The NFP Sector and Heritage Management: Too Many Fingers in the Pie?

Not-for-Profit (NFP) bodies, also known as charities, are playing an increasingly significant role in the ownership and management of historic sites and buildings, museums and historic landscapes. In this study, the reasons for that growth and some major issues that are now emerging as a result of it will be examined. The UK has been taken up as a case study because the role of NFP bodies in the heritage sector is well established in Britain. Governments can see some political and financial advantages in encouraging the formation of NFP bodies for heritage management. Members of the public can become enthusiastic advocates of them too, often because they feel a greater degree of commitment and involvement than would be possible if management was by the public or the commercial sector. Trustees of charities require business skills to manage tourism as a source of income and a means of education because they are legally responsible for the impact of tourism investment. Tourism is the one source of income that may have irreversible impacts on a charity’s assets. Tourists expect to be able to visit a site and, in order for investment in tourism facilities to generate a profit, may have to do so in numbers that could be above the site’s carrying capacity. Trustees who do not look carefully at the management of tourism may find that they are personally liable for the consequences. This is the major difference between the position of managers of commercial and public sector heritage assets and trustees.