Museum Social Impact in Practice

The application to join the nationwide cohort of museums for Museum Social Impact in Practice (MSIIP) is now closed. For questions about the initiative or to learn more about museum social impact at AAM, please contact socialimpact@aam-us.org.

Overview

Museum Social Impact in Practice (MSIIP) is a three-year initiative led by the American Alliance of Museums and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services that provides technical assistance to museum professionals seeking to measure their museums’ social impact. MSIIP builds on eight years of experience in groundbreaking museum social impact measurement through the Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) project, which concluded in 2023. With leadership from the Utah Division of Arts & Museums (UA&M) and Thanksgiving Point, MOMSI addressed the critical need of establishing best practices for measuring social impact within the museum field, advancing museum practice by measuring the social impact museums have on visitors, and developing a tool for museums to better understand their social impact on individuals and communities. The result was a museum social impact toolkit which provides museums of all sizes and types with the opportunity to measure their own social impact.

Through MSIIP, AAM seeks to accomplish the following:

• Refine systematic ways to measure museum social impact through further editing the museum social impact toolkit produced in 2023
• Assist museums in the building the skills and capacity needed to measure and use social impact data through quality professional development and training opportunities from leaders in the field
• Encourage shared knowledge by creating a community of practice on measuring museum social impact
• Create resources for museums to use social impact data in advocacy efforts

The project will recruit thirty participant museums, provide training for using the validated museum social impact toolkit, host focus groups and meetings, and develop formative and summative evaluations. As a result, participant museums will be better able to measure their own social impact, connect with their peers in the field conducting similar work, and advocate for their organizations based on their findings.

The challenge MSIIP addresses is threefold: 1.) standardizing the way museums measure social impact and their ability to do so successfully using a well-researched and evaluated toolkit; 2.) increasing museum staff capacity to do this work; and 3.) increasing museum professionals’ skills in using social impact data to advocate for museums.

Benefits of Participation in MSIIP

Over the course of Museum Social Impact in Practice, participating museums will:

• Participate in trainings and receive materials that will enhance their ability to measure their museum’s social impact
• Benefit from the collective experiences of a national cohort of other museums simultaneously engaged in their own social impact studies and participate in a virtual museum social impact Community of Practice
• Play a pivotal role informing the production of a revised museum social impact toolkit

Who Should Apply?

Museums of all types (from art to zoos) and sizes in the U.S. are encouraged to apply. A diverse group of institutions will be selected from the applicant pool for the MSIIP cohort. In evaluating applications to ensure a diverse cohort, AAM will consider various information, including location, content focus area, staff and budget size, and annual visitation rates.

MSIIP is ideal for museums that:

• Are of all sizes, types, and geographic locations in the United States. We especially encourage applications from small museums.
• Can commit to doing the following:
  • Conduct their own one-year museum social impact study, guided by the museum social impact toolkit developed through MOMSI
  • Recruit at least 125 participants, and track their visits over a six-month period
  • Allow participants to visit the museum three times free of charge
  • Distribute a social impact survey to all participants (included in the toolkit) and collect and analyze museum social impact data
  • Participate in virtual Community of Practice meetings every one to two months – the CoP will be comprised of other museums conducting their respective studies over the same time period
  • Participate in a formative evaluation process with an external evaluator (after host museum training and 12 months after launching the social impact study) and a summative evaluation in Year 3 of the initiative
• Believe that a commitment to social and community impact is central to the effectiveness and sustainability of museums (see the “Social and Community Impact” pillar in the most recent AAM Strategic Framework)
• Are seeking guidance for and are committed to doing the internal and external work necessary to independently implement the steps included in the museum social impact toolkit, including recruiting participants, retaining them, tracking their visits, collecting, and analyzing data
• Have an interest in broadening their network of peer-to-peer museum colleagues for shared learning and support around museum social impact

Application

The application is now closed.

Museums will be notified if they have been selected to participate by September 15, 2024; the program begins for selected museums in the Fall of 2024.

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This project is made possible by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, award number MG-252969-OMS-23.