This request for proposal (RFP) invites either Canadian or international consulting firms (the Firm(s)) with expertise in qualitative impact research, measurement and reporting to submit proposals for how the Canada Council for the Arts (the Council) may retain their services as a trusted advisor for the Council's Research, Evaluation and Performance Measurement Section (REPM). This agreement will form part of a longer term standing offer whereby the Firm(s) will provide the appropriate resources necessary to advise the REPM section and conduct priority projects that align activities with Council's strategic commitments and allow the Council to report on the intrinsic impact of its investment in the arts within an `outcomes and results-oriented framework'.
The gathering and analysis of such data will contribute toward measuring the public perception/value of the arts re:
· artistic excellence and enjoyment of artistic practices;
· community: quality of relationship between artists and community;
· impact on society: emotional well-being and social impact.
Moreover, this large-scale research project offers the potential to investigate, through a series of related initiatives, three possible levels of measuring intrinsic impact:
· intrinsic impacts of the arts on an entire community;
· cumulative intrinsic impacts or the `value footprint' of an institution on its community;
· intrinsic impacts of a single experience (performance, exhibition, reading) on an individual.
