Introduction to Impact Measurement in the Arts: Q&A with Dr. Gillian Morrissey

You know why you create/perform/share your art. But how do you communicate its impact to others? That's what the latest session in our Business Workshops for Artists series is all about.

Since 2023, Business & Arts NL has been working with Dr. Gillian Morrissey, manager at Memorial University's Centre for Social Enterprise, to develop a new tool to help arts organizations big and small examine, measure and express the value of their work. 

The Dimensions of Impact in Arts Organizations is a framework consisting of five elements (or dimensions) that help capture the complete picture of the impact that arts and cultural work has on our communities, society and the economy. 

During her free online workshop on June 11, Dr. Morrissey (who is also a professional flutist) will share practical knowledge and impact measurement strategies that will help you craft compelling narratives that resonate with funders, demonstrate your unique social and cultural contributions, build pathways to greater organizational sustainability and much more. 

We connected with Dr. Morrissey to learn more about impact measurement and why it's so important. 

Dr. Gillian Morrissey

Business & Arts NL: As an artist yourself, what are some of the main challenges that artists and arts organizations face when it comes to communicating the value of their work to members of the public, funders and donors, etc.?

Gillian Morrissey: Arts and culture are one of the most challenging sectors to communicate impact and value in, because so much of that value is deeply personal and individual. Furthermore, artists are not trained on how to measure and convey impact, so the practice is often haphazard, unstructured and/or a last minute effort to comply with requirements to ensure continued funding or support.

Not to mention, arts organizations are largely under-resourced, either financially or from a human resource perspective. Impact measurement is part of strategic management, and in organizations where the executive director (plus or minus another staff person or two) is also the artist/artistic department, the marketing department, the HR department and the finance department – and perhaps more – it can be nearly impossible to create the time and space to think strategically about the future and to put systems in place that allow you to be proactive rather than reactive.

We wouldn’t have the space here to even begin to address the disconnect that is found between what really matters to arts organizations and their beneficiaries, compared to the types of questions that get asked on funding reports. With any luck, through continued conversations and advocacy around impact measurement and management (IMM) in the arts, we can help artists become very skilled in this area, while also helping funders and other stakeholders understand what types of things are most valuable and important, so that reports can accurately reflect the work of these organizations that are so integral to our societies and wellbeing.

Business & Arts NL: What role does storytelling play in helping artists/arts organizations communicate what they do, why they do it, and who it benefits, and how does storytelling fit into impact reporting as a whole?

GM: Storytelling is critical to sharing the impact of arts organizations. Partly because that skillset is so integral to what we do as artists, but also because it lends itself well to sharing the qualitative nature of the impact of arts and culture, connecting people and their experiences to the art form. Storytelling also helps us weave together the different elements of our impact, allowing us to tell one narrative but share information (data) that is relevant to a variety of stakeholders.

Qualitative data (the descriptive data usually about the why or how of an event or intervention, including people’s perspectives, thoughts and feelings) is often captured through surveys, observations, conversations, etc. It is both more comprehensive and personal. Conversely, quantitative data is the stuff that can be counted or measured – anything that can be given a numerical value. In the arts this often includes things like the number of tickets sold, or the dollar values ascribed to economic contributions, for example.

Both qualitative and quantitative data are necessary to telling the impact of any organization. As the saying goes: no story without good data, no data without a good story.

Business & Arts NL: Due to time/funding/human resources constraints, some artists/arts organizations may find it difficult to give impact reporting the attention it deserves. What, at the minimum, should members of the arts community be doing to better communicate their impact and to help ensure that necessary funding continues to flow?

GM: The hardest part about impact measurement and management (including reporting!) is changing the perspective – from it being something we have to do to satisfy funders (and therefore leaving it until reporting season) to something we do in an active and ongoing, structured way, because the organization relies on it: to ensure the sustainability and adherence to our mission.

Impact measurement and management is a subcategory of strategic management – necessary to the daily operations of any organization! – and therefore requires proactive preparation, not reactive responses. Positioning artists and arts organizations to have the knowledge and skills to do IMM in a proactive way, and to change the mindset about IMM so that it is viewed as an integral part of how arts organizations operate, is something I’m very passionate about and a contribution I hope to share with my colleagues in the sector.

Business & Arts NL: Is there anything else you'd like to mention about your upcoming workshop?

GM: This workshop is only going to scrape the surface of IMM in the arts, but I really hope that people can get excited about this area and see its potential to really elevate and empower their work as artists, rather than being a drag on their time and energy. I’m optimistic there will be at least one nugget of useful information for everyone, no matter whether you’ve never heard of impact or submitted any kind of report before, or if you’re a seasoned pro. I’ll also be sharing some tools and resources that will allow artists to get organized and hopefully optimize the work that’s already being done in this area.

I’d also love to stay in touch with folks about this process, and continue to support my fellow artists as much as I can. Hopefully there will be more opportunities to keep this going in the near future!

Workshop: Introduction to Impact Measurement in the Arts
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 11 from 1–2 pm NST
Location: Online via Zoom
Price: Free
Registration: Click here to register for the workshop "Introduction to Impact Measurement in the Arts"