Sample Advocacy Letters
The follow suggestions are for writing letters to your elected officials. Sample letters from non-profits and local cultural councils follow.
- Keep your letter to one page.
- Get your organization's board chairperson to sign the letter.
- Use specific information to describe your project and how it affects the community.
- Describe whom the program/project will serve, emphasize its public benefits (e.g., promoting education, access for underserved communities, economic impact).
- List private dollars your organization has raised to match the any state grants you've received and describe how the state grant helped leverage these dollars
SAMPLE LETTER FROM A NON-PROFIT
Date
The Honorable Representative Jane Smith
The State House
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Representative Smith:
I am writing to you regarding the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s (MCC) budget. (My organization) received $________ last year (FY03) which enabled us to _________________________.
This year (FY03) the MCC funding was cut by 62 percent. This year, (My organization) will receive only $_______ and we have had to _______________________. (examples: eliminate education programs, lay off staff, reduce hours, etc.)
(My organization) employs _____ people with an annual budget of approximately _______. State cultural funding through the MCC helps support these jobs as well as enable us to provide (examples of critical services.)
The arts, sciences and humanities are an essential economic, educational and social resource for Massachusetts. State funding helps support 45,300 non-profit cultural jobs, and it fuels cultural tourism, a $6.6 billion regional industry.
Because the MCC received the largest cut of any state agency in FY03 (62 percent), I am asking you to support a $10 million appropriation for the MCC in FY04. As you consider this funding, please remember that cultural funding supports the jobs and tourism necessary to assist in rebuilding our state economy.
We would like you to visit (my organization) to discuss this further and to publicly thank you for your support. I will contact you soon to arrange a meeting. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Art Advocate
Cc: Dan Hunter, Executive Director, Massachusetts Advocates for
the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities
SAMPLE ADVOCACY LETTER FROM A LOCAL CULTURAL COUNCIL
Date
The Honorable Representative Jane Smith
Room 71
The State House
Boston, MA 02133
Dear Representative Smith:
I am writing to you regarding the Massachusetts Cultural Council's (MCC) budget. The (town or name) Cultural Council received $________ last year (FY 02) which enabled us to _________________________.
This year (FY 03) the MCC funding was cut by 62%. This year, (My organization) will receive only $_______ and we have had to _______________________. (Examples: eliminate educational programs in schools, eliminate opportunities for disadvantaged youth, etc.)
State cultural funding through the MCC provides cultural funding for 335 local cultural councils with programs in all 351 cities and towns in our state. The MCC is the only state arts agency in the nation that provides both funding and local control for all its communities. Without MCC funding, we would not be able to (___list vital program_____) in my town.
The arts, sciences and humanities are an essential economic, educational and social resource for Massachusetts. State funding helps support 45,300 non-profit cultural jobs, and it fuels cultural tourism, a $6.6 billion regional industry.
Because the MCC received the largest cut of any stage agency in FY 03 (62% compared to an average agency cut of 24%), I am asking you to support a $10 million appropriation for the MCC in FY 04, a 50% cut from FY 02. As you consider this funding, please remember that cultural funding supports the jobs and tourism necessary to assist in rebuilding our state economy.
We would like to meet with you to discuss this further and to publicly thank you for your support. I will contact you soon to arrange a meeting. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
(Your name and address)
Cc: Dan Hunter, Executive Director, Massachusetts Advocates for the Arts, Sciences, & Humanities