Innovation Fund

The Innovation Fund is part of the Museum Futures Programme and supports museums in Scotland to develop, trial, and implement activities that directly improve the museum's financial position. The fund is designed to support innovative, ambitious and experimental ideas that may be considered impossible or too risky without external funding. Projects may include using museum spaces for event hire, sharing or renting buildings to other organisations, developing holiday accommodation, collaboration with commercial partners, new tourism offers, events programmes, workshops or courses, developing digital offers, innovation in retail and catering, developing philanthropy strategies, and energy generation. The fund can support the creation of new activity or significant development to existing activity, including upscaling or embedding ideas that have already been successfully trialled. It can also support initial testing of new ideas through feasibility studies and exploratory pilots. Applications are assessed on strength of idea, potential impact, environmental sustainability, deliverability, and financial need. The fund operates on a rolling basis with decisions provided within 8 weeks of submission.