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Today, the Arts Council announced the launch of the Impact and Insight Toolkit. Following a successful, sector-led pilot which sought to better evidence the impact and value of arts programming on audiences, the Arts Council is pleased to announce that the new platform will roll out with National Portfolio Organisations from next year.

The Impact and Insight Toolkit platform will be used by organisations receiving more than £250,000 funding from us, they will be encouraged to tailor the programme to meet their needs and will report on their data outcomes from April 2019.

All NPOs will be invited to take part, collect data, and shape the wide range of cultural insights that will be produced. The toolkit allows arts and cultural organisations to understand what their audiences perceive as the impact of their work, and how this compares to what they are trying to achieve. Organisations will be able to strengthen their relationships with their audiences and start a conversation around the work that they produce and present.

Owen Hopkin Director, Audience Insight and Innovation, Arts Council England said: “The sector have led this initiative- it’s a substantial investment for us but we know it will help the organisations we fund better understand what people think and feel about their work, and whether its having the impact they want.”

Counting What Counts demonstrated a high level of innovation in their bid and extensive background knowledge and experience of working with the arts and cultural sector and gave confidence in their ability to build understanding and support for the toolkit amongst the organisations we work with and to develop the culture of self, peer and public review we want to achieve through this work.

The contract will run from July 2018- to March 2022 with a cost of £2.3 million; approx. 0.14% of the Arts Council’s overall budget for the National Portfolios in 2018-22.

For more information contact:
Abigail Knell, Communications Officer, Arts Council England Tel: 020 7268 0537, Email: abigail.knell@artscouncil.org.uk

Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk