The Catalyst May 2018

Norton Museum of Art: Three Campaigns, From Local to Lauded

From very modest beginnings, the Museum Board and Director created a vision for the Norton: become one of Palm Beach’s most outstanding cultural assets, recognized as a leading cultural institution in the South. In so doing, they laid a strong foundation for future growth and sustainability.

Stretching the Canvas over Decades of Growth

 West Palm Beach FL saw a small museum open its doors to the public in 1941. Founded originally by Ralph Norton to “preserve for the future the beautiful things of the past,” the Norton Museum of Art now paints outside those early lines. The Norton has a renowned permanent collection, remarkable permanent and special exhibitions, a dedication to curatorial excellence, and a creative approach to arts education. It has fulfilled its ambitious early vision. It is now one of the most active, serious, and engaging cultural institutions in Florida and throughout the South. How does a gallery housing a collector’s personal holdings grow into a thriving museum of over 7,000 works of art? Expressing a clear mission and vision, the Norton communicates a convincing case-for-support and engages members and donors through a series of major well-conceived, mission-aligned fundraising campaigns.

A Convincing Case to Donors

TWG worked with the Norton for more than a decade... helping the museum grow from local significance to national renown. With the Board and Director, we laid down a careful foundation. We enabled the Norton to find the voluntary leadership, financial resources, creative talent, and a great many friends as it pursued an ever-expanding vision. We designed and implemented three major capital campaigns that yielded more than $100 million in new capital.  We partnered with the development team and senior staff to expand exponentially the museum's current support fundraising programs. We established two cornerstone resource development programs: the museum's Planned Giving Program and its program to attract major Gifts of Art. We helped them to re-imagine their prospect management capabilities - from the bottom up - assembling the technology and systems needed to identify and effectively manage a large number of major gift prospects.

A Testament to Vision

The greatest testament to our success is the museum's ongoing success in fulfilling Ralph Norton's early vision: generating significant new resources year after year for facilities, endowment, and operations long after our assignment was complete.

To learn more, please go here to review highlights of our Norton campaigns.

To learn more about our creative Fundraising and Campaign Management Services and our other capabilities, you can reach us by phone at 212-727-7332 or by email at: info@whelangroup.com .

‌