Canterbury Shaker Village

What Canterbury Shaker Village does

Canterbury Shaker Village, Inc. is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational institution incorporated in New Hampshire in 1969 to preserve the heritage of the Canterbury Shakers, a religious community that inhabited the site from 1792 to 1992. It operates a National Historic Landmark at 288 Shaker Road in Canterbury, New Hampshire, encompassing 694 acres of forests, fields, gardens, nature trails, and mill ponds under a permanent conservation easement, together with 25 original and 4 reconstructed Shaker buildings. The site interprets Shaker history, culture, architecture, and innovations through guided and self-guided tours, special exhibitions, educational programs, and seasonal events.

The organization serves individual visitors and families, school and educational groups, corporate and community tour organizers, members, donors, and event clients. Core offerings include four primary tour experiences (Shaker Stories: History & Legacy; Building Community; Innovations & Inventions; Hale & Hearty), exhibitions such as the 1811 Infirmary pharmacy exhibit and the Keeping Faith 250th anniversary exhibition, workshops (Stone Wall, UNH Extension pruning), and recurring events including Music on the Green, Ghost Encounters, the Artisan Market, and the Vintage Car Show. A membership program with seven tiers ($50 Individual to $1,000 Village Visionary), a museum store selling Shaker-style crafts, and venue rentals for weddings and photography round out the commercial surface.

Revenue is generated through admissions and tours, memberships, tax-deductible donations and planned giving, foundation and government grants, gift shop sales, facility rentals, and event hosting. Marketing and distribution are conducted through the shakers.org website, email newsletters, Facebook and Instagram, TripAdvisor, group and school tour bookings, and partnerships including the NH Heritage Museum Trail and the North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM). The organization recently secured a $2.5M Lilly Endowment Inc. grant (January 2025) for interpretive reinvigoration and a $410,000 Save America's Treasures grant (2026) for preservation of the 1811 Church Family Infirmary, while launching a Digital Village Initiative and a partnership with Sanborn Mills Farm to actively farm the historic Shaker gardens.

Name

Canterbury Shaker Village

Legal name

Canterbury Shaker Village, Inc.

Website

https://shakers.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Canterbury Shaker Village is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) museum operating a National Historic Landmark in Canterbury, NH, preserving 694 acres, 25+ Shaker buildings, and 200 years of heritage through tours, exhibitions, programs, memberships, and events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Heritage Museum and Historic Site

NAICS

Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121), Historical Sites (712120), Museums (712110)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural Heritage & Historic District Tours (THAJAAAB)

Keywords

• Historic site museum
• Heritage education
• Museum tour programs
• Cultural event venue
• Nonprofit museum

Headquarters

HQ city

Canterbury

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Admissions and Tours: Revenue from daily admission tickets, guided tours, group tours, school tours, and private tours included in visitor access to the National Historic Landmark.
2. Memberships: Annual membership program with multiple tiers ($50-$1,000) providing free admission, discounts, and reciprocal museum benefits.
3. Donations and Gifts: Tax-deductible donations through annual fund, honorary/memorial gifts, planned giving, Richard & Maxine Morse Endowment Fund, and Eldress Bertha Lindsay Legacy Society.
4. Grants: Funding from foundations and government programs including $2.5M Lilly Endowment grant, $410K Save America's Treasures grant, and corporate sponsorships.
5. Gift Shop and Museum Store: Sales of Shaker-style crafts, baskets, brooms, oval boxes, books, music, jewelry, candles, cards, and merchandise.
6. Facility Rentals and Events: Revenue from venue rentals for weddings, events, concerts (Music on the Green), workshops, and photography site passes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Canterbury Shaker Village operates a museum and historic site at a National Historic Landmark in Canterbury, New Hampshire, preserving the history of the Shaker religious community. It sells admissions to guided and self-guided tours of more than 25 original 18th- and 19th-century Shaker buildings, offers educational programs and special events, and operates a museum store. The organization also hosts private events and rents its historic facilities for weddings, corporate gatherings, and group visits.

Product overview

Canterbury Shaker Village is a nonprofit museum and National Historic Landmark offering a unified visitor experience centered on preserving and interpreting 200 years of Shaker history. The core offering consists of guided tours of historic buildings (including Shaker Stories: History & Legacy, Building Community, Innovations & Inventions, and Hale & Hearty tours), supplemented by special exhibitions (such as the Infirmary Exhibition and rotating Keeping Faith exhibition), educational workshops (Stone Wall Workshop, UNH Extension workshops), and seasonal events (Music on the Green concerts, Ghost Encounters, Artisan Market, Vintage Car Show). Additional revenue streams include a Museum Store, membership program with tiers from $50-$1,000, venue rentals, and photography site passes. A significant Digital Village Initiative launched in 2025 will develop online databases and interactive exhibitions. The Village spans 694 acres with 25 restored and 4 reconstructed Shaker buildings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Museum admission and guided tours Daily access to the National Historic Landmark site, including guided and self-guided tours of more than 25 original Shaker buildings, exhibits, gardens, and grounds for individual visitors and families.
• Educational programs and school field trips

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly 700 acres preserved in perpetuity through conservation easement
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sanborn Mills FarmcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Pilot partnership bringing together two organizations rooted in land, craft, and community. Sanborn Mills Farm will actively farm the historic Shaker gardens, activating the landscape as a living system of production, education, and interpretation. Visitors will see vegetables and grains in production, draft animals working, and gardens in bloom. This is the first phase of a potential long-term collaboration.
• University of New Hampshire ExtensionminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2026UNH-E conducts field workshops at Canterbury Shaker Village including Pruning Mature Apple Trees Workshop and Rejuvenating Grapevines Workshop, run by Field Specialist Jeremy Delisle.
• Red River TheatrescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Partnership for special screenings of 'The Testament of Ann Lee' film followed by curator discussions. Each screening includes 45-minute discussions with Canterbury Shaker Village Curator Shirley Wajda and Archivist Renee Fox.
• Guild of New Hampshire WoodworkerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 November 2024Nonprofit organization dedicated to the craft, education, and promotion of woodworking. The Guild installed a handcrafted gate along Shaker Road near the Horse Barn, supporting the village through this artisan project.
• National Trust for Historic PreservationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAffiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation through shared mission of preserving historic places and heritage tourism.
• New Hampshire Preservation AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Career Exploration in the Old Building Trades program, preservation projects, and grant funding including $10,000 roof replacement grant.
• Preservation Timber FramingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for traditional building trades education and preservation work at the village.
• NH Heritage Museum TrailminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMember of NH Heritage Museum Trail connecting public with culturally rich heritage institutions in New Hampshire.
• North American Reciprocal Museum Association (NARM)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorReciprocal membership program at Friend ($125+) and Supporter ($250+) membership levels providing access to participating museums.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hancock Shaker Village: The most direct comparable: another former Shaker religious community in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, preserved as a museum and heritage site with restored buildings, gardens, and interpretive programming. Operates on a similar nonprofit historic-site model with comparable admissions, membership, and event revenue mix.
• Historic Harrisville: A New Hampshire historic mill village preserved as a nonprofit museum, with comparable scale, restored-building tour programming, and small nonprofit operations. Particularly relevant as the previous executive directorship of Canterbury's current ED.
• Old Sturbridge Village: A large living-history museum in Massachusetts interpreting early 19th-century rural New England life, with a similar mix of restored historic buildings, costumed interpretation, educational programming, and event hosting. Closely matches Canterbury's nonprofit museum/heritage business model at larger scale.
• Shelburne Museum: A Vermont museum of American art, design, and Americana across 39 buildings on a 45-acre campus, with comparable restored-building village layout, ticketed admissions, school programs, and seasonal event programming.

Regional players

• The Fells (John Hay National Wildlife Refuge / Hay Estate): A New Hampshire historic estate and gardens in Newbury offering tours, events, and educational programming on a conserved landscape, comparable in scale, regional positioning, and nonprofit heritage-site revenue model.
• Strawbery Banke Museum: A Portsmouth, NH outdoor history museum operating across a 10-acre site of restored buildings, with the same regional visitor base and admissions/membership/rentals revenue mix as Canterbury. Directly comparable as a New Hampshire heritage tourism competitor for Boston-driven tourist traffic.
• Historic Deerfield: A Massachusetts museum village presenting early American history through preserved houses and guided tours, sharing the same educational-tour, school-program, and craft-product revenue streams as Canterbury.
• Fruitlands Museum: A Harvard, MA heritage site interpreting 19th-century transcendentalist and Shaker-influenced communities, with a similar niche New England cultural-history focus, small-staff nonprofit structure, and reliance on admissions and donor support.

Broad incumbents

• National Trust for Historic Preservation: The national nonprofit affiliated with Canterbury Shaker Village through shared mission and grant flows. Comparable as a higher-level preservation and advocacy organization with affiliated historic-site network.
• The Trustees of Reservations: Massachusetts-based nonprofit operating more than 120 historic, agricultural, and natural sites, including Fruitlands Museum. Comparable as a multi-site heritage operator with shared membership, admissions, and programming logic.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/CanterburyShakerVillage
• Instagraminstagram.com/canterburyshakers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/canterbury-shaker-village

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Canterbury Shaker Village