The British Museum Friends (BMF) is a registered charitable organisation in the UK with close links to the British Museum, and was set up in 1968.

[2][3] Acquisitions supported by the BMF include the Nimrud Ivories, the Warren Cup,[4] the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant,[5][6] the Burney Relief,[7] a Mycenaean terracotta group of three dancers in a ring, the gold mancus of Coenwulf,[8][9] the Ringlemere Cup, the Vale of York Hoard[10] and two very rare gold coins of the Roman Emperor Carausius found in the North Midlands in 2007.

[11][12] Other acquisitions funded in whole or in part by the Friends during 2008–9 include the Chettle Park Hoard and twelve Greek papyri from Roman Egypt from the Oxyrhynchus Papyri.

[13][14] The American Friends of the British Museum (AFBM) was set up in 1989 as a not-for-profit organisation whose principal purpose is raising awareness and financial support for the British Museum.

[15] Since its founding, American Friends of the British Museum has contributed over $30 million to support a variety of projects at the British Museum, including: