What’s your Return on Art (ROA)?

 Revolutionizing How We Measure Arts Public Value

As a non-profit arts organization, you face challenges due to limited budgets and continual funding difficulties. While the number of organizations seeking funding is increasing, the available funding has either stayed the same or decreased. This means that you need new tools to measure and communicate the public value of your work.

The Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative (CAII) is a pioneering pilot project that provides non-profit arts organizations and artists with newly developed Customer Impact Management (CIM) software. Drawing from over two decades of experience in industrial and organizational psychology and creating measurement cultures, this project aims to tackle the long-standing challenge of demonstrating the social, emotional, and public value of the arts and their impact on well-being.

This initiative will introduce a new language for communicating the Return on Arts (ROA) to philanthropists, funders, and stakeholders. It will use real-time data and evidence-based advocacy to highlight arts programs' social and economic value.

Our Vision? Turn impact into investment.

Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative, Revolutionizing How Arts Organizations Secure Funding with Real-Time Outcome Measurement Tool
Pioneering platform powered by proven methodologies to transform arts funding through qualitative and quantitative data

[Columbus, Ohio], [November 1, 2024] — Meleca Creative Advisors is thrilled to announce the launch of the Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative (CAII), a groundbreaking project designed to revolutionize how arts organizations measure and communicate their transformative impact. This initiative provides arts organizations with the first real-time measurement tool specifically designed for the creative sector, allowing them to demonstrate both their quantitative and qualitative effects on communities in ways that go beyond traditional metrics like economic contributions.

Powered by SureImpact, an innovative platform that has already seen tremendous success in the social service sector, and underpinned by a proven logic model developed by Measurement Resource Co., this tool enables arts organizations to capture and report on a range of key outcomes—such as empathy, belonging, critical thinking, leadership, and community well-being. The goal? To turn impact into investment and secure sustainable funding through compelling, data-backed storytelling.

"This initiative marks a Renaissance of Relevance for the arts," says Angela Meleca, founder of Meleca Creative Advisors and CAII. "For too long, the arts have relied on economic impact to advocate for support. With this revolutionary tool, we can prove our return on art by showcasing the holistic, human-centered outcomes that truly matter—empathy, creativity, and community transformation. This data empowers us to make a stronger case for why the arts are essential, not optional."

The Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative brings together a cohort of 20 diverse arts organizations—of various sizes, disciplines, and locations, including international participants—giving them a unified platform to report on their intrinsic and extrinsic value. CAII leverages proven methodologies to help arts organizations turn process over performance, measuring outcomes that drive internal improvement and external investment opportunities.

"By adapting our proven logic model from social services to the arts, we’re enabling organizations to collect and communicate measurable, real-time data that proves their social and emotional value," says Sheri Chaney Jones, CEO of SureImpact. "Funders today need to see more than just numbers on ticket sales. They want to understand how the arts improve lives, foster empathy, and build stronger communities. This tool delivers exactly that."

This initiative is a game-changer, with arts organizations constantly seeking ways to prove their relevance to funders, policymakers, and the public. It enables organizations to create a new vocabulary around their work—by communicating their Return on Art (ROA)—and puts process over performance to highlight the arts' public value in verifiable and meaningful ways.

Participating Organizations:

American Legacy Theatre, Cincinnati, Ohio

Arts Bridging the Gap, Los Angeles, California

Central Ohio VA, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus Cultural Arts Center, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus Fashion Alliance, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, Ohio

Cordelion Performing Arts Academy, Columbus, Ohio

Dayton LIVE, Dayton, Ohio

McConnell Arts Center, Worthington, Ohio

Miami University Arts Management & Arts Entrepreneurship, Oxford, Ohio

Muse Machine, Dayton, Ohio

Orlando Family Stage, Orlando, Florida

Oyo Dance Company, Columbus, Ohio

The Contemporary Theatre of Ohio, Columbus, Ohio

The Fine Arts Association, Willoughby, Ohio

The Human Race Theatre Company, Dayton, Ohio

Toronto Arts Council & Toronto Arts Foundation, Toronto, Canada

Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio

Wild Goose Creative, Columbus, Ohio

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About Meleca Creative Advisors

Meleca Creative Advisors, founded by Angela Meleca, is a leader in arts advocacy and strategic communication. Specializing in data-driven strategies, Meleca Creative Advisors empowers arts organizations to demonstrate their public value, secure funding, and achieve long-term sustainability.

About Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative

The Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative is a pilot program to help arts organizations measure their social, emotional, and community outcomes. Using SureImpact’s software and a proven logic model from Measurement Resource Co., CAII allows organizations to collect real-time data that demonstrates their impact, improving advocacy, investment, and funding outcomes.

About SureImpact

SureImpact is a cutting-edge outcome measurement software platform that enables nonprofits to track and report on their social impact. By adapting its platform for the arts, SureImpact helps arts organizations demonstrate their value in straightforward, quantifiable ways.