Sarah Mihich, CNP : Marketing Research

The following is market research that I have conducted.

Marketing Research for Arts for Learning Indiana

Teacher Survey

· How many programs did your location utilize during the academic school year, 2013-2014?

· Mark which program (s) your location utilized during the academic school year, 2013-2014?

o Performance

o Residency

o Teacher Training

o Workshop

o Early Childhood Programs

· What did you like best about the program(s) your location booked during the academic school year, 2013-2014?

· What did you like least about the program(s) your location booked during the academic school year, 2013-2014?

· Does Arts for Learning teaching artists fit inside the Indiana Core Curriculum?

· Mark which area(s) in the Indiana Core Curriculum needs to be added to Arts for Learning’s programs?

o English Language Arts

o Mathematics

o Science

o Social Studies

o Agriculture

o Business, Marketing, Information Technology

o Engineering

o Family and Consumer Science

o Health Science

o Trade and Industry

o Financial Literacy

o Health and Wellness

o Physical Education

o World Language

· Is it easy to find artists on Arts for Learning website to book for your location?

o If not, what are the challenges when finding an artist on the Arts for learning website?

· Please state any suggestions to improve finding artists on Arts for Learning’s website?

· Was the booking process confusing at any point?

o If yes, please state what was confusing

· While scheduling a teaching artist, the communication between Arts for Learning staff and your location was excellent.

o After booking the artist, do you feel there was enough communication between you and the teaching artist?

§ If not, please indicate suggestions to improve the communication between the teaching artist and the school.

· What type of programs would you like to see Arts for Learning develop in the future?

· Are there any suggestions you might have to improve the Arts for Learning programs for the future?

Artist Survey

·How long have you been a teaching artist for Arts for Learning?

·Do you receive enough resources from Arts for Learning to be successful in the classroom?

·What tools do you feel would be helpful for you that Arts for Learning can provide?

·Do you feel that Arts for Learning supports your work as an artist outside of the classroom?

o If no, how can Arts for Learning’s Communication Department improve?

· Do you feel there is strong consistent communication between you and Arts for Learning during the booking process?

· Do you feel there is strong constant communication between you and the location during the booking process?

· Are there any suggestions you might have to improve the relationship between Arts for Learning an teaching artists?

Marketing Research Assignment

Bloomington Arts Commission

Summary of Key Issues

The BAC has issues with visibility to arts organizations as a key resource and in their diversity of funding during grant cycles. The grant funding that has been distributed in the past grant cycles has been to the art organizations that are more financially stable and hold events that reach larger, more diverse audiences and support more artists. This does not give smaller art organizations the incentive to apply for grants because it shows they will not be supported during the grant cycles. Also during the grant cycles it is shown that the BAC commonly funds music and visual arts (Yagi, 2013) and the other categories are only funded slightly if at all. The information we do not have but is necessary to complete our market research is why a more diverse selection of arts organizations in Bloomington are not applying and why we do not have a diversity of art forms represented. This information will assist us with our market research.

Market Research

1. Problem Identification – There are many arts organizations in Bloomington that are not applying for BAC grants.

2. Problem Statement – What keeps art organizations from applying for BAC grants?

3. Specification of Research Objectives – Our research will aim to discover

a. Why specific Bloomington arts organizations have not applied in the past;

b. What is the level of interest at those organizations in applying for a BAC grant; and

c. What could the BAC offer to make it more likely that new arts organizations would apply?

4. Exploration of Secondary Data – There are many resources available online that contain information about applying for grants, but they are very often tailored to either a specific organization’s grant process or to a specific sector of grant applications. A study done in 2008 for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) titled “Understanding Barriers and Successful Strategies for Faith-Based Organizations in Accessing Grants” describes different difficulties that Faith-Based Organizations (FBO’s) had in the HHS grant process. The study found that organizations had trouble applying for the grant for four main reasons. These included “difficulty meeting sustainability requirements, lack of knowledgeable staff to prepare grants, difficulty using the Grants.gov website, and difficulty reaching federal contacts to ask questions” (Strong, Paulsell, Bleeker & Asheer, 2008). It is important to note that the researchers in this study gathered their data from both successful and non-successful applicants, meaning that organizations who were unable or unwilling to navigate the process were not surveyed. Their input would be greatly valued, but there is no way to reach out to them because they cannot be identified. Because of this, the findings will not directly translate to the current situation, but the information gathered does support some of the researchers’ initial hypotheses (Strong, Paulsell, Bleeker & Asheer, 2008).

5. Specification of Remaining Gaps in Knowledge – The researchers do not know how specific arts organizations in Bloomington feel about the BAC grant process. They may have similar difficulties discussed above, but each grant application and community is unique, and for the BAC’s purposes it is important to understand how specific arts organizations in Bloomington view this issue.

6. Primary Data Collection – The primary data collection tool that will be used is a survey distributed to arts organizations that have never applied for a BAC grant. The survey will be distributed online through email to the organizations from the information contained in the BAC’s Arts Organizations database (Appendix C). The researchers have chosen the survey tool because they are focused on collecting basic information from a list of options about why groups have not applied to the BAC for a grant before. One of the benefits of this collection method is that it uses previously created infrastructure and creates very little new costs to the BAC. The main cost associated is designated people’s time during the creation, implementation, and follow-up of the surveys. A copy of the survey (Appendix A) and a timetable for implementation (Appendix B) is included in the appendix.

7. Data Analysis – The data showed that the surveyed organizations are both applying for (85% of organizations surveyed) and securing (60% of organizations surveyed) various other grants. The top three reasons that the organizations have not applied for a BAC grant are “The application was too confusing”, “We are not big enough to get a BAC grant”, and “We have seen that the organizations who do receive grants are much more popular than our organization, so we have never tried”. Additionally, in the free response section of the survey, many people expressed their frustration that the biggest and most well-known organizations in Bloomington get all the help while the smaller organizations are struggling. Even so, many of the respondents offered their contact information so that the BAC can follow up to discuss concerns and issues.

8. Interpretation of Findings – The biggest issue shown in the findings of this survey suggest that many smaller Bloomington arts organizations do not feel represented by the BAC. Two of the top three responses given for why organizations have not applied for a BAC grant involve connotations of favoritism to large organizations and hopelessness for small organizations. This is also reflected in the fact that these organizations overall are active in other grant processes; although many applicants said that the BAC application was too confusing, the groups surveyed are not wholly inexperienced at grant writing. Below are three possible solutions that could increase the number of new grant applications from the surveyed pool of organizations.

a. Offering grant applicants personal help from BAC commissioners: offering applicants a time where they could sit down with a commissioner to review the grant application could be very helpful in receiving more new applications because it would give grant writers a better idea of what the BAC is looking for in a grant application. This would obviously have to be offered to all applicants, whether they have applied before or not.

b. Follow up with any survey respondents who provided their contact information: this may be the most important strategy to implement from these findings because it focuses on the relationship between the BAC and various Bloomington arts organizations. If the BAC can show that they take feedback and criticism seriously, it can lead to building more trust between the organizations and the BAC. This trust would make it much more likely that the BAC would receive more grant applications.

c. Consider a measure that would ensure that new grant applications get a given percentage of available grant money: The BAC commissioners could ensure that new grant applications receive funds by requiring that a certain percentage of the money given in a grant cycle go to new applicants. This could cause significant changes and should not be undertaken lightly. It is not a foolproof method for making sure that the best applications get the money and it could anger loyal BAC grant applicants. There are positives and negatives that need to be considered, but this is an option that the BAC could choose.

Assumptions

All of the data gathered from the marketing research section was created by Amy Schwarz, based on patterns shown in the Yagi report. Everything written in the interpretation of data section was assumed from the created data. In the solutions section, we are assuming that the Creative Assistance Initiative by the BAC does not exist.

Objectives and Strategies

1. Have 5 new art organizations apply for grant funding in next grant cycle.

a. Strategy: Create direct marketing to arts organizations in Bloomington.

The surveys we will be distributing for our market research will give us more information on our stakeholders needs to help us create direct marketing. We will be able to achieve art organizations’ needs by tailoring the resources we supply. This will only require extra time from staff to create and manage direct marketing.

2. Distribute 10% of grant funds to organizations focused on (but not limited to) visual, literary, multidisciplinary, media, and/or dance in the next grant cycle.

a. Strategy: Restructure the Grant Allocation Process to fund more diverse art forms.

When art organizations apply for grants, the BAC will ask what art form the project lies under which will allow the BAC to know what art forms are being represented. Once the art organizations have applied, the commissioners will have an idea of what art forms are being represented. The BAC does not need to find more resources to fund this, it will only take more time from the commissioners during the grant allocation process.

Bibliography

Arts and economic prosperity iv. In (2012). Arts organzations for American for the arts survey

Washington,DC: Americans for the Arts.

Strong, D., Paulsell, D., Bleeker, M., & Asheer, S. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning

and Evaluation (ASPE), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). (2008). Understanding barriers and successful strategies for faith-based organizations in assessing grants. Retrieved from website: http://www.aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/08/strategies/report.html.

Yagi, M. (2013). Bloomington arts commission strategic plan and grant program analysis.

Bloomington: IN.

Appendix A: Survey Questions (This would be created as a web-friendly form because it will be distributed through email.)

Greetings! You are receiving this survey because our records indicate that you have never applied for a grant from the Bloomington Arts Commission. We want to make our grant money available to more Bloomington arts organizations, and your input in the survey below will help us in this goal. Please contact Miah Michaelson at 812-555-5555 if you have any questions. We sincerely thank you for your participation!

1. Has your organization ever considered applying for a BAC grant?

Yes No Unsure

2. Has your organization ever applied for a grant from another Bloomington source?

Yes No Unsure

a. If yes, were you successful?

Yes No

3. Has your organization ever applied for any grant not included above?

Yes No Unsure

a. If yes, were you successful?

Yes No

4. Which of the factors below have kept your organization from applying for a BAC grant in the past? (Rank each statement on a 0-5 scale.)

a. “I didn’t know that we were eligible to apply for a BAC grant”

0 1 2 3 4 5