2009-2010 Arts Action Toolkit
Five arts advocacy actions you can take right now!
Toolkit Resources
2009-2010 Legislator Information
We live in interesting times. There are many challenges facing all of us personally and professionally - but there are also some very exciting and positive developments related to the arts and arts education locally and globally.
It’s in your best interest to be an advocate and speak up for the arts, because your involvement will mean more attention, and ultimately, more resources (i.e., more money and visibility) for your work and your community. Now is absolutely the best time to reach out and let your legislator or legislator-elect know who you are and what issues you care about. It’s a great time to let lawmakers and decision - makers know that you want to be a resource and a partner.
If you are the executive director of a nonprofit organization, legislative advocacy should be as much a part of your repertoire as fundraising or public relations. If you are a board member or volunteer for a nonprofit organization, you shold be promoting your "cause" as much as possible. If you are a small business owner, you know how government action can affect your ability to stay afloat.
Whatever your vocation, it is good business to develop collaborative relationships with people who are making decisions about the future of your community.
Give all your legislators, whether or not you agree with their politics and points of view, the benefit of believing they got into politics for the right reasons. Believe that each lawmaker’s primary goal is to wisely balance conflicting priorities and do their absolute best for constituents. Believe that you play an important role in their ability to be successful.
Use Arts Wisconsin's Arts Action Toolkit to learn about the issues, trends and opportunities, as you speak up for the arts and culture in your community. You're doing this so that decision- and policy-makers understand the power of the arts to transform communities!
Here are five things YOU CAN AND SHOULD DO right now to educate elected officials about the importance of the arts in your community:
1. Keep learning as much as possible about your local, state and federal elected officials, through your local media, the State Legislative website The Wheeler Report, and WisPolitics.com.
2. Make sure your legislators are on your email and snail mail lists so they receive information about your work and your organization.
3. Build and sustain a relationship with your representatives. Let the legislators know that you are a resource for arts information for them.
4. Send a letter - schedule a meeting - connect with your legislators so they know what issues you care about.
When you meet with your legislators, focus on the economic, educational and civic importance of the arts to the legislators’ districts, and to If you have received funding from any state agency for an arts program, make sure to mention the importance of investment in the arts and arts education. This applies to any funding you receive on the local level, too. Click here for contact information for the State Senate and State Assembly.
5. Write a letter to the editor or op-ed piece about the impact of the arts in your community, using the talking points provided by Arts Wisconsin to add to your local information. Our national partner, Americans for the Arts, provides a "customizable" Letter to the Editor to send to your local media.
Click here for lots more action strategies!
Toolkit resources
General information
• New
Economy Funding Initiative
• Grow Wisconsin Creatively – why Wisconsin should care about
and invest in its arts and cultural resources (coming soon)
• Talking points: making the case for
the arts
• Opportunities and challenges for the arts in Wisconsin (coming
soon)
Research and information
• State of the Arts in Wisconsin
• Arts
and Economic Prosperity III - the economic impact of Wisconsin's
nonprofit arts industry (2007)
• Wisconsin’s 2009
Creative Industries -- arts-related businesses and jobs in Wisconsin,
by Congressional and all 132 legislative districts
• FY 2008 Legislative
Appropriations for the Arts (from National Assembly of State Arts
Agencies)
How to be an advocate
• Advocacy Basics
• Dos and Don’ts of Advocacy
• Political Dos and Don’ts
for Non-Profit Organizations
• 2009-2010 Advocacy Calendar for Arts
Advocates and Arts Organizations
Information on elected officials, elections and politics
• State Legislature
• The Wheeler Report
(daily updates about Wisconsin politics)
• League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
Click here for even more advocacy resources and information.