This morning, you may have received the email below inviting you to complete a short, anonymous, and important demographic survey from Americans for the Arts. Regardless of whether you received this morning’s email or not, I am writing to encourage you to take the time to complete the survey, which takes approximately 10 minutes.

The survey is only open until Friday, March 22, so please complete it today.
You can complete the survey by visiting http://www.AmericansForTheArts.org/DEIsurvey.
Please forward this email to anyone associated with you who uses services from or is engaged with Americans for the Arts, including fellow staff members, board and commission members, grantees, or other associates.
Since the survey is entirely anonymous, and we’re seeking 100% participation, you will likely get multiple notices about the survey, including after you’ve completed it. Please don’t complete it multiple times, and thank you for your patience with us over this 1-week period!

Take a look at the information below, and please complete the survey as soon as you can. If you have any questions, please reach out to Clay Lord at clord@artsusa.org.

Thank you!

Clay

___________________________________________

Dear Americans for the Arts family,

I’m writing you today to ask you to take 5-10 minutes of your time to complete an important, short, anonymous demographic questionnaire. Whether you are a member of Americans for the Arts or not, you are part of the broad arts constituency we serve, and this survey will allow us to do that better.

We at Americans for the Arts are committed to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a just, inclusive, and equitable nation. As part of that commitment—and understanding that basic demographics are neither the beginning nor the end of any conversation about equity—we believe it is crucial to gather anonymous demographic information about ourselves and those we serve.

In that spirit, I very much hope you will complete this short and anonymous demographic questionnaire.

Please visit http://www.AmericansForTheArts.org/DEIsurvey to complete the survey.

This survey will only be open for 5 days—it will close at 11:59PM ET on Friday, March 22, so please complete it today!

Given the close deadline, you are likely to receive a few emails from us over the next week about this survey—because of the anonymous nature of it, we must reach out to the full group each time. Thank you in advance for your patience.

We are seeking 100% participation from our members, consumers of our products and services, boards and advisory groups, staff members, and contractors as we attempt to see a more complete demographic portrait of our universe.

Please do your part, and, in addition to completing the survey, pass along the link to others—anyone, regardless of membership status, who has a relationship with Americans for the Arts.

Below my signature, I have included some more information about how and why we’re looking to collect this information, how we’re maintaining your anonymity and protecting your information, and what we plan to do with the information we gather.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly at clord@artsusa.org. We will share the results of this work in summer of 2019.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Sincerely,

Clay

_______________________________

Clay Lord
Vice President of Local Arts Advancement
Americans for the Arts
1000 Vermont Avenue, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-4940
T: 202.371.2830 ext 2022
E: clord@artsusa.org
W: www.AmericansForTheArts.org

About this survey:

What is this survey, and what is it for?
This survey will provide us with a baseline understanding of the demographics of those we serve, which is a picture we currently lack. We hope to be able to use this to craft and deploy more effective services, set and pursue goals and objectives around diversity, equity, and inclusion, and provide transparency about Americans for the Arts, those we serve, and the field at large.
How will Americans for the Arts use the data gathered?
Americans for the Arts will utilize the results of this anonymous survey to inform ongoing strategic planning, program development and design, and governance of the organization. We believe that as full and accurate an understanding of the demographics of those we serve as possible is crucial to institutional change and growth, and to serving you better.
How frequently do you gather this information, and is it anonymous?
This survey, first conducted in 2017 (see report here), is conducted every 2 years to take snapshots of our organization, those we serve, and the broad field. It is entirely anonymous, designed to be completed in 5-10 minutes, and the data are maintained on a secure server. While everyone’s individual responses are completely confidential, we will report the data in the aggregate.
Haven’t I provided this demographic information to Americans for the Arts already?
You may be familiar with other research Americans for the Arts has conducted, such as the just-released 2019 Local Arts Agency Salary Survey, which includes demographic data as well. If you filled that survey or other Americans for the Arts surveys out, we appreciate it, but request that you take the time to also complete this research. In both cases, the full anonymity required to gather open, honest information means we cannot draw on your previous responses. Thank you in advance.

Can I adopt or adapt this survey protocol?
Absolutely – we hope you will. The questions in this survey were developed in consultation with experts and best practices to create the most inclusive and comprehensive demographic portrait possible. Please visit our Tools and Templates page in the Cultural Equity section of our website for this and other templates, which you are free to adapt or adopt. If you find language you think is outdated, please email Clay Lord at clord@artsusa.org. We go farther together! Thank you!