Dear Colleagues,
Local advocacy season is in full swing! In March, County Executive Elrich proposed a $7,230,304 FY 2027 budget allocation for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC), a 2.5% cost of living increase. However, and in response, last week, Council President Natali Fani-González released a memorandum proposing $25M in savings by cutting budgets for a specific group of programs and Non-Departmental Agencies (NDAs), county-funded independent organizations that provide essential community services, including AHCMC. This puts our budget in a group that could be reduced by 28%, despite our allocation representing only 0.1% of the total County budget. Learn more about this and our advocacy response here.
Carpe Diem Arts at Wheaton Arts Parade. Photo credit: Wheaton Arts Parade |
Yarn Bomb at Wheaton Arts Parade. Photo credit: Wheaton Arts Parade |
While AHCMC is incredibly grateful for the County Executive’s recommendation during an intense time of uncertainty, and we applaud the Council’s commitment to a progressive income tax and property tax relief for residents, the current proposal contains a critical threat to our sector that requires immediate, unified action. The proposed CE budget does not adequately address our community’s needs and the Council President’s potential cuts threaten to lower the number of grants and grant amounts across our portfolio. We must request additional support. Your voice, your advocacy is vital to secure the funds needed to sustain and nurture our creative community. Click here to access our Advocacy Toolkit.
In today’s political climate, many of us are understandably cautious to advocate. The idea of speaking up can feel risky, especially when advocacy can be mistaken for partisan lobbying. But the two are fundamentally different, and that distinction is critical. Understanding these differences may help ease tension and demonstrate why neither should feel threatening.
Let’s discuss further. The National Council of Nonprofits and the Florida Nonprofit Alliance define advocacy as “encompassing a wide range of activities designed to influence public opinion and policy” while “lobbying is a form of advocacy that attempts to influence specific legislation” through nonpartisan engagement with public officials. For the purposes of this blog, we will refer to this permissible form of nonpartisan lobbying as nonpartisan engagement with elected officials. Advocacy activities include public education, sharing impact stories, nonpartisan voter engagement, grassroots organizing, coalition building…and yes, nonpartisan engagement with elected officials.
Contacting your representatives to share your concerns regarding the state of our sector, the additional resources needed, the impact of your work on the community, and the broader impact of the sector on the county is advocacy. Urging your representatives to support, oppose, increase, or vote for specific legislation is grassroots nonpartisan engagement, a form of advocacy that is 100% permissible. What is not allowed is endorsing, opposing, or contributing to a political candidate or party. 501(c)(3) nonprofits also cannot allow lobbying to become their primary activity. The law treats these actions separately from nonpartisan engagement. Here is a list of resources to provide more detailed information.
- Why Should Your Nonprofit Advocate? | National Council of Nonprofits
- Political Campaign Activities – Risks to Tax-Exempt Status | National Council of Nonprofits
- Lobbying | IRS
- Measuring Lobbying Activities | Florida Nonprofit Alliance
- 501 (c)(3) Lobbying Limits: Rules and Penalties | Legal Clarity
- Influencing Budget Legislations | Alliance for Justice
So, what are we asking of YOU today? To make your voices heard! Contact your local representative and advocate for the future of our sector. Let them know that we need more than just a 2.5% increase to meet the needs of our sector. Share your impact stories, tell them why arts and culture are important, inform them of funding challenges, discuss the multiplier effect that helps to drive our local economy, demonstrate the innovative and collaborative solutions our sector fuels, and urge them to fully support the people and organizations that help our communities thrive! And most importantly, access our advocacy toolkit for everything you need to make your case.
We are in this together. As I always say, “a rising tide raises all boats”. Let’s make an impact this budget season.
Onward,
Suzan