Projects

smARTscope™ Program

Through the generous funding of the Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Cultural Alliance and the Arts & Business Council of Chicago are working together to provide the smARTscope™ program to the CCA core members. The Arts & Business Council of Chicago originally developed smARTscope™ as a business analysis instrument for small museums and arts organizations. The goal of the program is to create a balanced and strong organization by strengthening seven key managerial areas:

1. Concept development and planning
2. Staffing and organizational structure
3. Board governance
4. Constituency development and marketing
5. Facilities
6. Income generation
7. Financial management

The initial phase of smARTscope™ is a self-assessment survey that captures board, staff, and volunteer perceptions of each organizations current phase of development and measures their management capacity and performance. The CCA has worked closely with representatives of our core members and the Arts & Business Council of Chicago to modify the survey tool so that it speaks directly to our members’ needs, missions, and programs.

Following the successful administration of the survey, core member organizations will work closely with a consultant from the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and CCA staff to address the survey’s results. Through these sessions, core members use the survey’s results and past challenges and successes to discuss strategies for strengthening their management capacity and resource base. Through the discovery of key challenges experienced by our core members, the CCA will develop programs and strategies to support them.

With the generous funding of the Joyce Foundation, we are able to provide this programming free of charge to CCA core members. The average cost for smARTscope is $5,000. The CCA is pleased to offer smARTscope™ as our first initiative and through this process, we hope to identify other areas and programs that we can assist our core members and their constituents.