Cleveland Museum of Art Launches Public Phase of $600 Million Campaign
The Cleveland Museum of Art is moving its largest fundraising effort into public view. On Friday, the museum announced the public phase of a $600 million campaign, “For the Benefit of All the People,” which it says is nearly 80 percent complete and the largest in its history — as well as the largest cultural campaign in Ohio.
Since January 2023, the museum has been seeking $400 million in cash and $200 million in art. As of this month, it had secured $351.5 million toward the cash goal and more than $128.5 million in gifts and promised gifts toward the art goal. The campaign began internally as the museum marked 110 years since its founding; the public phase coincides with the 110th anniversary of its opening to the public.
William M. Griswold, the museum’s director, said the campaign grew out of a need to build more durable support for the institution’s future. He pointed to rising operating costs, shifting audience expectations, and the pressure on museums to offer more than ever before. “Visitors rightly expect exceptional exhibitions, meaningful educational experiences, digital access, welcoming spaces, and opportunities for deeper engagement,” he said. “Those expectations require sustained investment.”
The museum’s commitment to free general admission remains central to that equation. The CMA is one of the few major encyclopedic museums in the United States that does not charge for entry, a policy that the campaign will help sustain even if it is not framed solely around admissions.
The effort has already drawn support from every standing member of the board of trustees. The first major gift came from former board chair Ellen Stirn Mavec, whose $25 million donation launched the Chair’s Challenge and helped generate $100 million. Several gifts have arrived at the $5 million and $10 million levels, while the largest single contribution so far is $40 million. Griswold said the campaign has attracted more individual donors than any previous CMA effort, a sign of Cleveland’s philanthropic base.
The campaign is also tied to the museum’s 2023 strategic plan, with funding directed toward endowed staff positions, special exhibitions, education, collection care, the Ingalls Library and Museum Archives, and digital initiatives such as ArtLens. The museum now has 21 endowed positions, 18 of them created in the past three years, including curatorial, conservation, and leadership posts. Last October, it also announced that its directorship would be endowed in perpetuity as the Sarah S. and Alexander M. Cutler Director.
Recent momentum has been strong. The museum said it welcomed more than 800,000 visitors in 2025 and reached a record membership of 31,000 households. Its last capital campaign, completed in 2016, supported the campus renovation and expansion designed by Rafael Viñoly. With this new effort, the CMA is signaling that long-term stability now depends as much on endowment and expertise as on buildings and acquisitions.
