Legacy giving
The RPS receives no regular public funding. As a result, it delivers its work mainly through the support of its members and through some self-funded activities.
Legacies are an important way for members and non-members, who support the objectives of the RPS, to help fund it. Over recent years legacies have helped the RPS to deliver important projects including:
- The Joan Wakelin bursary which supports a photographic essay on an overseas documentary issue. It has been running since 2005, in partnership with The Guardian newspaper, and has been instrumental in helping establish the careers of a number of photographers
- The development of a photography competition website for the RPS’s own use and which it made available to other organisations to support their own competitions
- A public lecture series by photographers in the name of Chloe Johnson. It launched in 2017 and currently supports a lecture at Photo London
- The digitisation of the its Journal from 1853-2012 – some 30,000 pages – which it made freely available to the public
- A significant legacy from Tony Troman acted as the catalyst for the RPS to seek a new building and in 2019 it opened RPS House in Bristol. Tony’s legacy alongside that of others were key in helping the RPS expand its public-facing activities in its new space
If you are interested in supporting the activities of the RPS or any of the specific initiatives outlined in its Strategic Plan 2021-26 email Evan Dawson, CEO, for advice on how this can be done.