Museums Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill is here and we’re joining the movement by speaking up and spreading awareness about this united effort to support museums in all sectors across the nation. Today, advocates from all over the U.S. will be in Washington, D.C. to make their case concerning policies like federal funding, tax reform, education policy, infrastructure legislation, and other issues that threaten the future of museums.

Grassroots campaigns in support of museums aren’t new, but some of these issues are. The Alliance keeps a close eye on several legislative and policy issues that have a direct impact on the success of museums. Additionally, they know how to maximize efforts by providing the information and leadership necessary to make every case effective.

The Role of Data

Our mission at SMU DataArts is to empower arts and cultural leaders with high-quality data and evidence-based resources and insights to overcome challenges and increase impact. It’s important to us that local, state, and federal legislation and policies also provide an ecosystem that allows arts and cultural organizations to thrive.

The Alliance recently published Museums as Economic Engines, A National Report, which stated that “each year, more than 850 million visits are made to U.S. museums from all across U.S. society, and that number continues to grow. To meet this level of demand, the museum sector directly supports 372,100 jobs and generates $15.9 billion in income.”

This finding, as well as many others in this report, reinforces the importance of data literacy in better understanding the full scope of an organization’s impact near and far.

We, too, rely on a system of supporters from local, state, and federal levels to ensure that our organization is able to conduct informative research and provide valuable tools to help diversify and strengthen the donor base of organizations across the nation.  

Help make your case all year with our subscription-based reports that draw on extensive cultural data sets and can be customized to present information at the national, state, and local legislative district levels. 

The Advocacy Report

What matters most to you, matters to others as well.

Elected officials should be informed about the public services offered through museums they represent, but sometimes things get lost in the shuffle of our 24-hr-news-coverage world. To combat this, we can provide passionate and compelling stories that showcase the importance of local museums in our communities.

There are several ways to make sure your story is heard by legislators. The Alliance has provided tools and resources to help you understand policy changes, develop your story, and make meaningful connections.

Please join us in spreading the word about the importance of museums and the critical role they play in our lives.