Local Arts Advocacy: Tips and Tools

TIPS TO FOSTER COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS

It is important to keep those responsible for arts appropriations informed and included in the effect of arts funding in their districts.

· Send a poster of any arts event, past or present, to your elected official.
· Send elected officials your calendar of events.
· Put elected officials on your mailing list. Invite them to opening nights by sending a personalized letter. If you are holding a benefit, ask them to attend as your guest. Be sure they understand that they are being invited as your guest and are not being asked to pay.
· Invite elected officials to give out grants (DEC, United Arts Funds, County grants) at special events…invite them to MC programs or give out awards. Put them on stage. Recognize them as a special guest at a performance or exhibit.
· State officials send out newsletters. Call their office and make sure your organization is on their mailing list. If the newsletter contains information pertinent to your audience and/or artists, call the representative and ask them if you can reprint the article in your publications. Be sure to send the elected official a copy with the reprint highlighted.
· Use letter-writing campaigns for all those involved in your cultural programming to send messages to your elected officials. Audience members should send letters on their personal stationery. Board members, corporate representatives and foundations should send letters on their business stationery. Keep the message simple and use a positive tone.
· Send a tear sheet from an arts program you recently attended to your local official, thanking him/her for making the event possible through NYSCA funding. Write the note directly on the program or on a "post-it" note. There is no need to write a special letter. Ask your audience and visitors to do the same with your programs.

TIPS ON LETTER WRITING
· Be brief and concise. A hand-written letter is fine. · Introduce yourself (mention the county and town or city in which you live). · State your reason for writing.
· Indicate the action you want taken and explain how that action will specifically benefit you and your community.
· Don't overlook any opportunity to send personal congratulatory messages or thank you notes for work an elected official has performed.

TIPS ON PHONE CALLS
· Write down the points you wish to make and use these notes as a reference as the phone conversation progresses.
· If the elected official is unavailable, ask to speak with the aide who works on the issue you want to discuss. Aides can often be extremely influential in the legislative decision-making process.
· Introduce yourself and mention the county and town or city in which you live, especially if you live in the elected official's district.
· Be brief and concise. Limit your call to one or two minutes. Preparing a loose script helps.
· State your reason for calling, what action you wish taken, and what this action will accomplish.

TIPS ON PERSONAL VISITS
· Call first to make an appointment. Be punctual.
· Be specific, brief and to the point.
· Ask the elected official or aide what his or her position is and how they will vote.
· Give brief reasons why you believe the elected official should adopt the position you are recommending. To be most effective, the framework for these reasons should be the legislator's own viewpoint, interests and concerns (i.e. legislative committees on which they serve).
· State why your position will benefit the elected official and his or her constituents.
· Leave the elected official or aide with an issues-briefing paper, along with your business card.
· Follow up with a thank you note in which you very briefly restate your position or request.

TIPS ON OP-ED PIECES OR LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Before writing your letter or guest column, study the editorial pages published in the publication over the preceding 3 or 4 months. Try to put yourself in the editor's shoes. What do they like to publish; what are the biases of the periodical; what are the interests? For your piece to get published, you must have either something new to say or a unique perspective to offer on something old.
· If possible, visit with the editor(s) of your local publication(s) to discuss writing an op-ed piece or to see if the paper wishes to write an editorial on the issue you are concerned about.
· If you don't visit the editor, do not hesitate to phone the publication to ask questions. In any event, it is wise to make at least one phone call before mailing your letter. Ask to speak to the editor assigned to handle letters. Let him/her know that you will be submitting a letter. Use this phone call to get acquainted with the editor; let him/her know who you are and what your organization does in the community; to find out if there are any special requirements for a letter; and to briefly outline the issue you plan to address in your letter.
· Keep your piece short and sharply focused on the issue you wish to discuss. Letters should be no more than 450 words.
· Letters should be individually addressed to the publication. Don't send form letters. It is most desirable to address your letter to the person in charge of letters to the editor. Look on the page of the publication containing letters to the editor for the editor's name, or phone the publication and ask for the name of the person to whom letters should be sent.
· To be published, the writer's handwritten signature, printed name, affiliation (if any), street address and phone number must be included. The writer's identity will be withheld only when requested and only under rare circumstances.
· Carefully read the editorial page of the publication for submission instructions and other valuable information. Some publications limit the number of published pieces by the same individual in a given period of time. If you are the author of a letter to be published over someone else's signature, check with the publication about their policy regarding signatures. Many publications insist on an original signature of the person whose name appears at the close of the letter.

...ON COMMUNICATING
The communication between you and the elected official (and his/her staff) needs to be friendly and on going. The most important words to remember are follow-up. If you send a letter, follow it up with a phone call. If you meet with the legislator, follow it up with a note.

HUMANIZE THE MESSAGE
Wherever possible, put a human spin on the message. Talk about specific programs and include anecdotal stories about how programs and public dollars affect real human beings. There is nothing wrong with tugging at the heartstrings. All of us lend a more sympathetic ear to examples of real people.

GENERAL PROTOCOL IN ALL COMMUNICATIONS WITH YOUR LEGISLATOR
· Be courteous and friendly.
· Be reasonable. Remember there are always two sides (or more) to any given issue. Reasonable people can hold differing opinions. Having to pick one side or the other is never easy.
· Politics is compromise. Be firm and forceful, but realistic. Don't be too critical.
· Don't try to throw your weight around or be intimidating. It doesn't work and it alienates people.
· Remember tomorrow is another day. We may lose this vote and win that one. The process is ongoing.
· Don't scold, preach, lecture or nit-pick.
· In response to a legislator's questions to you, don't bluff. If you don't know the answer, say so, and then go get the answer. · Be a good listener. Give your elected official a meaningful opportunity to state his/her position and explain why s/he may disagree with you. You will have a better chance to address a legislator's objections to increasing arts funding if you know exactly why s/he is opposed.
· Be appreciative-of the legislator's time, schedule, difficult job in not being able to please everyone. And particularly of the legislator's support. Take the opportunity to say 'Thank you' whenever it arises.
IMPORTANT NOTE: One of the most effective means for us to sway legislators to our side is to have those legislators who do support us, lobby their brethren who do not. Nothing is more effective than lobbying from one legislator to another. Therefore, it is critically important that, as you continue to engage in the advocacy process with a supportive legislator, you enlist their aid in convincing their colleagues to come over to your position. So the bottom line is that you must continually spend time and energy with legislators who already support your position, so that they can help you bring other members on board.

The Alliance of New York State Arts Organizations has a 31-year history as New York’s service association for arts and cultural organizations. The Alliance provides leadership and vision, and delivers services, resources and tools that strengthen cultural organizations. The Alliance informs the field on statewide and national issues affecting the arts and assists local arts agencies in building community support.

P.O. Box 96
Mattituck, NY 11952-0096
Phone (631) 298-1234 / Fax (631) 298-1101