What Funders Look for in Museum CMS Projects

Seeking funding in the museum field can feel like a mysterious process—especially if you are newer to the fundraising effort.

What do funders want to fund? And, what do they look for in applications? It can be even more daunting if you’re seeking funding for work that involves the museum Collections Management System (CMS). This post will outline what funders look for and offer guidance on the type of detail you should include for each area.

If you’re still searching for a CMS project idea, please refer to last week’s post: How to Identify Museum CMS Projects for Funding.

What Funders Look For

When considering museum CMS projects for potential funding, it’s helpful to think through what funders look for when evaluating applications. While each application is different, there are some universal items you can depend on and should always be prepared for:

• A Compelling Story
• Proof of Concept
• Clearly Defined Activities
• Clearly Defined Costs
• What Else You’ve Done
• Reference to Best Practices

A Compelling Story

Every fundraiser will tell you that a compelling story is the first element every good application needs. This is especially important when you consider the project itself can be dry and heavily technical. Not every reviewer will know exactly what you’re describing, but what they can understand is a good story. That’s not to say you shouldn’t include the technical aspects—these are important too—but before you go technical you need to weave a compelling narrative.

Proof of Concept

Given the technical aspect of a CMS project, it is important to demonstrate that the technical and process aspects you’re proposing are sound and based in reality. While funders may not explicitly require a “proof of concept” you should absolutely include an explanation of how you’ve constructed and tested the project idea and all of its elements. This information helps to persuade funders that you know what you’re doing.

Clearly Defined Activities

Museum CMS projects often include many different elements, from digitization, to data creation, to CMS uploading or data migration, etc. As there can be multiple steps, it’s important to spell out project activities and how they interconnect or flow into one another. The better the activities are defined, the easier it is for funders to assess whether or not the budget matches the project.

Clearly Defined Costs

Funders want specifics when it comes to cost. If you’re acquiring equipment, you should have examples with current retail value, vendor price sheets for contracted work, and/or proposals from consultants. Funders will want to see real and actual numbers so that they can feel confident in the amount of money you’re requesting. Note: It’s just as likely to underestimate the money needed as it is to overestimate. When it comes to grant funding, you don’t want to find yourself in either scenario!

What Else You’ve Done

Technical projects are a more advanced project type and require expertise. Funders will want to know what work you’ve completed previously in order to assess whether or not you’re capable of executing the project you proposed.

Reference to Best Practices

Finally, it’s important to reference any and all best practices for the various project aspects where best practices are present. Funders—and especially museum funders—are aware of best practices and will expect to see references to them. If no best practices are cited then it’s a red flag for reviewers as they can’t be sure you’ll execute the project correctly.

Conclusion

Now that we’ve covered what funders look for in a CMS project application, we’ll review the information to include for an attractive museum CMS project. Please join us next week as we outline specific information to include in the proposal to further bolster your chances for application success.

Additional Grant Funding Resources

• A Survivor’s Guide to Museum Grant Writing (e-book): https://lucidea.com/grant-writing-ebook/
• Lucidea Grants Directory: https://lucidea.com/grants-directory/
• Lucidea Grants Workbook & Templates: https://lucidea.com/grants-directory/grants-workbook-and-templates/
• Webinar Suite: https://lucidea.com/project_category/rachael-woody-webinars/

Additional Reading

• 8 Tips to a Bulletproof Grant Proposal
• How to Calculate an Appropriately Sized Funding Request
• How to Construct a Fundable Museum Digital Project
• How to Win Museum Grant Funding for “Boring” Projects
• Museum Grant Pitfalls—Know & Avoid Them