A round-up of some of the incredible trusts and foundations supporting museums in the UK.
With International Museum Day on May 18th, we’re looking at some of the trusts and foundations funding museums in the UK. This year’s theme is The Future of Museums in Rapidly Changing Communities, focusing on how museums can navigate and contribute to a world undergoing profound social, technological, and environmental shifts.
Garfield Weston Foundation
The Garfield Weston Foundation is a family-founded grant-maker supporting charities that make a positive difference in the UK. Their funding priorities include welfare, youth, community, environment, education, health, arts, heritage and faith, donating around £100 million to these causes every year.
A significant supporter of museums in the UK, the foundation has funded The Vagina Museum, the Geffrye Museum (now The Museum of the Home), the Museum of London and many others. Grants can be used for running costs, a specific activity or capital projects. The foundation has published all its grants on 360Giving, so you can check if you’re aligned before applying.
Foyle Foundation
The Foyle Foundation was established in 2000 to implement the will of the late Christina Foyle, daughter of William Foyle who, with his brother, founded the former family-owned bookshop Foyles in Charing Cross Road, London. The foundation’s funding areas included arts, learning, community small grants, state schools libraries and formerly health. With its long-planned spend down and closure in December 2025 (by which time it will have distributed over £180M) the foundation is no longer accepting grant applications.
Among the many museums the foundation has supported are the National Gallery, V&A and The Bowes Museum.
Kusuma Trust
The Kusuma Trust was founded by husband and wife, Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari to create a long-term approach to the family’s charitable giving. Committed to making philanthropic investments in their community, this trust chooses its partners based on our shared values and mutual interests – creating access to opportunities, improving health and well-being, and investing in our communities and environment. Since 2010, they have given over £51M in funding, supporting over 20 million beneficiaries.
While they don’t take unsolicited funding applications, you can visit their partners’ page to see if your cause is aligned with their mission. Among the many projects they’ve supported are the National History Museum, the London Transport Museum and the British Library.
Pears Foundation
The Pears Foundation was founded in 1992 by brothers Mark, Trevor and David Pears (all of whom serve as its Trustees) and has given more than £500M to charity since it was established. A family foundation that wants to demonstrate the good philanthropy can achieve in the world, they offer core funding, long-term relationships and professional development for all their grantees.
The Pears Foundation is invitation only but they publish all their grants on 360Giving so you can see the kinds of organisations they work with. The foundation donated £6.75 million to the Imperial War Museum for the creation of the new Holocaust Galleries and the development of the “Peace and Security: 1945–2014” gallery in 2015.
Julia Rausing Trust
Established by Hans Rausing in memory of his wife, the philanthropist Julia Rausing, the trust aims to give away £100m each year to UK charities in the arts and heritage, education, health and welfare. The trust is committed to responding proactively to emergencies rather than a rigid multi-year strategy and, while it’s not open to speculative approaches, it does support initiatives that foster a healthy society, give care to those in need, provide opportunity for all, and offer inspiring cultural engagement.
Overall, the trust has made 2,000 grants totalling over £500m, and, in its first year, awarded £16.7 million to various UK museums, galleries, cathedrals, and gardens, including £1.3 million to Wales’ Great Glasshouse.
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Whether you are looking for core, project, or capital funding, we’ll help you find the right funders to support your cause and develop the best strategy for approaching them.To find out how we can help you on your fundraising journey, get in touch with us today.