Cultural organizations operate in an increasingly more complex and changing marketplace. MMC believes that staying competitive means understanding the needs and perspectives of different audiences, both actual and potential.

MMC has extensive experience in conducting audience studies and in-depth evaluations. Through visitor and marketplace research, and program and exhibition evaluation, MMC helps cultural institutions meet their audiences' demands without compromising standards of quality.

Visitor and Marketplace Research

The best way to evaluate the needs of your community and their understanding of your organization is through audience research with people who are, or could be, your visitors and members. Questions related to community participation in competing leisure time activities, public perceptions of your organization, impact of your public relations and communications efforts, and barriers to visitation can be answered by using research methods such as focus groups, visitor surveys, intercept interviews, and telephone or on-line surveys. MMC analyzes the findings and recommends best practices for building target audiences.

MMC often undertakes visitor and marketplace research projects in conjunction with the development of Strategic Plans, Visitor Experience Plans, and Marketing Plans.

Program and Exhibition Evaluation

Evaluation enables you to measure the impact of your organization's visitor experience, including exhibitions, performances, education programs, and other services. For example, you may want to undertake an evaluation of an exhibition or performance while it is being developed to ensure that the content and delivery methods will appeal to and be understood by a variety of audiences. As another example, you may be interested in evaluating the impact of your school programs, including their relevance to teachers' in-class instruction and your state's curriculum standards. Findings from these types of evaluations will not only help you to improve your offerings, but will also provide evidence of program impact that can be used when seeking funding from potential donors.

When MMC conducts an evaluation, we work closely with you to clarify your information needs and evaluation objectives. We use qualitative and quantitative research methods to gather information. We analyze this data and examine the implications for your organization.

MMC strives to leave every client with an improved capacity to continue evaluating programs on an ongoing basis. To this end, we provide you with evaluation data collection instruments and procedural guidelines that your staff can use to supplement MMC evaluation findings.

Selected Project Examples

• The James Irvine Foundation
  San Francisco, CA
  
• The Wallace Foundation
  New York, CA
  
• Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive
  Berkeley, CA
  
• New York Economic Development Corporation
  Staten Island, NY
  
• Bay Area Research Project
  San Francisco, CA
  
• Museum of Contemporary Art
  Chicago, IL
  
• California Exhibition Resource Alliance
  San Francisco, CA
  
• Museum Loan Network
  Cambridge, MA