Advocacy Alert – December 13, 2024
In this Alliance Advocacy Alert:
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Register Today: Museums Advocacy Day 2025 in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24-25
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Take Action: Contact Congress in Support of OMS Funding
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Report: Annual National Snapshot of US Museums Report
Museums Advocacy Day 2025 – Feb. 24-25: Registration is Open!
Registration is open for Museums Advocacy Day 2025! The start of the new year will be a pivotal time to advocate for museums as a new Congress begins and the Administration changes over.
For over 15 years, Museums Advocacy Day has mobilized museum advocates nationwide to help ensure we reach every member of Congress with our message that museums are worthy of federal investment and are essential to their communities.
New to advocacy? We’ve got you covered. On day one, you’ll participate in a day-long program to prepare you for your Congressional visits, all of which we schedule for you. On day two, you’ll spend the day putting what you learned into action when you visit your members of Congress’ offices in Washington, DC, ending the day at our Congressional reception.
Don’t miss this powerful opportunity to combine our collective voices to share the unique value of museums of all types and sizes across the country. Your participation matters.
Register Today
February 24: Programming and Training, Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, Arlington, VA
February 25: Congressional Meetings and Reception, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC
Unable to attend Museums Advocacy Day but want to help make the case for museums? Visit AAM’s Advocate from Anywhere page for other advocacy activities.
Contact Congress in Support of FY 2025 Funding for Museums
Legislators are busy wrapping up the 118th Congress before the end of the year. A major outstanding item is FY 2025 appropriations. The current FY 2025 stopgap measure keeping the federal government funded at FY 2024 levels will expire on December 20. Congress will need to pass another stopgap spending bill or pass an omnibus appropriations bill by that date. With time running short, it looks increasingly likely that there will be another stopgap spending bill expected to run until March.
Now and throughout the new year reinforcing bipartisan support for museums will be critical. Museums have always enjoyed support from both sides of the political aisle, and we will continue to build relationships with all our elected officials—learning about their priorities, finding common ground, and ensuring that lawmakers know that museums are essential to their communities.
In the meantime, we encourage you to keep telling your legislators to support at least $55.5 million for OMS and support at least $209 million each for the NEH and NEA.
It is especially important to reach out if your senator is one these key Senate Appropriations Committee leaders: Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Susan Collins (R-ME), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV).
Snapshot Report on US Museums
The 2024 edition of the annual National Snapshot of US Museums was released in November. This year’s report offers a window into the state of the museum field in 2024, with information on attendance, employment, finances, disruptions, cybersecurity, and exhibitions. The data shows encouraging financial improvement over the statistics reported in the 2023 report, but recovery remains uneven, and there are continuing challenges in recruitment and shifts in philanthropy. Despite this welcome progress, we need to continue to advocate for funding from federal agencies and programs that help museums better serve their communities.
Your steadfast advocacy efforts make a big difference in building needed support for museums and museum professionals.
Looking for more advocacy tools and resources? Visit the Advocacy section of the AAM Resource Library today!
Visit Advocacy to learn more about AAM’s advocacy for museums.
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