Can a ten-week cohort change the way arts and culture leaders think about and act on evaluation?
Most Arts Leaders Are Left to Figure Out Evaluation on Their Own
Arts and culture are essential to a thriving, diverse democratic society, fostering creativity, civic engagement, and shared understanding across communities. Equipping leaders with the tools to measure the impact of their work fortifies these vital programs.
Yet program and executive directors, the people most responsible for designing and delivering that work, are rarely given practical, accessible support to actually do it well. Arts and culture organizations are asked to demonstrate impact constantly, to funders, boards, and the communities they serve — and evaluation too often arrives as a compliance requirement rather than a creative tool. Third Plateau, in partnership with Contina Impact, designed the Arts and Culture Evaluation Lab to change that: a cohort-based program that meets arts leaders where they are and equips them to turn evaluation into a driver of learning, strategy, and equity.
Designing a Program for Leaders Who Are Doing More With Less
The Lab was built for organizations that were eager to strengthen their evaluation practice but lacked the resources, frameworks, or peer community to do so. Within just ten days of opening applications, 34 organizations applied, with more inquiries arriving after the deadline. From that pool, 13 organizations and 21 leaders were selected, representing a wide spectrum of the arts and culture ecosystem, from education and advocacy to museums, creative placemaking, and youth development. All participating organizations had budgets under $2 million. The response made one thing clear: evaluation cohorts tailored to arts and culture nonprofits are rare, and very much needed.
“This cohort gave me hope… because I’m seeing so many opportunities to implement these frameworks into our work, ultimately toward liberation, which is what is being challenged at this moment.”
– Program Participant
Frameworks, Peer Learning, and Room to Practice
Over ten weeks, Third Plateau’s professional researchersfacilitated a carefully designed mix of content-rich sessions, hands-on working time, individualized consultation, and peer exchange. Topics ranged from building logic models and identifying outcomes to integrating equitable and culturally responsive practices and experimenting with participatory and arts-based approaches to data collection that honor the often intangible nature of artistic work. Storytelling ran throughout, equipping leaders to translate findings into narratives that resonate with funders, boards, and communities.
Participants didn’t just learn about evaluation in the abstract. With professional coaching and support woven throughout, every leader left the program with a completed theory of change and a practical evaluation plan tailored to their own organization’s work.
This Is What Capacity Building Can Look Like
The results were unambiguous. Every single participant rated their overall experience excellent or good. 100% reported feeling more confident developing evaluation questions, identifying outcomes, and building program logic models. 94% found the content sessions exceptional or greatly supportive of their learning. And 76% were already applying new knowledge to their organization’s evaluation work before the cohort even ended.
Perhaps most meaningfully, evaluation shifted for many participants from feeling like an external burden to becoming an internal tool for creativity, strategy, and organizational clarity. Leaders reported using their new skills to shape annual reports, redesign programs, strengthen evaluation tools, and sharpen strategic plans. Over half left with a stronger professional network. And 94% agreed that cohorts like this would be valuable for peer organizations across the sector.
Interested in bringing an evaluation cohort to your grantees or sector? Reach out to start the conversation.
