The National Archives, University College London, CyMAL: Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales (a division of the Welsh Assembly Government), and the Archives & Records Association.

Project phase 1

We undertook a survey of a select number of repositories to collect data on current funding sources and techniques used for fundraising and generating income.

Some initial findings were:

for England, 82% of funding for archive services comes from parent organisations, with 18% from other sources
5% of funding comes from earned income, and 53% of respondents had control over setting targets for earned income and making decisions on how to spend that money
3% of funding comes from private investment (individuals, trusts/foundations and businesses)
12% of respondents reported that 100% of their funding comes from the service's parent organisation
33% of services have a fundraising strategy
17% of services have a budget to support fundraising activities, resources and training
56% of services can access fundraising expertise from their parent organisation

Project phase 2

The survey is being followed up by identifying examples of good practice from across the sector. These will be made available at a later date on this website.

Project phase 3

Access to the detailed data collected through this project will allow The National Archives and other decision makers to develop evidence-based policy and support in this area.

More detailed findings from the project will be shared later in the year.

For more information please contact the Programme Manager (Development Advice).