Survey Administration Guidelines for Grantees_Online Administration

National Endowment for the Arts
How the Arts Affect Audiences – Pilot Study
Data Collection Guidelines:
Online Survey Administration

Background of the Study
In October 2010, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) released a strategic plan
establishing a new set of goals, outcomes, and performance measures for the Agency. Under the
plan, a critical NEA goal is to “engage the public with diverse and excellent art” so that three
specific outcomes are achieved. The first outcome is that “Americans throughout the Nation
Experience Art.”
To track its performance in achieving this outcome, the NEA will conduct a survey of audiences
at NEA- funded arts events nationwide. The survey will allow the NEA to measure the
percentage of audiences “affected” by attendance at NEA-funded projects.
The rationale for this measure is simple: individual encounters with art can prove
transformative. As NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman has stated: “Art works on and within people
to change and inspire them; it addresses the need people have to create, to imagine, to aspire
to something more.” As a partial measure of its success, the Agency plans to gauge the quality,
depth, and nature of audience responses to NEA- funded projects.

Purpose
The purpose of this document is to communicate essential information to participating
grantees, including instructions for creating a sampling plan, and guidelines for surveying
audiences that will maximize the probability of successful data collection efforts. WolfBrown
(www.wolfbrown.com) prepared these guidelines for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Survey Administration
The online survey approach requires you to send out an email (sample language below) with a
survey link to your ticket-buyers for the selected event during or immediately after its
conclusion. In other words, if curtain time is 8:00 p.m., the email broadcast should occur at
approximately 9:00 p.m., so that people who check their email after performances will find the
survey invitation. You should email all ticket buyers for whom you have email addresses.
WolfBrown will provide the survey link.

National Endowment for the Arts – Pilot Study: How Arts Affect Audiences

Ticket buyers, in this case, are defined as those who have purchased tickets in advance of the
performance (i.e., they do not include walk-ups the eventing of the performance), for whom you
have email information.
Subject Line: Please Share Your Feedback on Today’s [Event/Exhibit] of [Program Name]
Dear Patron,
Your feedback on today’s [Event/Exhibit] would be very helpful to the National Endowment for
the Arts. Please complete the survey as soon as possible and no later than 24 hours afterwards,
while the memory is still fresh. Your feedback helps us understand the affect of our work on
stage. Please be as candid as possible. Your answers are anonymous and confidential.
To take the survey, click here. [hyperlink] or paste this link into your browser:
[insert full survey URL here, in case people receive their email in text-only format and the
hyperlink is not active].
Thank you for your cooperation.
Rocco Landesman
Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

Staffing Requirements and Responsibilities
A staff member should be identified to liaise with WolfBrown on preparing and sending out the
emails. General responsibilities include:
Liaising with WolfBrown
Setting up timed emails to be sent after events selected to be surveyed
Preparing and overseeing Response Enhancement Efforts (see below)
Tracking open and click rate of emails (if possible)
Submitting online Reporting Requirements (see Reporting Requirements)

Response Enhancement Efforts
The following efforts are suggested to increase the likelihood of cooperation and response.
1. Lobby Signage. At surveyed performances, several large signs should be placed on
easels at key locations in the lobby saying “Audience Survey Tonight – Your cooperation
is greatly appreciated!” with the NEA logo.
2. Curtain Announcements. An announcement from the stage 10 minutes prior to curtain,
welcoming patrons to the theatre and asking for their cooperation with the survey. You
may modify the following language to suit your venue as an addition to the script of
your regular pre-curtain announcements (e.g., asking patrons to silence cell phones):
[10 minutes prior to curtain]. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to
tonight’s performance of [Title]. The National Endowment for the Arts very much
needs your feedback on tonight’s performance. If you receive an email requesting
your feedback on tonight’s performance, we kindly request your cooperation. Thank
you in advance, and enjoy the show.”

© 2011 WolfBrown

Data Collection Guidelines:
Online Survey Administration

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National Endowment for the Arts – Pilot Study: How Arts Affect Audiences

Reporting Requirements
After the survey administration, please submit the following information using the online
reporting system:
1. Name of event
2. Date of event
3. The final audience count
4. The actual number of tickets sold
5. The number of emails successfully sent out to ticket buyers
6. If possible, the open and click rates of emails (if email system allows)

© 2011 WolfBrown

Data Collection Guidelines:
Online Survey Administration

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