Funding is one of the perennial challenges facing place brand and marketing teams. First, you have to navigate political whims and demonstrate attribution in an incredibly complex environment. And if you can manage all of that, branding and marketing often find themselves perilously close to the edge when it comes to saving budget.

In practice, we know that the answer is to diversify your funding sources as much as possible. But what does that actually look like? Here are five different expert-verified approaches to help you secure stronger funding sources.

Don’t just renew your funding; expand it.

Funding follows proof. We recommend five actions. Diversify revenue across bed tax, tourism improvement districts, and state economic development grants. Structure public-private partnerships that give private capital a seat at the governance table. Secure multi-year foundation commitments so the work survives an election cycle. Report quarterly on jobs created, capital investment attracted, and visitor spend. Recruit CEOs and elected officials as co-owners of the brand, not contributors to it. The places that leaders are doing this are not renewing funding. They are expanding it.

Matthew Kruchko, Head of Global Operations, Gravity Global

Invest in advocacy today – don’t leave it until crisis hits.

The best leaders in the destination management space are now treating advocacy as an urgent, core function, and have fully embraced destination development to drive community vitality. By building deep partnerships with local governments, civic groups, and developers, and by aligning their goals with resident sentiment and broader social impact metrics, they are demonstrating shared community value and economic aptitude. This, in turn, translates to buy-in from those stakeholders for initiatives to pursue stable, diversified revenue streams.

Jake Buganski, CDME, VP Strategy, Resonance

Transform your collaborative approach into diverse funding streams.

Funders invest in capacity and confidence as much as projects: strong governance, credible delivery partnerships and a pipeline of investment-ready ideas. The strongest funding partnerships blend public funding with commercial income, philanthropy, private investment and in-kind support, reducing reliance on any single source and building resilience. In Blackpool, Cultural Steering Group members donated time and expertise to secure Council funding, which provided match funding for an Arts Council England Place Partnership application. This, in turn, helped attract investment from Homes England. This collaborative approach has broadened Blackpool’s investor base, increased investment and demonstrated how partners can use their collective resources to unlock further funding.

Amy Lewis, Director, CTConsults

Develop revenue streams that are less vulnerable to changes in government.

Successful place leaders are taking a more strategic approach to how tourism is funded and how its value is communicated. They’re building more resilient, protected funding models, such as Tourism Improvement Districts and Tax Increment Financing, that are less vulnerable to shifting government priorities. Just as importantly, they’re demonstrating clear results by connecting tourism investment to economic opportunity and tangible business, community and environmental outcomes. Finally, they’re building broad coalitions across industry, government and residents. That community-wide support is increasingly critical to maintaining tourism’s social license and creating strong, sustainable funding that can withstand economic and political pressures over time.

For more insights and practical guidance, explore Miles Partnership’s Funding Futures resources, including our free report and webinar.

Chris Adams, Head of Research and Insights, Miles Partnership

Own your assets and give partners ownership in your success.

Three moves. First, they stop selling sponsorship or venue space and start owning assets: city cards, walks and tours, ticketed platforms. Barcelona’s card and bus do likewise. Destination NSW owns and produces Vivid Sydney outright rather than renting space on someone else’s event. Dine Athens, which we built, has held a payments partner year after year. Second, they secure protected funding. Vienna’s Ortstaxe (a local accommodation tax) has funded its tourist board for decades, providing statutory ring-fencing that general-fund allocation can’t replicate. Third, membership gives operators a financial stake in your success, as Visit Belfast has found. Funders buy audiences, data, and delivery capability, not need. Own the asset, own the terms.

Manolis Psarros, CEO & Chief Strategist, TOPOSOPHY