Browse Back IssuesASTC Dimensions: March/April 2005

March/April 2005 The Art of Advocacy: Winning Public Support

By Tom Krakauer


When I came to Durham, North Carolina's Museum of Life and Science (MLS) in 1985, state support for science centers and museums was idiosyncratic and sporadic, consisting primarily of funds "earmarked" for special projects by local legislators. Over the next few years, my institution worked with eight others in the state to win annual funding for all science museums. The evolution of that lobbying group, known as the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative (GSMC), was described by Todd Boyette and Mark Sinclair in "From the Grassroots Up," an article in the May/June 2001 issue of ASTC Dimensions.

Today, GSMC includes 22 museums, with annual state funding of more than $3 million. The group has a $1 million endowment for program support and employs an executive director, Fran Nolan, to attend General Assembly sessions and relevant committee meetings in the state capital, Raleigh; build relationships with legislative staff; and apprise GSMC members of actions taken and local efforts needed. Because GSMC institutions are located all over North Carolina, the collaborative now has legislative allies throughout the state. That is real strength.

What lessons did GSMC teach us about government advocacy? I can think of two that apply to legislative action at all levels: "Build your friendships before you need them" and "Bad things happen when you are not in the room." Both recognize that legislative action has to begin long before politicians go into session, and that success is as much about relationships as it is about substance.

At a GSMC Legislative Day in Raleigh, North Carolina, naturalist Rick Bolling, right, of the Natural Science Center of Greensboro, introduces a scaly friend to Greensboro County representative Maggie Jeffers, far left. Photo courtesy Fran Nolan/GSMC

Nurture alliances

Often we are so busy with the immediate that we ignore what is really important. Efforts to cultivate public funding should be just as intense as efforts to cultivate private donors—the potential return is not only greater but annual.

Developing strong relationships with legislators is not rocket science, but it does take year-round attention. Here are some suggestions:

• Build bridges to all. The morning after election day, send congratulatory notes to the winners and notes of appreciation to the losers, thanking them for their service to the community. Why the losers? Because the pendulum may swing, and they'll be back in the legislature.
  
• Get involved locally. Your participation in your local chamber of commerce and public schools can help ensure that museum funding is a priority when those groups draw up their legislative agendas.
  
• Make your efforts visible. The members of GSMC cooperate in an annual Legislative Day. On that day, different museums set up displays at the General Assembly to demonstrate their programs and capacity for statewide service, including projects that involve underserved populations.
  
• Cultivate a champion. Because everyone in the legislature votes, you need many friends there. But to be truly successful, you need to have a "champion," a legislative leader from your district who will support your funding from beginning to end and who will fight for you when last-minute deals are struck. Identify that individual and ask for his or her commitment to your cause. As a collaborative, GSMC has two champions—one in the state Senate, and one in the House of Representatives.

• Pay attention to committee structures. When a school group from a key legislator's district visits your museum, take a photograph and send a "love note."
  
• Be generous. Give your business card to a key legislator's administrative assistant, and invite that person to bring his or her family to the museum for free. More than once, this friendly gesture has got me in to see a senator whose door was closed.
  
• Work through professionals. Consider hiring a lobbyist to tell your story, or, if a member of your board represents a major employer in your region, make use of his or her corporate legislative liaison.
  
• Shade your language appropriately. Be familiar with legislative priorities, and provide coherent messages on what you are qualified to offer—be it early childhood education, teacher professional development, or statewide programming in some key area. The fact that MLS had sponsored Pi Day math programming, developed with National Science Foundation funding, in science centers statewide gained us credibility.

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