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2022

2022 End of Year Reflections

For ABA’s last arts executive poll of 2022, we wanted to thank our Spotlight subscribers for celebrating another year with us. We wrapped up this year with a fun survey to learn about everyone's best moments of the year and how everyone plans to celebrate the holiday season.

Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on their most positive activities of the year, best moments to look back on, favorite shows/exhibitions, and holiday traditions.

Compensation and Talent

As the end of the year draws near, we want to understand how arts organizations have fared in terms of their overall staff retention and hiring practices over the last 12 months, as well as perceptions around talent, compensation policies, and workplace culture. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on overall impressions of the hiring landscape, staff composition, shifts in talent qualifications and requirements, and any new processes implemented to improve work environment and pay.

Fundraising Tactics and Corporate Giving

As we near the end of the calendar year, we want to take a moment to look back on past ABA executive leader polls to assess the realities of fundraising projections notably around corporate giving, and learn about new tactics and investments in development overall. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on their current progress made in achieving annual fundraising projections, communication platforms most helpful to fundraising efforts, and the overall state of and changes made to corporate partnership strategy.

Digital Investments

As most arts and cultural organizations have resumed their full in-person services, the place of digital productions and overall digital investments remains unclear. Are organizations maintaining the capabilities and activities they developed during closure, or are they shifting resources away from those efforts? Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on how they are reimagining the place of digital in their day-to-day operations, and the types of digital activities they are discontinuing or maintaining from closure.

Capital, Endowments, and Budgets

With the looming threat of a recession and rising inflation rates around the world, discussion around securing capitalization has increased amongst arts organizations who are keen to stabilize their financial sustainability. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on the current state of their organizational budgets, endowments, and cash reserves so we can better understand the financial state of the union worldwide.

Audience Diversification

Audience diversification remains a crucial strategic goal for arts organizations as they continue to grapple with questions of attendance, relevance, and long-term sustainability. However, there are a number of tactics arts organizations can implement to try to appeal to broader audiences, and a range of different audience segments one could prioritize. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on the current state of audience diversification efforts, the groups they are targeting in the more immediate future, and the types of change they have implemented along with results achieved so far.

Attendance Rates and Ticket Sales

With articles from Artnet (July 2022) and The New York Times (August 2022) revealing a continued decline in attendance relative to pre-pandemic levels at US arts and cultural institutions, we want to learn about the state of attendance and subscriptions worldwide. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on overall attendance rates, single ticket and membership/subscription sales, direct mail campaign, and ongoing COVID-19 protocols that may be impacting returning audiences.

DEI&A in the Workplace

From the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on underrepresented populations to social movements calling for change in organizations across the world, it is critical to understand how arts organizations are engaging in DEI&A policies internally. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on peers on concrete changes made within the workplace.

Fundraising Trends & Major Gifts

After two years of disruptions with the global health crisis and the current impending recession, it is of critical importance to understand the landscape of fundraising efforts. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on expectations for future fundraising trends, giving challenges organizations are preparing for, and patterns in how individual donors are moving up to larger gifts.

Benchmarks on Technology Platforms

In the wake of the recent Ransomware attack on the digital marketing tool WordFly, decisions around technology have never been more important for the secure running of arts and cultural organizations. Our latest Arts Leader Survey asked arts leaders to benchmark themselves on the different platforms they use across different activities, recent changes in vendors, and the features they are most satisfied with when evaluating CRM platforms.