Most likely you are reading this page because you need to prepare an evaluation plan for an arts project and have no idea where to start.  This will help.

An evaluation plan doesn’t need to be an administrative-driven, cumbersome document.   It is to help define the outcomes and describe what success will look like.

For a simple example, let’s imagine you are putting on a performing arts production and the funding application is asking how you will measure success.  Obviously, you want to put on a good show.  But what constitutes a good show for you?  Is it ticket sales? Is it media reviews? Is it the atmosphere in the foyer following the show? Is it the one person in the audience that connects with the story? Is it all the above? What are the targets – will you be happy with 50% ticket sales, and one good media review? How will you gather your data?

As explained in the Arts Queensland evaluation fact sheet “The clearer you are in articulating what you intend to achieve through your project/program, the easier it will be to focus your evaluation and identify appropriate measures. Clear objectives help in answering a common evaluation question: have you achieved what you set out to achieve?”

Below are some helpful definitions taken from the British Council Arts Evaluation Toolbox:

Objectives - Objectives are specific things that you want to achieve through your project. You might sometimes hear people refer to ‘SMART’ objectives. This is an acronym; it means objectives that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Timetabled

Qualitative evidence - Qualitative evidence tends to relate to, and reflect, different people’s thoughts and feelings. It is often viewed as ‘anecdotal’ rather than ‘factual’ evidence, because it is based on individuals’ feelings and judgements about what has happened as a result of your project. 

Quantitative evidence - Often referred to as ‘hard’ evidence, because it tends to be numbers-related (e.g. number of participants, increase in income) and is viewed as being more factual. It includes numbers of people who think a certain thing (e.g. 79% of participants viewed our training as excellent). 

The example evaluation plan attached shows how arTour tries to capture both quantitative and qualitative data for touring productions. The objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. Don’t make a statement such as “After leaving my show, the audience will love experimental dance theatre for the rest of their life” – as that is not an outcome you can measure in a post-event survey. However, you could include a similar sentiment by reporting on the percentage of participants that agreed they would come to something like that again. But make sure you include a target number and be realistic with the target number.

An evaluation plan will also explain how you intend to capture the feedback.  Some examples are:

  • Audience surveys in either paper and/or digital form. Take note of how many people did the survey to calculate the percentage of total audience that completed the survey.
  • Offering a Q&A after the show requesting feedback from audience.
  • Targeted feedback from industry peers.
  • Invite an experienced industry professional to view and give specific feedback (follow up with meeting or interview).
  • Testimonials.

Arts Queensland have developed a template, which can be found on the planning tools page here.