How a Small Museum Built Year-Round Donor Momentum in a Seasonal Community

When Martha’s Vineyard Museum began laying the groundwork for a comprehensive campaign in conjunction with its centennial anniversary, the organization had a lot of factors working in its favor. They had a trusted reputation, a new campus, and access to an affluent community. The museum seemed poised for success—but the reality was more complicated.

As a seasonal community, it was hard to fight for donors’ attention amidst a busy summer and when they returned back home. This was especially true as MVM competed with other island campaigns and even a presidential campaign. In addition, MVM’s new campus was only partially funded by a lackluster prior campaign that left the museum with considerable debt and doubts about a future campaign. And with no dedicated development staff, MVM’s executive director, Heather Seger, had to balance campaign management and museum operations simultaneously.

To successfully reach their $16 million goal, we needed a strategic plan with creative ideas for reaching MVM’s audience—and getting them to see their place in the museum’s story. 

Jumpstart your campaign

We first worked with MVM to launch a $1 million dollar catalyst campaign in summer 2022. This allowed MVM to pay down its debt, renegotiate its bank loan and build confidence among the board. The catalyst campaign also provided an opening to approach donors about MVM’s vision and strengthen key relationships. 

“It gave us permission to have conversations about where we were financially, what we were hoping to do financially, but how the debt was holding us back,” Heather said. “By being transparent, they could see that they could help us get to this place we were trying to go in a very concrete way.”  

Do a deep dive

We next turned our attention to the feasibility study, which helped move those relationships forward and better understand the community around MVM while building a roadmap for the campaign.

“It was eye-opening how passionate everyone was about the mission, about the museum, about its future, about success,” said Devon Lawrence, a collaborating consultant with the Heller Group and the project leader. “But also, specific people stood out as being future committee members or leaders for the campaign. It was amazing to see that the museum had such a strong community around it.” 

Tell a powerful story

The three hardest things to fundraise for—debt relief, endowments and operating expenses—were also the three things MVM needed most. 

MVM and the Heller Group worked together to create a case for support that leaned into the centennial milestone and how the museum was preparing for the next 100 years. The narrative referenced the museum’s role in preserving the past and the need to retire previous debt; its financial and operational needs today; and growing the endowment to realize its vision for the future.

“We really tapped into this idea, ‘for the love of the vineyard,’” Heather said. “I have found that I don’t end up talking to people about debt and the endowment and deficits. What I end up talking about is why they love this place so much, and how there are so many stories that they want to see us continue to share. And in order to share those stories, I need to have the financial structure to exist.” 

Meet donors where they are

While Martha’s Vineyard is a seasonal community, a successful campaign required year-round engagement. We developed a plan that emphasized a high-volume of outreach and activity during the summer. Then, during the off-season, we organized a “museum road show,” where Heather traveled to New York, D.C., Boston, and Palm Beach—all communities with a high concentration of Vineyarders—to talk about the future and invite donors to join in that visioning process.

Follow-up meetings were a crucial next step.

“We set up a lot of one-on-one meetings, sometimes on Zoom, sometimes on a return trip,” Heather said. “Almost everyone who was at the New York event made a donation to the campaign. Many of them were six-figure donations and, for some of them, it was their first time giving to the museum.”

Watch what happened

While MVM’s campaign, For the Love of the Vineyard, is ongoing, the museum is well on its way to reaching its $16 million goal by the end of 2026. Kate, Devon, and Heather reflected on what made MVM’s campaign work for their audience during a recent webinar hosted by the Heller Fundraising Group. 

Watch the webinar (or read our case study) for more behind-the-scenes moments, including what led one donor to describe Heather’s solicitation as the nicest 7-figure ask they’d ever received.

Thinking about a campaign? Schedule a free strategy session to learn how the Heller Fundraising Group can build a plan tailored to your audience.