In April 2020, initiated by Fuel Theatre in London, some 150 sponsor organisations signed an open letter announcing a new national Freelance Task Force, which promised its members solidarity, representation, connections and some financial support. This evaluation includes practical  and strategic recommendations to inform the way forward.

Lorna Dennison, senior consultant, Morris Hargreaves McIntyre shows us some simple ways to stop evaluation just being a tick box exercise and turn it into rocket fuel for future improvement.

Are you thinking about approaches to evaluation and impact and how best to capture cultural value? How has cultural evaluation evolved and why have some approaches become more dominant? Beatriz Garcia shares five recommended reads to help deepen your understanding of approaches to evaluation.

Are you thinking about the role of culture and place? Are you interested in evaluation practices and definitions of ‘success’ for culture-based place development? Franco Bianchini shares six recommended reads to help you explore the complexities of this area of research and practice.

Why do we evaluate our work and who do we do it for? Is it to meet the expectations of funders and stakeholders or to assess a project’s success and capture the difference it makes? And are we missing a trick if we don’t use evaluation as an opportunity to enhance our practice and deepen ... Read more

This webinar offers learnings and insights on how to use evidence and research to influence policy change.

In this series of learning case studies, cultural practitioners share their reflections and learning honestly, so others can learn from and build on their experience. Here Clare Williams reflects on managing multiple agendas and questions of ownership in complex large-scale projects.  

Are you interested in working with academics to create new knowledge and amplify understanding? This guide by Culture Forum North helps you consider the potential benefits of research partnerships with academics and suggests how to initiate and develop these relationships.      

In March 2019 The Audience Agency delivered a series of evaluation workshops for libraries, commissioned by the DCMS Libraries Taskforce and supported by Arts Council England.  Four workshops were delivered across England; in the North West, North East, South West, and London / South East regions.  This Resource Pack brings together the evaluation workshop slide ... Read more

This report by Josephine Burns based on documents and data analysis by Morris Hargreaves McIntyre, summarises 14-18 NOW’s five-year programme and tells the story of a unique undertaking that brought together art and heritage with a vision ‘to support the creation of artworks by contemporary artists, to engage and stimulate the UK public in fresh and engaging ... Read more

Laura Cusick, Research Executive at thrive, the Belfast-based audience development agency guides as through what makes a great survey and how quantitative research can give you the insight you need.

An evaluation of the Concept programme, run by Pedestrian (a Leicester-based charity delivering workshops in art, music, and media working with disadvantaged, NEET young people and vulnerable adults). Written by Rachel Escott.

Creative People and Places teams, artists, evaluation partners and critical friends share a selection of approaches, models and methods for evaluating participatory arts programmes.

Catherine Rose’s Office and Pam Jarvis share guidance, information and ideas on evaluating family festival events and researching your audiences. Commissioned by the Family Arts Campaign.

Discover what ROI is, how to use it to your advantage and how it can and should be applied to the marketing choices we make as we plan.

A summary report evaluating the first year of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s iOrchestra project, where the ambition was to change people’s perceptions about orchestral music by touring live and digital orchestral music to Plymouth, Torbay and Cornwall communities.  

The emergence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practice is changing business attitudes to the arts. This research identified how companies may choose to engage with arts organisations and how they may compare support for the arts with other ‘good causes’. The report’s recommendations include improving evaluation methods and impact measurement.

With the scrutiny of budgets, many businesses carry out a robust analysis of their partnership with arts organisations. This short guide introduces an evaluation tool developed by Arts & Business which offers a clear way to report the complex, multi-layered outcomes of a partnership. It examines key areas to measure return on investment including inputs, ... Read more

The summer of 2013 saw Torbay Council undertake an unprecedented evaluation project. Eleven events, exhibitions, opera, and festivals were subjected to rigorous analysis based on robust evaluation and participant feedback. This work built upon the previously published evaluation work carried out by the Creative Torbay teamm, crunching the data for individual cultural projects over the ... Read more

How can arts organisations measure if they have an influence on the quality of life that they might want? In this keynote speech we are shown a participative process in six stages that makes any impact visible and recognises the intangible value of arts activity and its contribution to the quality of life.