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.