Arts & Economic Prosperity Study

AEP6 Surveying Opportunities

The Arts & Economic Prosperity Study is conducted by Americans for the Arts (AFTA), and documents in unprecedented scope and detail the key role played by the nonprofit arts industry in strengthening local and statewide economies.

There are two areas that are studied:

  1. the economic impact of spending by eligible arts and cultural organizations, via surveying those organizations

  2. the economic impact of event-related spending by audiences, via audience-intercept surveys at arts and culture events

The data provided will enable AFTA to measure in a reliable and affordable manner the economic impact of the City of Oceanside’s nonprofit arts and cultural industry in terms of four key areas of the economy:

  1. Full-time-equivalent jobs supported within the City of Oceanside

  2. Personal income paid to residents of the City of Oceanside

  3. Revenue generated for local governments in the City of Oceanside

  4. Revenue generated for the state government

Originally AEP6 was scheduled to start January 1, 2021, but it has been delayed until May 1, 2022. The resultant report will be available at the end of 2023.

We will be receiving the following from AFTA:

  1. an Economic Impact study for the City of Oceanside

  2. an Economic Impact study for the Oceanside Cultural District

  3. an online Customized Economic Impact Calculator for any arts and culture organization to use to estimate their economic impact based on the 2022-23 study data.

One: List of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations

This effort is currently underway, by the Arts Commission and a volunteer and is due to AFTA on April 30, 2023.

Current count is approximately 100 organizations and venues, including over three dozen festivals each year.

Two: Surveys

We will need to conduct audience-intercept surveys at arts and culture events representative of the broad scope of performance, events, and exhibits that take place in Oceanside.

The audience-intercept survey asks questions about ancillary spending related to their attendance, such as when they eat a meal before the show, or pay for parking, or spend the night in a hotel.

Number of Surveys

  • Over the course of the year, a total of 800 surveys shall be collected at a min of 16 events, with minimum of 200 in the Cultural District.

  • Target of 50 surveys per event.

  • We will turn in surveys quarterly, so 6 events per quarter, at least 2 of which are in the Cultural District.

Survey Specifics

  • Surveys shall be collected from attendees at different types of events, and from different venues, specifically at non profit organizations and festivals.

  • Surveys may be filled out either on paper or on a tablet (pending approval of device) and will be filled out on site of the event, facilitated by an interviewer. One person (over 18 years of age) per party per event can fill out the survey.

  • The survey will take not more than 3 minutes to complete.

  • Having a “thank you” gift of a pen or sticker sometimes helps encourage people to take the survey.

Resources Required

  • Calendar of events - we have already made significant headway in this effort

  • 2-4 interviewers per event, plus clipboard and/or tablets.

Three: Regional Effort

We are sharing information and planning with with other entities in San Diego county, and as such have brought down the study fee by over half.

Currently signed up for individual reports - Name (% of county population)

  1. County of San Diego

  2. Oceanside (5.3%) and Oceanside Cultural District

  3. City of San Diego (43.2%) and Balboa Park Cultural District

  4. Chula Vista (8.3%)

  5. Escondido (4.6%)

  6. Carlsbad (3.5%)

  7. Encinitas (2%)

  8. National City (1.9%)

Resources mobilized to gather data for:

  1. Coronado (0.7%)

  2. Poway (1.5%)

Sample previous summery report for the City of San Diego