Funding

Core Funding
The Museum is a 363-day-a-year operation, keeping 4 exhibition galleries and a major library open to the public. Our 40 staff look after some 200,000 visitors a year, answer 3,500 historical enquiries and care for the many hundreds of thousands of items in the Museum’s collections. Altogether, this costs in the order of £1.3 million each year.

The Navy’s Contribution
The value of this work in preserving the heritage of the Senior Service and promoting its public profile is recognised by the Navy by the award of a grant-in-aid from the budget of Second Sea Lord. At just under £1 million pa, this represents about three-quarters of the Museum’s income.

Other income
Most of the balance comes from ticket sales, in the region of £280,000 pa. Other sources of income include the profits from the Trading Company and the return on a small investment portfolio.

Self Help
With both MOD funding and visitor income under pressure in recent years, the Museum has been developing new income streams, based on its physical and intellectual assets. These have included

* Trafalgar Night Dinners
* special interest weekends devoted, for instance, to Nelson, the works of Patrick O’Brian and D-Day
* the Saturday seminars of ‘The Naval academy’
* fees for filming and sales of photographs
* use of the Princess Royal Gallery for public hire and corporate hospitality

In addition, the Museum receives donations each year from a growing body of supporters, individuals, companies and trusts, many of who have made commitments over 4 years and sometimes longer.

Together, these initiatives and donations generate about £50,000 each year.