Get off the grant treadmill: practical steps to financial sustainability in heritage

At the Scottish Museums Federation conference this year, one message rang out clearly: if we’re serious about building a resilient heritage sector, we need to get off the addiction to short-term funding and learn to nourish ourselves.

When we decided upon the theme of "resilience" for this year's conference, we didn't know what papers we'd get submissions for this topic. And we got a huge number of papers to choose from. There were some brilliant talks and ideas. But how many solutions do we really have to make ourselves self sustaining?

That nourishment doesn’t come from a silver bullet. It doesn’t come from one perfectly written grant application or a single viral campaign. It comes from building sustainable habits across organisations, across leadership teams, and across audiences. It means bringing more people through our doors, more regularly, and inspiring them to spend more with each visit, in ways that feel meaningful, enjoyable, and enriching.

And to do that, we need to start by imagining new futures.

Beyond the funding quick fix

Funding is tight. Everyone knows it. But what came through in almost every session, whether it was about audiences, boards, school access, or collections care, was that the answer to sustainability isn’t just more funding. It’s planning. It’s diversification. It’s rethinking our relationships with visitors, volunteers, and value.

One of the most resonant points came from the NLHF panel:

“If you’re applying to fix your roof, that’s not a strategy. But if you’re applying to make sure you never have to apply to fix it again — that’s resilience.”

This kind of thinking means not just plugging gaps, but creating long-term strategies that draw on multiple income streams, including earned income. It means freeing up leadership to think strategically, investing in marketing skills, and building internal cultures where succession, documentation, and planning aren’t afterthoughts. They’re the foundation.

Today, the future of heritage isn’t in the past

Too often, we pitch heritage experiences around the past, forgetting that our audiences are living very much in the present. As Lauren from the Glenlee shared, seeing the site through the eyes of a young person changes everything. They’re not interested in what it meant to be an adult a hundred years ago. They want to see someone they can relate to. Someone real.

In fact, across the board, we heard that what visitors crave most are personal stories, human experiences, and the invitation to see themselves reflected — whether that’s through podcasts like Hidden in Plain Sight, Disruption Nights in Dundee, or ship tours reimagined with a young audience in mind.

If we want more people through our doors, we have to make those doors feel open to them.

Tapping into the "National Trust" generation

Here’s a thought I can’t get out of my head. Right now, we’re watching an entire generation rewrite what leisure looks like. We’re seeing hen dos swap prosecco crawls for wellness retreats. Friends catching up in parks, not pubs. Increasingly, people are looking for connection, meaning, fresh air, and a sense of grounding — not just entertainment.

What if we gave them that in heritage spaces? How long have we been saying "millennials want experiences, not stuff" (at least as long as I've been a practicing marketer).

Imagine a future where catching up with friends means a walk through a historic estate followed by great coffee. Where the default weekend plan is a visit to a community museum with events, music, craft, or food, not just a browse of the local shopping centre. Where the younger generation grows up with a deep, felt connection to the heritage on their doorstep. To the intangible heritage that has shaped our world. That’s what I mean when I talk about building a National Trust Generation. Not just supporters, but habitual enjoyers of heritage. (Obviously it's not all about the National Trust, but it's a brand, a name that people recognise and associate with historic places).

They’re already looking for it. We just need to invite them in.

Resilience starts with relevance

So how do we get there?

It starts with relevance. With seeing our museums not just as repositories of the past, but as community spaces, cultural anchors, and places to be. The feedback from Dundee’s community was crystal clear: make it personal, and make it matter. When you involve people in shaping what a museum looks like (from what’s in the shop to what’s on the playlist) they show up.

It means giving serious thought to how we invite feedback. Are we asking the right questions? Are we starting with names, not surveys? Are we thinking like experience designers, not just caretakers?

And yes, it means unapologetically focusing on income. Because the reality is, financial sustainability is resilience. But that doesn’t have to mean commercialising in a way that feels icky or extractive. It means creating value people want to be part of. Giving visitors experiences they’d choose to pay for. Helping them understand what their support means.

Your entrance fee is what keeps us going. Your spend in the café is what helps us keep the lights on. Your visit today means we can keep telling stories tomorrow.

The skills we need

To make all of this happen, we need to invest in people — not just places.

We need to stop treating marketing as an add-on and start treating it as core. It's really not a dirty word. As one speaker put it, “If there’s one skill we need to build more capacity in, it’s harnessing social media.” That means beautiful websites, clear messaging, and campaigns that connect. But it also means listening, inviting, and co-creating.

We need trustees with strategic and commercial experience. We need staff who are supported, paid fairly, and given space to plan. We need volunteers who feel genuinely valued — not simply essential stopgaps. And we need succession planning that keeps knowledge and care within reach.

It’s not just about funding — it’s about fuelling

What I took from the conference wasn’t despair. It was direction.

If we can stop chasing short-term fixes and start fuelling long-term futures; if we can commit to making our spaces more welcoming, our experiences more meaningful, and our audiences more central we can build a sector that’s not just surviving, but thriving.

So let’s nourish ourselves. Let’s embrace planning over panic, marketing over modesty, and connection over collections care alone. Let’s stop whispering about our value, and start shouting about it, beautifully, boldly, and together.

That’s one of the reasons I created the Monumental Marketing Sprint. It's a focused, fast-paced way to step back from the day-to-day and look at the bigger picture. Whether it’s building a stronger earned income stream, planning out a campaign, or finding your story for funders and audiences alike, these sessions are all about turning clarity into action.

Let’s build a generation that chooses heritage — not out of duty, but because they love it.

One monumental moment:

This year’s conference reminded us that the most sustainable future is one where people come because they want to, not because they’re told to. Let’s start designing for desire, not just preservation.

Do you work for a financially stable heritage organisation?

What's your secret sauce? What have you learnt? What journey have you been on to get there? What are your top tips for other heritage institutions striving for financial sustainability?