Impact of Grants in Theatre: 2005-2006 to 2014-2015

A Study of the Impact of Grants that IFA made to Theatre in a decade
2005-2006 to 2014-2015

At IFA we now make about 40 to 50 grants every year across our programmes. While we cherish and promote the outcomes of these grants and understand their specific contributions to the field, given their diverse and widespread nature it becomes almost impossible to imagine what they together might have done for the world. The question of ‘impact’ is important to us not just because every potential donors ask us to define it, but an understanding of it helps us strategise better and rejuvenate our commitment to the sector.

On advice from the Board, in May 2019, the IFA team embarked on a process to undertake a study to grasp the impact of our grants. We decided to consider the 62 theatre-related grants made across programmes between the years 2005-06 and 2014-15. Theatre, being a form that has a much wider reach relative to other forms, we felt that its cumulative impact would make for a substantial study.

The study followed a two-pronged approach. In the first phase, IFA staff prepared an information map for all the 62 grants based on these six parameters which looked at the project's impact on the grantee, the immediate context, and on the larger field, as well as its social, political, cultural or economic influence, reach and recognition. For this, the team consulted the grantees, their reports and deliverables, internal documentation, and in some cases, reports by external evaluators. We also consulted erstwhile staff who managed the projects, and undertook online search for any reviews/articles that would shine light on the life/ afterlife of the grants.

This map was then shared with theatre maker Neel Chaudhuri who was commissioned to prepare the Grant Impact Study Report. This report titled Interior and Landscape, dated April 2021, authored by Neel, is an outcome of this elaborate two-year long process.