Measurement of Museum Social Impact: Results from the National Study and Implications for the Museum Field

When museums talk about impacts, they often refer to the educational, economic, and social dimensions of impact. Of the three, social impact is perhaps the most difficult and elusive to measure with data-based evidence. At this pivotal time in history, advocating for museums, their staff, their collections, and their programs is more important than ever. To do that successfully, though, we cannot simply say museums have a social impact based on our gut instinct and intuition. We need to measure and demonstrate with data the impact museums have on visitors and their communities. The Measurement of Museum Social Impact (MOMSI) study filled that need.

With funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), MOMSI met three primary goals. First, validate a museum social impact survey. Second, measure museum social impact nationally. The study captured social impact data at 38 museums across the United States. Third, develop and publish a museum social impact toolkit. This toolkit is free for download for museums to use to measure social impact on their own. This report outlines the study's methods, shares findings from the 38 participating museums, addresses limitations, and shares implications for museums measuring social impact.