How to Craft Your Advocacy Pitch
A few things to keep in mind when crafting your advocacy pitch:
1. Make it local and relevant- Explain the negative effect the pandemic has had on the arts in your community, your organization, or for you personally. Use specific examples, but do not go into too much detail. You can summarize an issue in a sentence, and then use a link or hyperlink to articles or webpages which will allow them to read more if needed. Provide information about lost income and lost audience. You can relate those losses to state and county data as well. Discuss current challenges as well as those on the horizon and be honest about the severity of the situation.
2. Share why arts are essential. Talk about how you have responded to the pandemic. These should be positive stories about how the arts have had to innovate in order to reach and serve our communities, as well as other artists. Efforts to assist health care workers or specifically connect to children, underserved communities, veterans, seniors, or any other group that is disproportionately affected by the pandemic will be especially well-received. Be concise in your descriptions and provide links to more detailed information.
3. Discuss how the arts build and strengthen communities and economies. Specific examples of the impact the arts have locally are important. Financial or participation information can support your story, and broader information about the impact of the arts on economies, communities, and students can show your place in the big picture and the crucial role the arts will play as we reopen and recover.
For a simple calculation on your organizations’s economic impact, multiply each attendee x $31.47 in event-related spending (meals, parking, retail, etc. to get a total estimated audience spend figure or see Americans for the Arts’ Arts Economic Prosperity Calculator.