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Welcome to a new way to define and demonstrate public value.
This toolkit is the on-ramp into Return on Art™
the first outcomes-based governance system built for the arts.
Thank you for downloading 5 Outcomes Funders Actually Care About.
This resource is your first step into Return on Art, the framework that reframes the arts as a source of measurable human outcomes and a critical part of today’s public value infrastructure.
For decades, the arts have been fighting the wrong battle. The issue has never been impact. It has been mismeasured. Institutions invest in what they can measure, and the arts have lacked a recognized system for demonstrating the outcomes they create in people’s lives.
Return on Art changes that.
This toolkit introduces the foundations of an outcomes-based governance model that aligns arts organizations with the priorities of funders, policymakers, boards, and community partners.
Why This Toolkit Matters
Arts organizations have relied on outputs for years: attendance, participation, economic impact, or activity counts. But modern governance invests in outcomes that strengthen human capacity and community well-being.
Funders and policymakers now ask a different question:
What difference does your work make in people’s lives?
This is the foundational question behind outcomes-based governance and the core of the Return on Art framework.
The Pre Advocacy Toolkit prepares you to answer that question in a clear, validated, and actionable way. It bridges the gap between what your work already makes possible and the language institutions use to make decisions.
What You’ll Learn
Use this guide to begin shifting from activity reporting to outcomes-based alignment. Inside, you’ll learn how to:
Clarify your message, audience, and ask before meeting with funders or policymakers
Apply the 5 Whys to reveal the true impact behind your work
Connect your programs to measurable outcomes like belonging, resilience, confidence, and problem-solving
Strengthen your case using the foundational principles of the Return on Art Framework
This toolkit introduces the measurement logic that leaders must adopt in an outcomes-based governance environment.
The Five Outcomes That Drive Relevance, Resources, and Public Value
Return on Art is built on validated human capacity outcomes that funders and policymakers already prioritize. These five outcomes were validated through a multi-year pilot with twenty arts organizations and form the backbone of Return on Art:
Empathy and Perspective Taking
Belonging and Social Connection
Resilience and Emotional Well-Being
Creative Problem Solving and Cognitive Flexibility
Community Cohesion and Collective Efficacy
These outcomes shift the arts from an enrichment activity to a strategic asset in solving public challenges. They are the backbone of Return on Art, and they will shape how institutions understand your relevance moving forward.
What Leaders Are Saying
“Angela reframes the arts with a clarity our field has needed for years. She shows how the arts drive measurable human outcomes that matter to funders, and she gives leaders the tools to prove it.”
“Return on Art changed the way our leadership team thinks, plans, and evaluates programs. It gave us the language and accountability to demonstrate impact with confidence.”
Angela Meleca is the creator of Return on Art, a new framework for outcomes-based governance that redefines how arts organizations, funders, and councils understand public value. Her thirty-year career spans journalism, state government, policymaking, and arts leadership, giving her a rare cross-sector perspective on how institutions make decisions.
She led a statewide coalition that secured $160.7 million in public funding for nonprofit arts organizations and is the architect of the Collaborative Arts Impact Initiative, a national first-of-its-kind pilot using validated outcomes measurement tools across 20 organizations.
Through Meleca Creative Advisors, Angela advises foundations, government agencies, boards, and arts organizations on impact, governance, and measurable public value.
Her work is shaping a new standard for how arts organizations demonstrate public value.
Take the Next Step
Apply the Return on Art Framework to Your Organization
If you want support aligning your outcomes, governance, and strategy with today’s expectations of public value, schedule a 1:1 conversation.
Leaders who adopt outcomes-based governance first will define the next decade of arts relevance. Begin that alignment here.