More Impact. More Money. More Data.
3-Step Guide for Arts Organisations to Create More Impactful Reports
Arts organisations are in a tough position. They often lack data expertise yet are simultaneously assessed on their metrics by funders, local governments, and trustees.
But the good news is that using data doesn’t have to be difficult. And if done correctly, it can actually allow your report to have a much larger impact.
At The Arts Analyst, we use a simple three-step method to help organisations demonstrate their impact through data. The same approach can be applied across any context—whether you’re working on a funding application, an exhibition report, or a project evaluation.
The key is to start early. By building this process in before a project begins, you give yourself the time and structure needed to collect the data that will most effectively demonstrate your impact.
1. What are the big goals?
To start, I want you to tell me in words what your goal is for the project. Delete any numbers that creep in.
We hit the audience demographic KPI of 30% under 35s.
We want a more diverse audience at our next exhibition.
These goals might come from yearly/quarterly institutional goals, or from the Exec, or even from the project team. But avoid the tendency to instantly put numbers, KPIs and benchmarks to every goal.
This first step is about explaining in plain english the goals of a specific project or report. Find 1-3 goals that become your ‘key narrative’ throughout the project. These will guide how you approach the project, how you evaluate it, and eventually how you report on it.
Some more examples of project goals:
Our events this quarter made a difference to local communities.
Our membership base grew and we increased donations.
Artists are benefiting from our studio programme.
These are relatively broad goals, but you’ll notice that already they instantly communicate value. They’re statements that tell a story, and even people not working on the project can understand why they are important goals to work towards.
Even though we shout about the value of data, we strongly believe that data should play a supporting role to the story of a project. That’s why we start with goals, not KPIs.
2. How can that be measured?
Only once the key goals are determined can we start digging into the data.
As an example, let’s say the key goals for an exhibition are:
Increase audience diversity.
Increase our membership base through ticket conversions.
For this step we want to identify the ways that the goal can be measured and ensure we have methods of collecting that data.
In general, audience demographic information can only be collected through surveys. So we would need to make sure that there is an exhibition survey set up that includes questions around age and ethnicity. Additionally, a plan would need to be established for how this survey will be distributed (in-person at the gallery, emailed, etc.) and ensure a large sample size was collected.
Meanwhile, membership conversions could be tracked through ticketing systems, but front of house teams may need to be briefed on how this is done in a unified method to ensure data consistency.
Whenever possible, it’s best to allow for consistency with data collection methods across projects and exhibitions. This allows you to compare metrics across various projects and observe changes over time. In practice this might look like consistent wording of demographic questions and answers across all surveys. Aim for continuity, but don’t be afraid of adding new survey questions and metrics if they are needed. If you’re just starting out with data, you might not have anything to compare to yet. No worries— just start now and you’ll slowly start building a valuable dataset that can be referenced later.
By the end of this step you will have your key goals along with the exact metrics you will be using to evaluate the 'success’ of the goals.
Increase audience diversity.
Exhibition survey with questions regarding age and demographic.
Able to compare results to past 3 exhibitions as benchmark.
Increase our membership base through ticket conversions.
Standardised process on ticketing system for front of house & online to upgrade ticket to membership.
Able to compare to previous exhibition’s membership conversion rate of 2%.
If your organisation likes setting KPIs, here’s where you would do that. Because now you have the goal, the past performance data, and an indication of how you want this project to compare to the previous.
This is also a great time to share the goals & metrics with various teams working on the project / exhibition so that everyone can work towards the same goals and understand how it will be measured.
3. How do we communicate it?
Once the exhibition has finished, the focus shifts to analysing the data and understanding whether you achieved your goal.
When it comes to the report, keep things simple. Use your data to support the story—not overwhelm it. A helpful rule of thumb is to start with the narrative in plain English, then reinforce it with key metrics:
Outcome:
This exhibition welcomed a younger and more diverse audience.
Supporting metrics:
42% of visitors were under 35
(+12 percentage points compared to the previous exhibition)31% of visitors were from the Global Ethnic Majority (GEM)
(+6 percentage points compared to the previous exhibition)
This alone should communicate clear value and impact to key stakeholders.
For those who want more detail, you can then expand—whether that’s including a fuller demographic breakdown or explaining the initiatives that contributed to these results (for example, a targeted marketing campaign or specific events that attracted new audiences).
Simple charts and well-chosen metrics are often the most effective way to support your points.
In summary:
Always start with the story. That’s what helps people connect to the work. Then use data to evidence the impact—showing clearly how the project achieved its outcomes.
If you want to discuss your next project or report with us to see how you can apply this 3 step method, book a free 30 minute call here. We can help you along any part of the process.
