REMINDER FROM AMERICANS FOR THE ARTS: Please complete this important, short, anonymous demographic questionnaire by 11:59PM ET, Friday, March 22.

Dear Local Arts Network members,

We have three days left to gather as many responses as possible to the Americans for the Arts baseline demographic survey! If you haven’t yet, please follow the link below to fill it out today.

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

This survey will only be open until Friday, March 22, at 11:59PM ET, so please complete it today!

We are seeking 100% participation from Local Arts Network members as we attempt to paint a more complete demographic portrait of our universe. While we are doing well in our response rate, we have not yet reached that 100% threshold—can you help us get there?

Have you already filled it out? Thank you! Since the survey is anonymous, we can’t exclude folks who have already completed the survey from these communications, but please bear with us. And while you’re at it, go ahead and pass along the link to others—anyone, regardless of membership status, who has a relationship with Americans for the Arts.

Without your help, we cannot tailor our programming, outreach, and governance to better address the broad diversity of those we serve.

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 Clay Lord at clord@artsusa.org.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Ruby

_______________________________

Ruby Lopez Harper
Director of Local Arts Services
Americans for the Arts
1000 Vermont Avenue, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC  20005-4940
T: 202.371.2830
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!