Cultural Advocacy is Essential
Art by Teo Georgiev
Grantmakers in the Arts is seeing the nation’s cultural community come together to advocate for the arts and humanities in response to our federal government’s attacks on our residents’ creativity. This includes GIA’s call for the restoration of the National Endowment for the Arts’ grants. Grantmakers in the Arts is sharing a tracker to document terminated or rescinded National Endowment for the Arts grants.
We refer our colleagues to explore What to Do if Your Federal Grant or Contract is Terminated for nonprofits whose grants have been terminated. Nonprofit organizations and individuals may advocate for the restoration and protection of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, Institute of Museum and Library Services, and others by Emailing Congress and Telling Them to Save the NEA and Calling Congress to Demand they Support the NEA.
“No one’s doing anything,” is a remark I hear too often. Not only is it not true; it is an excuse to justify the accuser’s passivity. GIA supports the great work being done by Americans for the Arts, Theater Communications Group, US Regional Arts Organizations, and so many others.
Grantmakers in the Arts, Association of Performing Arts Professionals, United States Artists, and the National Guild for Community Arts Education are going to Congress to advocate for the restoration and protection of our nation’s cultural agencies, organizations, and cultural workers. All advocacy is an ongoing, long-term commitment. What matters is that we continue.
Our field is doing great work tracking this federal administration’s actions as well as the legal challenges being activated.
These are all examples of why funders must support organizations’ ability to advocate and lobby. Foundations can support nonprofit organizations’ advocacy and lobbying as we explain in GIA’s statement of Public Policy and Advocacy and GIA’s article, We Can All Advocate (and Many of Us Can Support Lobbying).
Foundations are stepping up their funding in light of the financial impacts of this federal government’s attacks against nonprofit organizations. Foundations are also committing to increasing their support, using trust-based philanthropy principles and doing so in concert with the field they serve. Join these foundations by Meeting the Moment: A Call to Action for Philanthropy in 2025 and stay updated with GIA’s Community Resources on the New Presidential Administration’s Actions.
But philanthropy can only mitigate the impacts of bad government policy. As Grantmakers in the Arts has said in Inside Philanthropy, all the wealthiest philanthropic institutions and individuals combined cannot make up for government investment in our communities and their creativity. This is especially true in rural and remote areas where public investment is the primary — if not the only — means of support of our ability to enrich our hearts, minds, and communities through creative self-expression.
Grantmakers in the Arts calls on our elected representatives to restore public support for the arts and humanities for all our nation’s residents. We applaud our grantmaking members who support nonprofits’ ability to advocate and/or lobby for changes to public policy and invite all other grantmakers to join them in doing so. Thank you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eddie Torres is president & CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts
