Advocacy

Museums Advocacy Day
Image of: Karen Witter and Sheridan Turner
Karen Witter (right), Chair of the AMM Advococy Committee and Associate Director of the Illinois State Museum, discusses advocacy strategies with Sheridan Turner, President & CEO of the Kohl Children's Museum
Join museum professionals and colleagues from around the Midwest (and the country) for the 5th annual Museums Advocacy Day, scheduled for February 25-26 in Washington, DC. It's critical that we present a united voice and make the case that museums are essential — as education providers and economic drivers — in every community. To register, visit http://www.aam-us.org/advocacy/museums-advocacy-day/register.

At Museums Advocacy Day, you will:
  • Stand side-by-side with fellow advocates from your state and congressional district
  • Get valuable information from Capitol Hill and policy experts about how to engage your representatives and make the case for museums
  • Share a powerful message with your members of Congress and their staff about how your museum is essential
  • Learn strategies for meeting with elected officials and the stats you need to make your case
  • Attend an evening reception and Congressional Kick-Off Breakfast with members of Congress and staff


Provide Them with Economic Data
When advocating on behalf of museums, it s critical that we communicate with our legislators to voice our concerns and to educate them about the value of museums. Legislators have repeatedly indicated that they want us to provide them with economic factors about our museums. It substantially strengthens our case if we're prepared and come armed with data to support our claims about our institution. We recommend that you prepare a simple economic impact statement that succinctly summarizes the economic factors about your museum. For your convenience, we have attached a sample (and simple) economic impact statement. Please feel free to use this as a model. A template to create an economic impact statement is available on the www.speakupformuseums.org web site under the Resources Tab.


Talk to Your Members of Congress
It is important to build a relationship and communications with your Senators and Representative. Advocacy is about making your members of Congress aware of your museum's contributions to the community. Act now and let our elected representatives in the United States House and United States Senate know it is essential for them to play a leadership role in federal funding for museums, museums and federal education policy, and charitable giving issues affecting museums.