The Cultural Data Project, the respected national resource for in-depth data about nonprofit arts, culture, and humanities organizations, announced today that it will change its name to DataArts, effective January 2016. The new name and brand identity will signal the launch of a significantly upgraded version of its technology and Data Profile survey, a new national website, and enhanced services to advance data-informed management practices for the cultural sector. The new brand structure is intended to clarify the distinction between DataArts, as a national service organization, and the Cultural Data Profile (CDP), which is its principal and proprietary service offering. In addition to managing the CDP, DataArts offers a range of research and educational resources and provides a central technology platform that consolidates a range of data collection and aggregation initiatives across the sector.

DataArts is a web-based data collection and business intelligence platform, which is the result of field-wide collaboration among cultural nonprofits, public and private grantmakers, researchers, and advocates. Its flagship service is the CDP, a standardized online survey completed annually by approximately 10,000 cultural organizations as a common component of grant applications to hundreds of participating grant programs nationwide. With more than 40,000 data profiles submitted in the last decade, DataArts is the gold standard source for reliable, longitudinal data that tells a richly detailed story of the assets and finances, and activities of America’s cultural nonprofits.

“DataArts is the place where data, the arts, and the business of culture meet. Our name reflects the emergence of a new field of practice and set of resources for data-savvy cultural leadership in the twenty-first century,” said Beth Tuttle, President and CEO. “The transition from the Cultural Data Project to DataArts also marks an evolution in our service offerings, an increased focus on serving the needs of arts and cultural professionals, and an expanded vision to fuel a data-empowered cultural sector.”

Beginning in the first quarter of 2016, DataArts will offer an upgraded version of the CDP that features enhanced benefits for nonprofit cultural leaders, including:

• An intuitive and user-friendly technology experience that streamlines the grant application process and a Data Profile survey that will be custom tailored to match the scale, financial complexity, and range of activities undertaken by diverse arts and cultural organizations;

• The ability for cultural nonprofits to identify potential new funding opportunities and submit standardized financial and programmatic information to hundreds of grant programs by completing an online form once a year; 

• Equitable access for organizations, regardless of their size or type, to business and management insights through analytic reports that visualize financial trends over time and compare key organizational measures and performance against peer groups; and

• Free opportunities to develop new knowledge and skills through training, educational resources, and tools designed to stimulate more informed decisions and more effective case-making for better outcomes. 

Glen Howard, CDP Board Chair said, “DataArts gathers information in one easy-to-use place and puts it to work in ways that contribute not only to more financially stable and vibrant cultural nonprofits, but also more persuasive ways to communicate the contributions and make the case for the value of arts and culture.”

“DataArts’s work to strengthen cultural organizations and strategic philanthropy has a ripple effect on our local communities and the nation as a whole: when a rich array of nonprofit theaters, dance troupes, galleries, literary organizations, and music ensembles thrive, we all benefit from the cultural vitality they produce,” added Mario Garcia Durham, President and CEO of the Association of Performing Arts Presenters and CDP Board member.

DataArts’s predecessor organization, the Cultural Data Project, was launched in Pennsylvania in 2004 and operated for nearly a decade as a project of The Pew Charitable Trusts. The CDP’s transition to a national independent 501(c)(3) organization occurred in April 2013, and was generously supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, the Kresge Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Download the full press release.