Museum Vitality Index
A $5,000 diagnostic that benchmarks your institution's performance across five dimensions. Delivered in 7 business days. The starting point for every Museum Planning LLC engagement.
Request an MVIWhat it is
Museum boards and executive directors make capital decisions — programming investments, capital campaigns, staffing changes — without normalized data to guide them. The MVI changes that.
Using public data, Form 990 filings, social media metrics, and client-supplied figures, Museum Planning LLC scores your institution against a benchmark database of comparable museums. The result is a clear, actionable picture of where you are strong, where you are vulnerable, and what to do next.
No competing product offers a normalized, ratio-based diagnostic that scales from a $300K community museum to a $25M national institution.
Five dimensions of institutional health
Attendance trends, repeat visitation, TripAdvisor signals, program diversity, and accessibility indicators.
Website quality, search visibility, social media engagement, and digital content strategy.
Revenue diversification, earned income ratios, endowment strength, and operating reserve sustainability.
School and community partnerships, earned media, civic relationships, and educational program reach.
Governance structure, staff depth, collections stewardship, and accreditation standing.
Full MVI scored report (0–100) across all five dimensions with peer institution comparison
Highest-leverage improvement areas ranked by impact and feasibility
Capital campaign readiness assessment — where you are in the cycle and what needs to happen first
Competitive landscape snapshot — peer institutions, market position, differentiation opportunities
Pathway to larger strategic engagement if warranted — no obligation
Investment
Flat fee · 7 business days from completed data intake · Delivered digitally · No retainer required
Request an MVI →Also available
Museum Feasibility Index (MFI)
For communities planning a new institution. Projects visitation, operating budget, and competitive landscape before capital is committed. Same fee, same delivery timeline.
Board Leadership
Preparing for a capital campaign and needs credible data for the major gift conversation. Wants to walk into the lead donor meeting with a score, not an opinion.
Institutional Leadership
Needs to make the case to the board for a strategic change — new programming direction, staffing investment, physical expansion. The MVI is the evidence.
Civic Leadership
Evaluating a public institution before committing municipal funds or land. Needs an independent assessment from someone who has seen 40 institutions across three continents.
Recent MVI engagements
Essex, Connecticut
MVI identified digital presence as highest-leverage improvement area. Capital campaign readiness: 18 months with targeted investment.
New Orleans, Louisiana
Strong institutional foundation. MVI surfaced community engagement gap relative to peer institutions in comparable markets.
Mystic, Connecticut
High-performing institution. MVI confirmed capital campaign readiness and provided peer benchmarking for board presentation.