Successfully obtaining funds for your museum or gallery requires knowledge and creativity. Access to Funding is a workshop delivering specialist knowledge to make accessing funds a reality.

2. VOLUNTEER MUSEUM (VM) GRANT PROGRAM
Provides museums managed by
volunteers and Keeping Places in NSW
with funding for collection focussed
projects

3. Volunteer managed museums
Keeping Places
Volunteer museum networks
No more than the equivalent of 2 full
time employees
Open to the public with regular opening
hours (at least 1 set time per month)
Not for Profit
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?

4. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
A
project
that:
Demonstrates best museum practice
Improves the skills of your museum
volunteers
Is right for your museum (meets your mission
and goals)
Benefits your community
Is innovative
Shows careful thought and planning

5. WE CANNOT FUND
Retrospective projects
Projects that already receive any funding from
Arts NSW
Office equipment
Activities or projects that do not relate to
museum work (ie research collections of copied
material)
Organisations that do not have a museum function
(ie Historical Societies or Archives without
museums)

6. VM Leg Up Grants matched funding from $50
to $500
VM Small Grants up to $2000
VM Skills Development Grants up to $5000
VM Project Development Grants from $2500 to
$7500
VM GRANTS AVAILABLE IN 2016

7. LEG UP GRANTS
Amount available: $50 to $500 of matched funding (ie total
expenses $100-$1000)
Available all year round (until funds expended)
Supports networking activities for volunteers in
volunteer run museums
Makes training more affordable
At least three weeks notice before the event
required
Will cover travel, accommodation and registration

8. LEG UP GRANTS
Examples of projects previously funded
Museum guiding course
Oral History workshop
Significance workshop
Collection database training
Object handling workshop
TAFE certificate in museum practice

9. LEG UP GRANTS – WILL FUND
Hosting a skills development event like a
workshop
Yamba Museum hosted a
Significance workshop and
requested a Leg Up to
cover speaker costs like
travel.

10. LEG UP GRANTS – WILL FUND
Networking with other museums
Sharing ideas with other
community museums can
be extremely helpful.
This can be as simple as
arranging a visit to
neighbouring museum for
your volunteers. A Leg
Up Grant can help you
cover the costs of hiring
a bus.

11. VM SMALL GRANTS
Amount available: Up to $2000
Round 2 closes: 2nd October 2016
Meet the mid term operational
requirements of community museums
and Keeping Places

12. VM SMALL GRANTS
Examples of projects previously funded
Purchase of showcases and hanging
systems
Purchase of appropriate materials for
constructing display furniture
Interpretation panels
Oral history recording equipment
Purchase of storage shelving

13. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Collection Management Projects
Riversdale House Museum
purchased acid free textile boxes,
Tyvec, acid free tissue, Fomecore,
2 way Minivac, microspatula,
Pigma and Sharpie pens to enable
the collection to be cleaned,
marked, packed and stored and
displayed in a manner consistent
with best practice

14. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Collection Management Software
Collection management software
(databases) are often requested in
the Small Grants program. To
apply for money for a database,
you must already be keeping
object records – whether on paper,
or in Excel.

15. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Exhibition Development Projects
Port Macquarie Museum
purchased a new upright display
case for use in temporary
exhibitions.

16. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Exhibition Development Projects
Lithgow Small Arms Museum
undertook a large project to
redevelop their museum entrance
with new displays including a large
feature watercolour painting. The
grant funded the aluminium
graphic panel for this.

17. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Exhibition Development
Projects
The Tinonee Historical
Museum purchased spotlights
to illuminate their permanent
displays

18. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Conservation Work for significant objects
(must have a Significance Statement)
Greens Gunyah Museum in
Lockhart received funding for
conservation work to be carried out
on a significant pastoral map

19. VM SMALL GRANTS – WILL FUND
Marketing and Promotion
VM Small Grants have
funded signs and brochures

20. VM SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
Amount available: up to $4000
Available any time until 15th November 2016
Provides funding for the organisation of
regional and state based skill development,
training and networking events

21. VM SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
Examples of projects previously funded
Significance workshops
Collections database training
Disaster preparedness training
Collection care training and workshops

22. SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GRANTS – WILL FUND
Attending skills development events like
conferences and workshops
The Far North Coast
Chapter of Museums
Australia held a
workshop on paper
conservation

23. VM SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GRANTS– WILL FUND
Workshops and training with a regional focus
A number of museums from
the Broken Hill area held a
one-day workshop by
Preservation Australia and
conducted by
videoconferencing on the
agents of deterioration,
principles of preventative
conservation and collection
storage and display.

24. VM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
Amount available: $2500 up to $7500
Closing Date: 2ND October 2016
Provide funding for strategic projects with mid to
long term outcomes
Can provide the opportunity for museums/Keeping
Places to work with a consultant
All applications must relate to and be accompanied
by a strategic plan (unless the funds are being requested to
develop a strategic plan)

25. VM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS– WILL FUND
Working with
consultants on:
Significance Assessments
of collections
Strategic planning
Collection management
Marketing plans
Exhibition plans

26. VM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS
Examples of projects previously funded
Development of business and strategic
plans
Development of a combined museums
website
Hosting touring exhibitions
Preservation Needs Assessment
Developing a temporary exhibition

27. WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?
Priority
is given
to
projects
that:
Involve other groups and organisations
(collaborations and partnerships)
Encourage engagement with the wider
community
Involve diverse (and new) audiences

28. VM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS– WILL FUND
Exhibition development projects
Berrima Museum received a
grant which contributed to
the development of
Prisoners in Arcady:
German Mariners in Berrima
1915-1919. The grant
funded professionally
printed interpretive panels
as well as audio visual
equipment for the exhibition

29. VM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT GRANTS– WILL FUND
Larger conservation projects (must be accompanied
by a Significance Assessment)
McCrossin’s Mill Museum
received a grant for
extensive conservation work
to be carried out on a
significant silk banner – this
included the construction of
a showcase to keep the
banner secure

31. BUILDING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Funded by the Office of Environment
and Heritage
Fund assessments and/or feasibility
studies for museum and gallery
buildings
If an assessment has been done, will
fund building conservation works

32. WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
Established galleries or museums (not
archives or historical societies without a
museum function), regularly open to the public
Small to medium organisations, i.e. no more
than 20 paid staff

33. BUILDING ASSESSMENT REPORTS
A consultant to assess the energy efficiency of the
building
A consultant to assess the appropriateness of the
building for use as a museum or gallery, with respect to
access, sustainability and collection care
A heritage architect to develop a schedule of works
for building repairs

34. BUILDING WORKS GRANTS
Required
outcomes
include:
Improved collection care
Improved visitor access to the building and the
exhibits
Improved economic and environmental
sustainability
Submissions must be linked to a building
assessment, whether from the program or
another suitable source

35. WE CANNOT FUND
Retrospective projects or projects that have
already begun
Air conditioning systems
In-house salaries and volunteer labour costs
New or additional building structures or
extensions of any kind

37. HINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL GRANT APPLICATION
Speak to us first! We can let you know if your
project fits with the program you are
interested in
Talk to other people about your project, share
your ideas
Frame your project within the guidelines
Get your pitch right – will it stand out from the
crowd?
Be clear and precise
Ask someone from outside the museum to
read the application and let you know their
impressions

38. HINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL GRANT APPLICATION
Be explicit about who is going to manage the
project
If the project involves a consultant, explain what
you expect from them
Make sure to include evidence of your credibility
(letters of support from Councils or Museum
Advisors, existing plans or policies)
Ensure your budget is accurate
REMEMBER – the Assessment Panel may know
nothing about your museum!

39. YOUR BUDGET SHOULD
Be GST exclusive!!
Be clear, detailed and add up correctly
Be competitive
Be for the project only
Show all forms of financial support and contributions
to the project
Include quotes for every good or service being
applied for
If a consultant is involved, they must supply a
detailed quote outlining services and fees

40. MAKE SURE YOUR APPLICATION INCLUDES
Examples of any text and design
Details of any object/s involved
A current Strategic Plan and Collection Policy
Consultant’s CV
Brochures and programs
Supporting documentation like layouts, fabric
samples, maps or photos

41. IF YOUR APPLICATION IS NOT SUCCESSFUL
Talk to us! We can give you detailed feedback
from the Assessment Panel
Talk to other museums about their successful
applications
Try again!

42. WHERE YOU CAN GET MORE INFORMATION
http://mgnsw.org.au/sector/funding/
grants-we-administer/
http://mgnsw.org.au/sector/funding
/other-grants/

43. WHO TO CONTACT
Conni Lord,
Museum Programs and Collections Coordinator
(Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri)
T: 02 9339 9913
Freecall: 1800 114 311
E: connil@mgnsw.org.au