Each year during Advocacy Week, we ask folks to reach out to their legislators and encourage them to support the arts. But if you’ve never reached out before, or you don’t do it often, here are a few tips and tricks to help make sure your message gets through.

  1. Know Who to Contact
    Be sure you’re communicating with your representative, and that it’s the right level of government for the issue. Everything during Arts Advocacy Week is focused at issues at the state level. So, you’ll be reaching out to your Representative and Senator at the State House – not your US Representative or Senator. You’d be surprised at the number of calls our legislators get about federal issues, and vice versa.
  2. Be Respectful & Kind
    Our issues are nonpartisan, and our strategies are bipartisan. Even if your representative may not be supportive of your requests, it is important to always be kind and respectful. Yelling or adding to the negativity that already surrounds politics these days won’t help in the long run.
  3. Tell Your Story
    Stories sell. Don’t just talk with legislators about statistics. Add in your personal, local, story that elected officials can resonate with.
  4. Don’t Forget the “Ask”
    It seems simple, but sometimes we forget to make the “ask”. Legislators need to know, at the end of the day, what exactly you’re asking them to support. Don’t forget to always lead, and close with that ask.
  5. Follow Up
    Don’t let your email, call, or meeting be the first and last time your legislator hears from you. Follow up throughout the legislative process. Use Advocacy Week as the start of a relationship with your legislator. Advocacy isn’t crisis management, it’s relationship management.
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