The Tate's ambitious plan to build a £150 million endowment fund by 2030 has ignited significant debate within the UK museum sector about whether this funding model could provide sustainable long-term support for national and regional cultural institutions. The initiative comes at a time when museums across Britain are grappling with declining public investment and increasingly challenging fundraising environments.
Endowment funds remain far less common in the UK compared to the United States, where the top 45 museums collectively hold endowments worth more than $40 billion, according to UpStart Co-Lab data. However, the Tate wasn't alone in establishing an endowment fund this past June. In an unusual move for a regional gallery, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead also launched a £10 million fund, jumpstarted by a major donation from renowned musician Sting.
Several UK museums have quietly operated endowment funds for years without much fanfare. The Victoria and Albert Museum benefits from a £10 million endowment held by the Gilbert Trust for the Arts, which finances periodic renovations of the Gilbert Galleries. Meanwhile, the British Museum maintains nearly £50 million in endowments, according to its 2025 annual report.
"At a time of declining public investment in the sector and a challenging environment for fundraising, cultural institutions facing financial strain are inevitably looking at alternative funding models," explains Paul Hobson, director of Modern Art Oxford. "The endowment model is attractive because of the perceived long-term self-sufficiency it assures."
The Tate launched its Future Fund with considerable fanfare in June, hosting a lavish gala in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern that raised more than £1 million in a single evening. The new fund has already secured donations totaling more than £43 million. "We look forward to making further announcements in due course," a Tate spokesperson stated.
The UK government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has expressed support for museum endowments as part of broader philanthropic efforts. "We support increasing philanthropy across the arts and cultural sector, and endowments are one way organizations can support their long-term financial positions," a DCMS spokesperson noted, emphasizing that all fundraising decisions remain with individual trustees, independent of government influence.
Sarah Munro, director of the Baltic Centre, revealed that the endowment plan "has been an ambition for Baltic for some time, and we began seriously planning this 18 months ago. We hope it will inspire other arts organizations who have not yet considered endowments." When asked whether Baltic's current funding model—which includes support from Gateshead Council and Arts Council England—is inadequate, Munro clarified: "There is always more to do and the need to have more funds to do it, but the endowment fund allows us greater scope to continue to deliver an even more creative and radical program."
Income from Baltic's endowment will support specific priorities including maintaining free entry, funding artistic programs that face annual budget cuts due to rising costs, and supporting community initiatives like North East Young Dads and Lads, which assists young men and fathers. All donations are subject to strict ethics policies, Munro added.
The fundamental principle behind endowments involves creating a protected capital sum from which museums draw only the annual interest, preserving the principal amount indefinitely. According to Tate Director Maria Balshaw, the Tate Future Fund "will always be dedicated to the artistic creativity of the organization and the public benefit," with endowment funds specifically ringfenced for research and scholarship activities.
"If successful, endowments can unlock independence, financial resilience, and the ability to plan for the long-term," says Paula Orrell, national director of Contemporary Visual Arts Network England. She notes that "government funding for visual arts has stagnated for over a decade, and the current economic climate is intensifying pressures on institutions."
Orrell explains that regional museums and galleries are being forced to explore alternative support models to maintain their programs and infrastructure. "Baltic is a case in point; it is increasingly looking to its patrons for support, and like others, considering how endowments might offer long-term security."
However, museum and fundraising professionals warn that adopting this model will require significant changes in how UK institutions approach philanthropy. "In comparison with the US, the UK lacks a culture of large-scale philanthropic giving to the arts," Orrell acknowledges.
The Tate enjoys advantages in this regard, drawing on an extensive network of wealthy donors and supporters. Several trustees have contributed to the new fund, including board chair Roland Rudd, Nick Clarry (managing partner at private equity firm CVC Capital Partners), and Jack Kirkland (founder of the grant-giving charity Ampersand Foundation).
Despite these success stories, Hobson raises concerns about the broader applicability of this model. "For organizations already struggling to balance their budgets, it is difficult to see from what sources endowments might be raised," he warns. This challenge is compounded by "the current exodus of individual high net-worth philanthropists post-Brexit and the government's latest non-dom tax rules, which are driving many of our most generous cultural philanthropists to leave the United Kingdom."
A museum fundraising consultant, speaking anonymously, suggested that Tate's approach "may not be a great strategy for smaller arts organizations in the UK." The consultant explained: "Donors like to give to things where they can see the difference and be involved. Endowment is funding for the future and long-term sustainability; you need a lot of money for an endowment to generate enough return in the future to contribute to income needs."
The consultant further noted that "big donations are just not that easy to come by for most organizations in the UK; also endowment fundraising can undermine revenue or capital fundraising. Most organizations need money now."
Previous efforts to promote endowments in the UK provide mixed lessons. The Catalyst Endowments program, a £36 million match-funding initiative backed by Arts Council England, ran from 2012 to 2017 and offered heritage organizations opportunities to create endowments. According to a 2017 University of Kent report, 20 of the 31 participating organizations successfully achieved their fundraising targets and claimed 100% of the matched funding.
Dulwich Picture Gallery, one of the successful participants, continues to benefit from the Catalyst scheme. "We still benefit from this each year," a gallery spokesperson confirmed. "We will now be focused on increasing our endowment as our running costs have increased far beyond inflation in the last decade." This ongoing financial pressure underscores why museums are increasingly viewing endowments as essential tools for long-term sustainability in an era of constrained public funding.
