Museums struggled in 2025: Lower attendance, lost grants, less money

Museums struggled in 2025: Lower attendance, lost grants, less money https://www.npr.org/nx-s1-5604385

Museums faced a whirlwind of brutal challenges in 2025. It wasn't just the federal government cancelling grants, leaving museums with holes in their budgets to fill. But President Trump's targeting of museum programming led to downstream effects on funding, putting a "chill on corporate philanthropy," according to Marilyn Jackson, president and CEO of the American Alliance of Museums.

"We're seeing corporations and foundations thinking twice about funding certain projects or programs they would have naturally funded in the past, because of all these executive orders that came down," Jackson said.


The group just issued a new report highlighting an extremely rocky 2025: after-school programs and programming for seniors and veterans were cut, and new exhibitions and maintenance projects were stalled. A major worry for the group is softening attendance. More than half of the museums surveyed are seeing fewer visitors than in 2019.

"For the first time since the pandemic, we're seeing museums' recovery in reverse," said Jackson, who noted that this was in line with changing consumer trends facing the theater and movie industries. "Tourism is down as well, and many museums rely on tourists as part of their audience mix."