Survey shows U.S. museums losing aid, visitors, revenue

Museums are in peril, with one-third reporting that the administration of President Donald Trump canceled their federal grants and contracts, and drops in attendance and revenues from weakened economic conditions, a new survey found.

The American Alliance of Museums, which started tracking such data to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, released the alarming findings from its annual “National Snapshot of United States Museums” survey on Tuesday.

“A string of executive orders and federal actions in 2025 has had significant ramifications for museums and the communities they serve,” the AAM said in its report.

The second Trump administration has targeted the government’s cultural funding and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. An executive order issued in March 2025 directed that IMLS and other agencies “be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The NEA and NEH were listed under the White House’s budget proposal under “small agency eliminations.”

The survey of more than 500 museum directors nationally found that the median loss of cancelled government grants and contracts was $30,000.

The most common cancelled grants and contracts were from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, with a median loss of $50,000, the National Endowment for the Humanities with a median loss of $25,000, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with a median loss of $25,000.

Some of the affected museums said that they have not been reimbursed money from such grants and contracts that they had already spent, and only 56% of those affected have communicated these losses publicly, the survey found.

The loss of such grants and contracts has “forced difficult choices,” including postponing building improvements and cancelling programming, which has led museum leaders and staff to increase political engagement with lawmakers, the survey found.

Those government cuts come as 55% of museums are still seeing fewer visitors than in 2019, before the pandemic, which marked a setback from last year when 49% remained below pre-pandemic levels.

The report found that “museums are exploring many new approaches to generating revenue,” with 55% increasing efforts to secure corporate sponsorships or brand partnerships and 46% overhauling membership programs.

Another 43% have expanded or introduced facility rentals or private events. Only 14% of respondents said they made no changes to their funding strategies in the last two years.

Meanwhile, 58% of museums increased prices for at least one category of fees within the last year, including 25% that have raised their general admission ticket prices, citing cost pressures. While most reported cost pressures like rising operating expenses and the need to keep up with inflation, 14% cited Trump’s tariffs.

Those tariffs, expanded under the Trump administration in early 2025, have increased the cost of imported materials and equipment used for exhibitions and construction. For many museums, the added expenses have compounded existing budget pressures.

But the biggest impacts on museum revenues that directors anticipated in the upcoming year include shifts in philanthropy, which has affected institutions like the Museum of the Earth in Ithaca, New York.

The report comes after previous analysis of museum staffing and labor conditions by Museums Moving Forward found high levels of burnout, low wages and elevated turnover among museum workers. Museums already under financial pressure may find their ability to retain talent further compromised.

And labor mobilization in the museum sector is intensifying. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) reported in August that its “Cultural Workers United” initiative has grown to represent 50,000 workers at museums, libraries, zoos and other cultural institutions nationwide, signaling increased worker activism in the face of institutional uncertainty,

Related: