Arts Advocacy 101: How to do it, why it matters

by Sally Gaskill

What is advocacy? It’s simply the act of presenting information and persuading others to support a cause. Lobbying is a specialized kind of advocacy that refers to the attempt to influence specific legislation through communication with a legislator or a legislative staff member.

Both lobbying and advocacy are perfectly legal for nonprofit organizations. (Though it’s a good bet that the lawyer on your board of directors will caution against them.) In the unlikely event that your organization spends significant dollars on lobbying, you can file a simple form with the IRS and take the 501(h) exemption; this allows you to spend up to 20% of the first $500,000 of your total annual operating budget. (Sometimes nonprofits confuse advocacy and lobbying with working on political campaigns. A 501(c)(3) must never endorse a candidate or spend money on political campaigns.)

Why advocate? Because it makes a difference. Our federal, state and city budgets are tight. Many worthy causes compete for public dollars. Our job as arts advocates is to communicate with our elected officials about how the arts provide a public benefit and are an important investment into the state’s economy.

All of us who work in the arts in Indiana are natural arts advocates. Our organizations provide a public service that improves the fabric of our communities. The arts enhance the quality of life for all Hoosiers; the arts promote excellence, access and diversity; the arts enhance our communities and our economy; the arts help children learn. We inherently know these things.

And yet- we are not effectively communicating the public benefit of the arts to our legislators. A recent national study conducted by the National Conference of State Legislators and the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies revealed that state legislators do not consider the arts to be a top policy priority. Why? Because arts advocates are not making the connection between the arts and other public policy issues, such as education and the economy.

Here are some basic tools to help you move from passive to active advocacy for the arts in our state.

Know your lawmakers. Can you name the following people?

• Your State Representative
• Your State Senator
• Your U.S. Representative
• Your two U.S. Senators (I’ll help with this one: Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh)
• Other important lawmakers include your mayor, city council members, school board members, and other local officials.

The Internet makes it easy to find the names and contact information for all your elected officials. Go here to find them now.

Communicate with your lawmakers and turn them into arts advocates. Your elected officials want to hear from you, and to feel that they are partners with you in building community. Legislators are generally people who genuinely enjoy getting to know their constituents (and it’s in their best interest to do so). Welcome the newly-elected. Add your elected officials to your organization’s mailing list and personally invite them to events. Effective advocates build good personal relationships with their lawmakers.

What’s the best way to communicate?

• Email (your email will be noticed, but not necessarily answered)
• Phone (you can call your state legislators either at the Statehouse or at home)
• Letter (on your organization’s or personal letterhead)
• Personal visit (recommended at the Statehouse during the legislative session)

Know your message. Arts advocates are most effective when they work together to communicate a clear message. For specific state or federal arts issues, you can depend on the Indiana Coalition for the Arts to craft an effective message with its professional lobbyists in Indianapolis and Washington, DC.

Enhance your organization’s advocacy skills. Include advocacy in the job description of every board member. Establish an advocacy committee of the board. Put advocacy on the agenda at every staff and board meeting. Prepare board and staff members to talk about the public benefit of your programs.

Make every event an advocacy event. Invite a legislator to speak at your event. Publicly acknowledge any elected officials that attend your event. Ask your constituents – audience members and others – to thank their legislators for supporting the arts.

Your primary resources for arts advocacy are Americans for the Arts and the Indiana Coalition for the Arts . Americans for the Arts is the leading national arts advocacy organization; it employs a team of professional lobbyists who direct arts policy in collaboration with other national arts service organizations (such as the American Symphony Orchestra League and the American Association of Museums) and with a national team of “State Arts Action Captains” who represent state arts advocacy organizations, such as the Indiana Coalition for the Arts.

You can register to receive Arts Action Alerts from Americans for the Arts here. Every time there is a piece of arts-related federal legislation that needs input from constituents to their national elected officials, you will be contacted by email. It takes only two minutes to send a personalized message to your elected officials!

The Indiana Coalition for the Arts (Inca), a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, has advocated for the arts in Indiana since 1980. It partners with the Indiana Coalition for the Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) that provides educational services and programs to artists and arts providers throughout the state. The Coalition retains a professional lobbyist in Indianapolis to represent the concerns of the arts industry in the Indiana Statehouse. The Coalition is managed by a volunteer board of directors and exists on membership dollars from arts advocates around the state. If you believe in public support for the arts in Indiana, you are encouraged to support the work of the Coalition by becoming a member. You can sign up to receive periodic Action Alerts, learn about arts issues in our state, find out about Arts Day, and much more at http://www.inartscoalition.org/.

Each year, the Inca coordinates Arts Day at the Statehouse, an event designed to bring arts advocates to Indianapolis to communicate with their state legislators. Make 2007 your year to participate! This year, Arts Day is Thursday, March 1st.

Finally: when is the best time to start your advocacy work? Today, of course. Every person makes a difference. You can start small, or think big and pledge to make advocacy a part of your everyday life. Advocacy is truly democracy in action, and I encourage you to dive in.

Sally Gaskill of Bloomington serves as Chair of Public Policy for the Indiana Coalition for the Arts, and as Indiana State Captain for Arts Action for Americans for the Arts. Contact her for more information and resources at sgaskill@insightbb.com

Edited by Robyn Kelly, Web Publications Manager: rkelly@iac.in.gov.
The IAC, a public catalyst, partner, and investor in the arts, serves the citizens of Indiana by funding, promoting, and expanding the arts. Funding is provided by the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts.