Photo by Ray Ewing
Fundraising Case Study:
Martha’s Vineyard Museum
Case Study Summary
Location: Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Sector: Arts and culture
Campaign Goal: $16 million
Services: Feasibility study, short-term catalyst campaign, and capital campaign consulting
The Martha's Vineyard Museum recognized its centennial anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen its financial foundation for the next 100 years. But would the island's seasonal nature and limited staff hold the museum back from reaching its $16 million fundraising goal?
Find out how the Heller Fundraising Group's strategic advice helped MVM maximize the summer fundraising season and establish a cadence of off-season outreach, all centered around a message that spoke to those who know the vineyard best.
The Backstory
Martha’s Vineyard Museum is home to a collection of art, artifacts, oral histories, documents, and photographs that recounts the island’s 10,000-year history.
After moving to the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven in 2019, MVM transformed an historic building into a 10,000-square-foot experiential museum that told a more inclusive story and fostered important conversations about the island’s future. However, a lingering bank loan hampered MVM’s continued growth.
The Heller Fundraising Group and MVM saw an opportunity to mark the museum's centennial anniversary with a $16 million comprehensive campaign that would allow the museum to retire its debt, sustain and grow its annual fund, build its endowment, and further invest in its new facility.
The Challenges
While a rapid rise in membership and visitors proved MVM was a center of community, several challenges stood in the way of the museum’s $16 million campaign goal.
A seasonal community
The island is a summer home for many high-capacity donors, but their connection wanes during the off-season.
Telling the right story
The museum needed to present a compelling, positive narrative about its future to capture a wider community of supporters.
Limited staffing resources
The museum’s executive director had to balance the demands of a campaign with her day-to-day responsibilities.
“I know how to fundraise, but I’m also running a museum and I’m often pulled into urgent, day-to-day management issues. I don’t have a development staff, so the Heller Fundraising Group is my only fundraising partner. I needed someone to hold my hand and be my accountability partner.”
— Heather Seger, Executive Director of
Martha’s Vineyard Museum
Photo by Ray Ewing
Time it right
We recommended a two-phase campaign, beginning with a $1 million catalyst campaign that allowed MVM to pay down their debt, secure buy-in from the board, and strengthen relationships with new and existing donors.
The Strategy
Change it up
We launched For the Love of the Vineyard with an initial yearlong quiet phase bookended by two summers of high-volume activity. To maintain attention during the off-season, we hosted events in donors’ home cities with a balanced mix of new and long-time donors.
Tell an engaging story
Our case for support anchored key priorities—retiring debt, funding operations, investing in new programs, securing stable housing for staff, and doubling the endowment—in a powerful narrative about MVM’s role as a community museum.
“The Heller Fundraising Group helped us develop meaningful relationships where donors could see the museum as a living, breathing place that they could be a part of. In order to help us survive and thrive, we needed them to deeply understand who we are and where we were going.”
— Heather Seger, Executive Director of
Martha’s Vineyard Museum
The Results
MVM’s comprehensive campaign, For the Love of the Vineyard, is ongoing with support from the Heller Fundraising Group. As of May 2025, they have raised $12 million and are well-positioned to meet—if not exceed—their $16 million goal before the end of the year.
$1 million raised in summer 2022 catalyst campaign
$16 million campaign goal
$12 million
raised as of
May 2025
Photo by Ray Ewing
There’s more to the story.
Read the full case study to see how we guided Martha’s Vineyard Museum to their most successful campaign yet.
Then schedule a free strategy session to find out how the Heller Group can help you.
Photo by Chuck Choi