Professional development

Support for your career journey

The Members Support Fund offers grants to support:

• The advancement of education, training and development of members participating in programmes and events organised by the Museums Association, including working towards the AMA and the FMA
• The advancement of education, training and development of members participating in programmes and events organised by other external providers – please note that funding of this nature is only available to current core programme participants and/or programme alumni

Applicants must be a current individual member of the Museums Association and preference is given to those self-funding and paying their own expenses.

Applications will next be reviewed on 16 December 2024.

Application criteria

Each year, the Trustees announce the amount that is available to individual members undertaking professional development.

Applications should be submitted to tamsin@museumsassociation.org.

Each application will be considered individually but, in general:

1.1      If you are undertaking one of our core professional development programmes – the AMA or the FMA – you are able to apply for financial support for professional development opportunities both run by the MA and by external providers where it meets the needs of your professional development plan. This continues as an alumni benefit.

1.2     If you are a member but not participating in a core MA professional development programme, then you are able to apply for financial support for professional development opportunities ONLY run by the MA.

1.3     Please note where funds are requested to pay for participation in the core programmes then this will cover a maximum of 75% part-payment for the financial year.

1.4     Please note funding can be sought to enable participation in professional development activities – for example travel and subsistence or childcare costs.

1.5      Applicants must be a current individual member of the Museums Association and preference is given to those self-funding and paying their own expenses.

1.6     We welcome applications from paid members of staff, volunteers and freelancers.

1.7     Please see the below for guidance on how to complete your application.

Guidance Note 1 – Summary of professional development activity for which funding is required

In describing the professional development activity for which funding is required, you should include the following:

• Category of professional development activity, whether accredited, formal or informal.
• If the activity constitutes accredited professional development (courses, workshops or seminars) please give details of the course provider, the title of the course, workshop or seminar and a description of the qualification. You should provide as much detail as possible.
• If the activity constitutes formal professional development (courses, workshops, seminars, conferences, coaching or mentoring) please give details of the provider, the title and the conference organiser.
• If you are applying for funding for an informal professional development activity, for example, to help with the purchase of learning materials, such as books, online learning materials, etc., you should also provide as much detail as possible.
• Timescale – an estimate of the number of hours of professional development the activity will constitute and over what time period.

Guidance Note 2 – Describe how the activity will contribute towards your professional development

You should explain to what extent the activity will enable you to achieve your identified professional development goal(s) and career aspirations, and where applicable make direct reference to your professional development plan to identify which goal(s) the activity will contribute towards, and/or how it will benefit your career aspirations.

Guidance Note 3 – Benefits of undertaking professional development activity for which funding is required

In outlining what you anticipate will be the benefits of the activity for which funding is required, you should think about the following areas:

• How the activity will contribute to your own personal and professional development, enhancing your current role and/or contributing to future aspirations.
• Whether and in which ways the activity will contribute towards the organisational objectives of your museum, museum-related organisation and/or the sector.
• Whether and in which ways the activity will have benefits for the wider museum profession and sector.

To ensure inclusion we will be monitoring applications for diversity characteristics.

Funding for Conference 2025

You can apply for professional development funding for attending MA Conference 2025 using the tailored form below. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.