10 Years of Accomplishments
1. Building Bipartisan Support for the Arts – Through our biennial ArtsVote election campaigns, we sponsor programs at the Republican and Democratic National Conventions to bring national attention to arts policy issues. The Arts Action Fund PAC has also proudly given over $250,000 to 410 candidates on both sides of the aisle with a win rate of over 85%.
2. Holding Elected Officials Responsible for Their Voting Records on the Arts – We widely distribute Congressional Arts Report Cards to educate our members on voting records of incumbent candidates, as well as issue candidate arts surveys and provide “questions to ask” about arts policy issues while attending Town Hall meetings.
3. Being a Voice for the Arts – We aggressively work with the media in promoting and responding to national news stories impacting the arts. We stand on the front line in defending the arts against attacks. We actively promote the many ways the arts enrich our lives as well as contribute to the nation’s economy, childhood development, and overall well-being for our returning military veterans. We’ve sponsored “The Arts. Ask for More.” PSA campaign in thousands of television, radio, newspaper, magazine, and internet ads.
4. Leading Campaigns Driven by Artists – We’ve commissioned artists to create music, posters, bumper stickers, and t-shirts for advocacy campaigns throughout the years, as well as enlisted the help of celebrity artists like Kerry Washington, Midori, Alec Baldwin, and John Legend to help promote our united cause. Through social media, we have created a space for people to share how the arts inspire them with video projects like #BeTheARTbeat.
5. Promoting the Arts=Jobs Message – We developed the highly successful Arts=Jobs campaign to secure $50 million in additional funding to support jobs in the nonprofit arts through the federal economic stimulus package, helping to offset the effects of the economic recession.
6. Mobilizing the Largest Arts Advocacy Network in the Country – We have over 250,000 citizen activists in all 50 states, as well as all 435 Congressional districts and 6 territories.
7. Delivering a Unified Voice to Congress – Since 2004, we have helped our members send over 650,000 pro-arts messages to Congress.
8. Increasing Funding for the Arts -We’ve successfully defended the importance of public funding of the arts. Since our founding in 2004, an extra $200 million has been appropriated. Our work in making the Congressional Arts Caucus the largest on Capitol Hill has been key.
9. Strengthening Arts Education – We’ve been a prominent voice in securing the arts as a core academic subject in K-12 education. Additionally, we helped launch the new STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) Congressional Caucus.
10. Protecting Incentive for Charitable Giving – Knowing that nonprofit arts organization rely on average 40% of their annual budget on charitable donations, we have taken a leadership role on Capitol Hill in protecting the charitable tax deduction. You can help by signing our online petition to Congress at: www.votervoice.net/ARTSUSA/Petitions/280/Respond
As we prepare for the future, we need you to stand with us so we can continue to have a strong voice for the arts leading into the 2014 mid-term elections and the 2016 Presidential Election.