Martha's Vineyard Museum
Campaign Strategy & Fundraising Partnership
The Backstory
Founded in 1922 as the Dukes County Historical Society, Martha’s Vineyard Museum (MVM) has long collected art, artifacts, oral histories, documents, and photographs that recount the island’s history. Nearly a century later, MVM moved from Edgartown to the former 1895 Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven and, in the process, transformed one of the island’s historic buildings into a 10,000-square-foot experiential museum with a research library, café, and hands-on learning spaces specifically designed for children. The move was critical to realizing the museum’s mission of telling a more inclusive and comprehensive story about the island and fostering critical conversations about its future.
However, a lingering $3.6 million bank loan hampered MVM’s growth just as the museum approached its centennial anniversary. The Heller Fundraising Group and MVM saw an opportunity to mark that milestone with a two-part strategy that would put the museum on strong footing to serve the community for years to come: a $1 million “catalyst” fundraising drive during the summer 2022 season, followed by a $16 million capital campaign beginning in summer 2023..
The Strategy
The Challenges
The island is a summer home for many high-capacity donors, but their connection to the Vineyard and MVM weakens in the off-season. During the limited peak season, MVM had to vie for donor’s attention, competing with a busy schedule of summer activities, five other nonprofit capital campaigns, and a heated presidential campaign.
While MVM had a loyal base of supporters who were deeply committed to the museum’s mission, a successful campaign would require cultivation of a wider community of supporters.
Despite actively recruiting for a Director of Development for several years, MVM has struggled to hire for the position in large part because of the island's lack of affordable housing and high cost of living. The museum’s executive director, Heather Seger, is an experienced fundraiser, but had to balance the demands of a campaign with her other day-to-day responsibilities.
The museum’s campaign priorities—retiring debt, funding operating expenses, and building their endowment—needed to be recast as a compelling, positive story about the museum’s future.
To manage both the campaign and museum operations, Heather turned to the Heller Group as a strategic fundraising partner. An experienced project leader who at one time lived on Martha’s Vineyard, Devon Lawrence steered all aspects of the campaign, from strengthening the campaign committee and developing policies and gift agreements to identifying top donors and providing detailed strategies for cultivating each. Kate Jaeger-Thomas, Heller’s consulting services director, and Emma Camp, senior manager of client engagement and operations, provided additional support for campaign strategy and data analysis and Kim Catley wrote a compelling case for support.
From the outset, both teams saw MVM’s centennial anniversary as an opportunity to strengthen the museum’s financial footing and fully realize its vision for the future. We recommended a two-phase campaign, beginning with a $1 million catalyst campaign during the summer 2022 season that would allow MVM to pay down their debt and renegotiate their bank loan. This early stage also secured buy-in from the board and gave Heather, who stepped into the role of executive director in 2021, time to build and strengthen critical relationships with new and existing donors.
After guiding Heather to raise $1 million during summer 2022 and completing a feasibility study, we launched For the Love of the Vineyard in summer 2023. The campaign targeted five key priorities: retiring MVM’s debt, funding day-to-day operations, investing in new programs and exhibitions, securing stable housing for staff members in a high-cost area, and doubling its endowment. These priorities were anchored in a compelling case for support that presented a powerful story about the significance of community museums and MVM’s efforts to preserve the island’s rich and diverse history.
“There was an added benefit of introducing people in their home communities who didn’t know each other as island people. They forged new relationships with the museum at the center.”
— Heather Seger
“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 Group is my only fundraising partner. I needed someone to hold my hand and be my accountability partner.”
— Heather Seger
By the Numbers
$1M raised in catalyst phase • $12M+ raised to date • $16M goal in sight
Credits
Photography by Chuck Choi & Ray Ewing. Strategic guidance by the Heller Fundraising Group.
An initial yearlong quiet phase was bookended by two summers of high-volume activity with a rigorous cadence of cultivation in between. Historically, MVM struggled to maintain attention during the off-season, but we proposed a series of events in donors’ home cities that would tell the museum’s story and invite input from attendees. Heather invited a balanced mix of donors who knew the museum well, and those who were new to its mission.
Our long-term cultivation strategy targeted several prospective donors. Our analysis of MVM’s donors revealed 45 people who had made $1 million gifts to other organizations, but only token gifts to MVM. The intimate off-season gatherings gave Heather an opportunity to establish personal relationships with several of these high-capacity donors and make a case for MVM as a vital community resource that they should meaningfully support. With a deeper understanding of the museum’s mission and their place in its story, these prospective donors were more receptive to a direct appeal during the peak summer fundraising season.
That groundwork paid off with Heather’s first major gift. With detailed and thoughtful preparation from Devon, Heather approached a couple from Boston who spent their summers on the island with a $2.5 million ask. A week later, the couple called to not only confirm the gift, but to thank Heather for the nicest 7-figure ask they’d ever received.
The Results
The Results
MVM’s campaign, For the Love of the Vineyard, is ongoing with support from the Heller 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.