AEP Arts Survey Banner

The arts bring us inspiration and joy, and make our community a beautiful place to live and work. But the arts do so much more.

We are excited to partner with Americans for the Arts to announce the launch of Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6), the sixth national study of the economic impact of the nonprofit arts and culture industry.

While the arts have the potential to impact many aspects of our community, the truth is they also have a power all on their own. The arts are an open invitation to engage in our history, our heritage, our politics, the way we learn—in short, the arts are part of our daily lives, and play a role in all aspects of the human experience. Economic impact studies such as these will expand the conversation about how many people view the arts. While most appreciate the cultural benefit provided to our community, few realize that our local arts industry supports jobs, generates government revenue, and is a cornerstone of tourism.

At the national level, AEP5 showed that the nonprofit arts industry generated $166.3 billion in economic activity, supporting 4.6 million jobs and generating $27.5 billion in government revenue. Locally, our arts industry generated $149.9 million in annual economic activity in the Delaware – supporting 4,062 full-time equivalent jobs and generating $10.45 million in local and state government revenues.

Our local nonprofit arts and culture organizations have been and will continue to be critical to our economic recovery. We need your help to collect this data for AEP6. While part of a national study, our reports will be based on spending by our own local nonprofit arts and culture organizations as well as the event-related spending by their audiences (at local retail, parking, and restaurant establishments). The results of this research will be used to understand the conditions of the nonprofit arts sector, for lawmakers to best understand the importance of the arts, for nonprofit leadership to better know the outcomes of their missions, and for arts advocates to best tell the story of the importance of the arts.

Below is information on the current study. We are asking local arts and culture nonprofit organizations to complete 40 exit surveys each over the course of the year, from September 2022 to April 2023. Please contact Andy Truscott at Andrew.Truscott@delaware.gov or 302-577-8280 to book a private training.

New to AEP data collection? View the training slideshow here.

View Delaware’s AEP5 Results

To view Delaware’s AEP5 Survey Results, please click the button below

AEP5 Survey Results

The goal is to collect surveys from attendees to a diverse, inclusive, and representative sample of the arts and cultural activities that take place in the State of Delaware during the 9‐month period from September 2022 through April 2023.

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES ARE CRITICAL: Think about the broad universe of cultural events that take place in your community throughout the course of 9 months—and try to collect a sample of audience surveys that is representative of the State of Delaware’s total annual attendance.

You can find our comprehensive drive of downloads by clicking here.

If you desire a different format or size of the assets below, please contact Andy Truscott at Andrew.Truscott@delaware.gov.  We’d be happy to customize something for your organization.

Americans for the Arts and the Division are committed to addressing equity and inclusion as a critical component of the AEP6 study by centering and representing arts and culture organizations that primarily serve communities of color—a segment of the sector that has been underrepresented in past studies. The AEP6 study includes the requirement that our partners must collect a portion of the audience‐intercept surveys from attendees at events hosted by arts and culture organizations that primarily serve communities of color.

REQUIRED CRITERIA: During the 9‐month data collection period, at least 25% of the total audience survey quota for the State of Delaware (200 out of 800) must be collected from attendees to activities hosted by organizations for which both of the following statements are true (i.e., organizations that meet both criteria listed below):

  1. The organization has a mission statement (or guiding principles) that is centered in advancing, creating, and/or preserving artistic and cultural traditions rooted in communities of color.
  2. More than 50% of the organization’s audiences/attendees identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) or ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American).

Click here to download Organization Data Collection Assets

Should you organization not meet the previous criteria for BIPOC serving organizations, we ask that you use these specific assets for your data collection.

Click here to download Organization Data Collection Assets

Who can take this survey?

Any arts patron, over the age of 18, can take the survey when attending an arts and culture event in Delaware.  As per the guidelines from Americans for the Arts, only one person should complete the survey per household.  However, if a group enters and they reside in separate households, all four can complete the survey.

When should they take the survey?

We encourage all patrons to take the survey ON SITE.  However, we acknowledge that some patrons may not know the total financial impact of their trip until the return to their homes.  We encourage you to provide the program inserts with QR code as a way to patrons to take the survey when they return to their homes.

How can I encourage patrons to take the survey?

We encourage you to message about AEP6 in advance of your event, letting your audiences know that they’ll be intercepted at the event by a volunteer or receive a handout with a QR code. If there is an opportunity to speak at your event, we encourage you to mention the survey and request that the attendees complete the survey.  A draft curtain speech is included in the assets above.

Where should I return paper surveys once completed?

We ask that you group them together throughout the duration of your event and mail (or drop them off) to the Division’s office at:

Delaware Division of the Arts, 820 North French Street, 4th Floor, Wilmington, DE 19801 c/o Andy Truscott

Are the results really confidential?

Yes, neither Americans for the Arts or the Delaware Division of the Arts are able to identify the originator of the survey answers.  Audiences should feel certain that they can provide information anonymously and that their information is treated confidentially.  No personal identifiers are collected during data gathering (such as name, address, SSN, or phone numbers).

What if the person already took the survey? Can they/should they take it again?

Only one survey can be collected per household, per activity.  However, the same person might complete the survey multiple times over the 9-month data collection period.  Each time they attend a cultural activity, it is a unique “transaction” Even though a subscriber or museum member may be in the audience for every show, they are a unique audience member each time, for each separate transaction.

I need a survey in another language.  Is there a link to download other versions?

Yes! You can download paper versions of the survey in a number of different languages by clicking here.

What if a person doesn’t fully complete the survey, leaves certain questions blank, or does not agree with answering some of the questions on the survey?

That is perfectly fine.  Even if the survey is only partially completed, send it to the Division so that we can review and submit the data provided.