Advocacy is derived from commitment, passion, and conviction. If you are committed to your institution, if you are passionate about your mission, and if you are convinced the work you do has value, it is up to you to share that with your supporters, your community, and your legislators. Plain and simple, advocacy is building relationships through pursuing and communicating your mission.
____________________________________________________________
Join Our Letter Writing Campaign
Launch date 2/25/10
Please help the Pennsylvania Federation of Museums and Historical Organizations and the Pennsylvania Coalition of Independent Museums stand up for museums, historical societies, and historical sites. Our advocacy efforts need to step up. You need to step up. As the 2010-2011 State Budget is forged this spring, we must communicate clear and informative messages to our elected officials. We urge you to write a letter to your local newspaper. Please read their guidelines for such letters carefully and adhere to them to guarantee your letter will be printed.
This letter-writing campaign is a starting point. We will ask you to write to your elected officials. We will ask you to meet with them or their staff face to face. We will ask you to join us in Harrisburg for an Advocacy Day at the Capitol. Right now, the thing to do is raise awareness of the issue of public funding for history and culture in the Commonwealth.
Please find a sample letter below. You may use this as a framework for your own ideas that may ring true in your own community.
Here are a few principles to keep in mind in your efforts:
• This is a non-partisan effort. Demonizing elected officials, candidates, or political parties is not in the constructive interest of the common good. Keep it simple. Keep it positive.
• Use figures and facts you can support to educate people about your museum, historical society, site, or programs.
• Public opinion and local press are important to elected officials. They need to hear from us, and your voice is important. You have something to say.
The positive talking points we would like to communicate concern our:
1. Educational value
2. Economic impact
3. Cultural importance
Thank you for joining us in this effort. Working together, we will improve the public funding climate in Pennsylvania for museums, historical work, and the preservation of our cultural resources.
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Editor:
The Pennsylvania Budget for 2009-2010 reduced public funding to museums, historical societies, and historical sites. The state-managed system of museums and sites, the PHMC, has been decimated, and its grants programs to support private non profit museums and sites were deeply cut. The process of creating a budget for 2010-2011 has already begun with the presentation of the Executive Budget and the start up of Appropriations hearings at the state capitol. The PHMC and the museum community have not been invited to testify this year. It is important to every Pennsylvanian that what happened last year does not happen again. This trend needs to be reversed no matter how bleak the budget picture appears in light of the economy or the political climate.
Every citizen of the Commonwealth benefits from museums and cultural assets in our communities. These places are machines for tourism and for the economic home front. Tourism has been a growing source of money for all of us; every tourist that rolls through our towns and cities spends money on parking, lodging, or restaurants and pays state sales tax. They come here for a reason. It is because we have such a rich and robust historical community. Will they still come if there’s nothing to see? Most museums are non profit, educational organizations (501 c3’s), and while the employees likely aren’t getting rich from working there, they are among our best and brightest. They spend their money in their communities supporting families. Losing these people and losing what they know and give back must not happen.
Pennsylvania’s long-standing commitment to education and national leadership in the field did not just grow here in our fields. It is a resource that has been painstakingly maintained. Museums are a part of the education of our school aged children, part of the scholarship of our university and college students, and a deep source for history professionals in the state. Informal learning has taken a back seat lately. Schools are required to work within standards. Schools have less money for field trips and gas costs more these days. Yet there, within the walls of the museum or historical society, there are the objects and records of the past that make other learning possible and inspire the next generation. (This may be a good place to add your school visit information if it is impressive)
The holdings of our museums and historical community, in both public and private museums, are the very essence of what it is to be an American. The value of these objects is significant to the world view of democracy and its institutions. (If you have such an object, perhaps mention it) We cannot allow short sighted and short changed management of these resources to continue. In the grand scheme of the Pennsylvania budget, museums do not demand funding on a grand scale; they demand sensible, fair funding levels to maintain the excellent level of work in the field in this state.
You can assist in efforts to raise awareness of the historical and cultural communities in the Commonwealth by writing your legislators and letting them know that you care about your history and do not wish to lose it. Ask your legislators’ help in restoring funding for museum assistance for 2010-2011 and going forward.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Organization
Contact Info. if applicable
Pennsylvania Resources
Find your legislator here by zip code.
2010 Appropriations Committee.
Governor Rendell's proposed 2010-2011 budget.
Making Law in Pennsylvania (PDF 3.83 Mb), a guide to the legislative process in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.
AAM Museums Advocacy Day
Museums Advocacy Day, March 22-23, 2010
Washington, DC
Build on the success of Museums Advocacy Day 2009. Join with fellow museum supporters for a day of advocacy training followed by a day of meetings on Capitol Hill.
For more information, visit www.speakupformuseums.org
Federal Resources
Find your US congressperson here by zip code.
Find your US senators' contact information here.
Advice From the American Association of Museums
Rules for Nonprofit Lobbying
Advocacy Matters
Getting to Know Your Legislators
Communicating with Your Legislators
Ten Rules of Engagement
How to Make Your Case
Museum Advocacy in an Election Year
Communicating with Congress, Recommendations on the deocratic dialogue from the Congressional Management Foundation. (PDF 3.50 Mb)
Lobbying Information
Nonprofits and Lobbying - Yes They Can!
Electing the 501(h) Expenditure Test
