Which Special-Collections Projects Are Most Likely to Win Funding?

p strongDigitization is the clearest fundraising story in academic-library special collections, substantially outpacing collection development, exhibitions and less visible stewardship work./strong/p p Primary Research Group found that 53.85% of surveyed departments commonly funded or targeted digitization of rare or unique materials in proposals. Collection development or acquisitions followed at 26.92%, and exhibitions or public programs at 23.08%. Born-digital stewardship and metadata remediation were each cited by 0%./p p The imbalance is understandable. Digitization offers a concrete deliverable, visual examples and a persuasive access narrative: a donor can see material move from a box to a global audience. Metadata remediation and born-digital preservation are harder to photograph, even though they determine whether collections can be found, trusted and sustained./p p Fundraisers can make invisible infrastructure more compelling by tying it to outcomes. A proposal for metadata work can quantify newly discoverable collections, reduced processing time or improved access for a named community. A born-digital project can emphasize endangered formats, institutional memory and the cost of waiting. Pairing backend work with a public collection, course or exhibition can create a clearer story./p p For special-collections leaders, the benchmark helps separate what the market currently funds from what the program actually needs. The strongest portfolio may include an accessible flagship project that attracts support and a clearly explained infrastructure component that protects the investment./p p  /p p  /p