Key Takeaways from the Evaluation of Made By Us’ 2022 Civic Season

In 2022, Kera Collective partnered with Made By Us to evaluate the impact of its flagship program, Civic Season, in its second year running. Held annually between Juneteenth and July 4th, Civic Season “rolls out the welcome mat” for Young People—the future inheritors of the United States—by connecting them to 150+ museums, historic sites, and historical societies and putting history in their hands as a tool for informed, inspired civic participation. 

Our work, and Civic Season’s implementation, came at a time when the gap between Young People (age 18-30) and history organizations was huge. History organizations had struggled to build authentic relationships with Young People; likewise, Young People lacked understanding of history museums’ relevance to causes and issues they care about today.

Kera Collective designed a multi-method evaluation to understand the impact of Civic Season on Made By Us’ core audiences and gain insight into potential new audiences. This involved: 

• Standardized interviews with Young People who participated in Civic Season, to understand their motivations to participate in and experiences with Civic Season;

• In-depth interviews with representatives from Made By Us’ coalition of museums, historic sites, and historical societies, to understand the highs and lows of their experiences as Made By Us’ partners who helped bring Civic Season to life; and

• Exploratory interviews with Young People who did not participate in Civic Season, to understand what motivates their civic engagement, how they value history, and what about Civic Season does or does not appeal to them (and why). 

This document synthesizes the key takeaways across all methods. Made By Us is using these insights to shape and grow Civic Season, making incremental yet tactical, data-driven changes as they gear up for the program’s third year. We hope they are equally useful to museums and history organizations looking to connect and build relationships with Young People (age 18-30).