From the outset, the organization's mission has been to provide financial support for conservation treatments of Venice's physical heritage, particularly monuments and important examples of painting, sculpture, and other visual arts.
In February 1969, the Venice Committee of the International Fund for Monuments began writing letters and organizing events to raise money across the United States in order to sponsor restorations of Venetian sites that had suffered artistic damage.
Restoration projects in this period included the Scuola Levantina in the Venetian Ghetto, the church of the Gesuiti in Cannaregio, and the cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torcello (the latter in partnership with Venice in Peril and the IFM).
Previously a largely volunteer organization, Save Venice moved its headquarters from Boston to New York, employed professional staff, and grew correspondingly.
Their increased ambition was immediately evident in the proposal to restore the entire church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, eventually costing $4 million and underway from 1990 to 1997.
These benefits employed a long-weekend format with lectures, receptions and tours, culminating in a black-tie dinner dance; each gala could net a half a million dollars.
Starting in the late 1990s, fundraising trips were offered more frequently and extended beyond the Mediterranean to Russia, Turkey, the Black Sea, Madrid, and cruises on the Elbe and Rhine.
The Ballo in Maschera in New York, originally organized by and for the Young Friends group, grew in size starting in 2011, and soon began to gross one million dollars per year and, more recently, net nearly that amount.
[16] Since 2016 Save Venice Inc. has steadily increased its capacity to raise funds and now embarks on several ambitious restoration projects, of the scale of the church of San Sebastiano, simultaneously.
[17] At the same time, Save Venice Inc. adopted conservation of the Saint Ursula cycle in the Accademia Galleries by Vittore Carpaccio and Titian's Madonna di Ca' Pesaro and Assunta in the Church of the Frari.
Save Venice thus partnered with the Italian Embassy in Washington to launch the #AmericaLovesVenice campaign with all monies raised going to a newly created "Immediate Response Fund".
In anticipation of its 50th anniversary celebration in October 2021, Save Venice adopted two significant restoration projects, the synagogue in the Ghetto and the cathedral on the island of Torcello.
Over the years, noted scholars on the board have included Sir John Pope-Hennessy, Everett Fahy, Theodore Rabb, David Rosand, and Patricia Fortini Brown.
It has been continuously active since then with a variety of cocktail receptions, masked balls, and other fundraising events; it also hosts an Annual General Meeting for members each fall, and (since 2004) a lecture series each spring.
In selecting potential restoration projects, the goal has been to conserve a wide range of media (architecture, painting, sculpture, decorative arts, rare books, archives, etc.)
Whenever possible, projects are visited in person in Venice by the full board to inspect condition, survey imminent damage, and discuss proposed treatments with restorers, curators, and officials from the Superintendencies of Fine Arts and Monuments.
With the cooperation of Ellen Rosand, David's widow, Frank oversaw the cataloguing of the books in New York and their move to Save Venice's Venetian office in Palazzo Contarini Polignac.
By hosting events such as Research & Restoration Roundtables and book presentations, the library serves as a location for students and scholars to collaborate in the study of Venetian art.
Save Venice offers a variety of educational programming through lectures, panel discussions, exhibitions, tours, publications, conferences, and fellowships and internships.
Events take place in New York, Boston, Venice, and throughout the U.S., including Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Chicago, Houston, and Fort Worth/Dallas.
Lectures are often held at the Rosand Library & Study Center (Venice); NYU's Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò and the Italian Cultural Institute (NYC); and Back Bay's historic Chilton Club (Boston).
Save Venice supports like-minded Italian institutions, for example providing annual grants to the Istituto Veneto per i Beni Culturali art conservation school[37] and the Titian Study Center in Pieve di Cadore.
Save Venice has produced a number of documentary shorts discussing the organization's history, current projects, and related historical and cultural topics.
A biennial four-day fundraising gala is held in Venice, usually taking as its theme a Venetian celebration or cultural event such as Carnival, the Biennale, or Regatta Week.