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Development Desk
Fundraising for Advocacy Efforts
by Alexandra Gray in Winter 2005: The Advocacy Issue
How can an emerging artist or arts group fund and support advocacy efforts? There are many ways of incorporating advocacy in your artistic work. Having a dual purpose to your work (arts and advocacy) can broaden the kinds of funding you are eligible to apply for, and may strengthen your case for support. But the advocacy angle has to be an intrinsic part of your goals - not just an afterthought - and you have to be careful that you're not spreading your capacity to execute the project too thin. (Also, be aware there are strict laws governing funding for advocacy: a 501(c)(3) and its fiscally-sponsored projects cannot explicitly endorse a candidate or campaign. So stick to promoting issues, not candidates.)
As with any proposal narrative, your case for support should be specific and convincing, so do your homework: look at all the aspects of your project and explore the possible impact on every group or community it will reach. Map out your goals from inception to fruition, and how different groups will be involved in each step. Will individuals other than the artist(s) participate in the creative process, or will they simply receive the finished work? Where are the opportunities for interaction and discussion? Will your project evolve based on your audience's response? These are all questions to address in a proposal if you want to emphasize an advocacy angle to your work.
Possibly the most important and frequently overlooked element in an arts advocacy proposal is the strong support of your target community. You may already have a consistent audience in the general public; but any time you pursue change within a specific segment of the population, you need to show a strong connection to it. That might mean engaging the help of a local community group that will collaborate with you, or inviting experts on the issue to speak at the exhibitor performance. It always helps to collaborate with individuals outside your immediate circle. This emphasizes that you won't be working in isolation, and frames your project as a serious endeavor with a high chance of success. Include letters of support from collaborators in your proposal, or at least precisely outline your plan for involving them.
Finally, choose your funding targets well. Your project is artistic first and foremost, so your list of prospects should include a majority of arts funders. Know that an artistic project may be a hard sell to foundations who typically support direct advocacy (research, activism, public-awareness campaigns.) Where foundations are concerned, most cultural activities already fall into the "service" category, but an arts project that addresses a particular issue and community can also be considered advocacy. Some foundations may consider an arts and advocacy project to be less affective in its impact, but others will understand that the arts effect change in unexpected and powerful ways.
Advocacy can't always be a part of your search for funding, nor should it. But if you can identify opportunities when it is appropriate to pursue positive change, it will maximize your opportunities for funding as well.
Alexandra Gray is Director of Development at Fractured Atlas.
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