Being an effective organisation does not guarantee funding. Funding is a competitive process. It is time-consuming, peppered with rejections, and the organisation usually needs to fit the fund, rather than the funder adapting to the needs of the organisation.
Most income is restricted, which must be spent as directed by the funder, with some being more flexible than others. Unrestricted income, which the organisation can spend on anything that fits the mission, is rarer.
The grant-funding available to voluntary and community groups is much less than before austerity was implemented. Meanwhile demands on their services are higher. Lean organisations with targets set by funders may not be able to afford the time to develop partnerships, as much as they might want to.
Voluntary and community organisations are usually incredibly efficient. It can be easy for someone outside the sector to overestimate how little income they receive, how time-consuming fundraising is, how low staff wages are, and how much work is done by volunteers. For example, many people think local charities are fully funded by the local council but very few are.
Of course, many museums are not well funded, as small charities, or part of a local authority museum service they may face similar funding constraints.
Overall, though, the museum sector is better resourced, has more assets and staff are better paid than the local voluntary and community sector (even if it does not always feel like it).
In this section we will explore funding streams, techniques and terminology, with a downloadable glossary.