Supporting Museums – Serving Communities: An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program Full Report September 2011 Supporting Museums – Serving Communities: An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program Full Report The Executive Summary and six exemplary Museums for America project video stories can be downloaded at: http://www.imls.gov/research/program_evaluations.aspx Apley, Alice, Susan Frankel, Elizabeth Goldman, and Kim Streitburger. (2011). Supporting Museums-Serving Communities: An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program. (IMLS-2009-RFP-09-002). Institute of Museum and Library Services. Washington, D.C. Table of Contents I – Introduction ......................................................................................................I-1 Background of the Museums for America Program ......................................I-1 Evaluation Purpose .....................................................................................I-2 Methodology Overview ................................................................................I-3 Organization of the Report ..........................................................................I-11 II – Overview of Eligible Applicants and Grantees ..................................................II-1 Patterns of MFA Applications .....................................................................II-2 Award Rate Patterns ...................................................................................II-8 Summary ....................................................................................................II-14 III – Project Implementation .................................................................................III-1 Introduction ................................................................................................III-1 Primary Activities .......................................................................................III-2 Partnerships ...............................................................................................III-19 The Use of Evaluation .................................................................................III-23 Implementation Challenges ..........................................................................III-24 Summary .....................................................................................................III-26 IV – Program Effects ..............................................................................................IV-1 Introduction ................................................................................................IV-1 Effects Overview ..........................................................................................IV-2 Serving Broad Audiences .............................................................................IV-3 Audience Effects: Changes in Audience Engagement ....................................IV-5 Programming Effects: Sustaining and Expanding Programming .................IV-11 Organizational Capacity Effects: Building Stronger Museums......................IV-15 Summary .....................................................................................................IV-28 Supporting Museums – Serving Communities: i An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program Contents (Continued) V – Conclusion ........................................................................................................V-1 Serving the Museum Community .................................................................V-1 Effectiveness of the MFA Grant Program ....................................................V-2 Summary and Recommendations .................................................................V-7 CODA Perceptions and Effects of the MFA Application Process .............................CODA-1 Perceptions of Unfunded Applications .........................................................CODA-8 Summary .....................................................................................................CODA-12 Appendices A. Methodology ...............................................................................................A-1 B. MFA Grant Program Requests and Funded Amounts ..................................B-1 C. Evaluation Protocols ...................................................................................C-1 Online Survey Sections ................................................................................C1-1 Profile Interview Protocol ............................................................................C2-1 Case Study Interview/Site Visit Protocols ....................................................C3-1 D. Data Tables .................................................................................................D-1 Section D II-1 through D II-14 ....................................................................D-2 Section D III-1 through D III-30 .................................................................D-13 Section D IV-1 through D IV-30 ..................................................................D-69 E. Alphabetic List of Museums Participating in the Evaluation .......................E-1 Supporting Museums – Serving Communities: ii An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program Section I: Introduction Background of the Museums for America Program The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s museums. IMLS has a unique role. While other federal agencies support particular types of museums or particular types of museum services, IMLS is the only federal agency charged with defining and providing leadership for the entire U.S. public and non-profit museum sector. IMLS takes a comprehensive approach by supporting museums of every discipline, in every budget size and in every state, DC, Puerto Rico, and the territories. Conservative estimates report that there are 17,500 museums in the U.S. and that collectively they are visited over 1 billion times each year (online and onsite).1 All types of museums, large and small, are eligible for funding, including aquariums, arboretums and botanical gardens, art museums, youth museums, general museums, historic houses and sites, history museums, nature centers, natural history and anthropology museums, planetariums, science and technology centers, specialized museums, and zoological parks. Museums for America (MFA) is the largest IMLS grant program for museums; it supports institutions by investing in high-priority, high-value activities that are clearly linked to the institution’s strategic plan and enhance its value to its community. MFA grants situate projects within a framework of meeting three strategic goals: engaging communities, building institutional capacity and collections stewardship. MFA grants are awarded to eligible museums annually through a competitive process. Allowable activities include a broad range of museum work, such as digitization and collections management, exhibit and program development and implementation, research and evaluation, and staff development. This evaluation covers the first year (2004) of the Museums for America grant program through 2010. During that period, IMLS received 3,404 MFA applications from 1,817 eligible museums, awarding 1,191 grants to 830 museums, a total of $123 million in funding. Applicants apply in one of three categories: engaging communities, building institutional capacity or collections stewardship. Grants range from $5,000 to $150,000; the grant period may be up to three years and, as required by law, there is a one-to-one cost-sharing requirement. 1 Griffiths, José Marie & King, Donald W. (2006). Interconnections: The IMLS National Study on the Use of Libraries, Museums and the Internet. Washington, DC: Institute of Museum and Library Services. Supporting Museums – Serving Communities: I-1 An Evaluation of the Museums for America Program The MFA application places a significant focus on situating the proposed project within the institution’s strategic plan, providing a needs assessment and describing intended audience, outcomes, products and impact. The application includes: an abstract that describes the lead applicant and any partners, the project time frame, intended audience, specific project activities, outcomes and products, and a description of intended audience outcomes in terms of measurable changes in knowledge, skills, attitudes or behavior; a summary of the institutions strategic plan; and a narrative that addresses project design, resources, and intended outcomes. Outcomes must be described in terms of formal products, measurable results, evaluation and reporting methods, plans for sustaining the project over time, and long-term impact of the project after funding ends. Applicants also describe matching funds (money, staff time, in-kind services, etc.) equivalent to their grant award. IMLS provides an online course in outcomes-based planning and evaluation which introduces applicants to logic models and other planning tools. IMLS encourages the development of evaluation plans that document activities and audiences reached, as well as project achievements, lessons learned, and immediate and longer-term outcomes. Applicant budgets are expected to include the costs of evaluation and reporting. This rigorous application process speaks directly to the IMLS goal of building institutional capacity—a key factor in a museum’s ability to serve the public effectively. In addition to grant awards and technical assistance through