Quick and easy way to communicate your nonprofit's economic impact

The American Association of Museums has created a online form that will send out an e-mail communicating a museum's economic impact to political officials. The form asks for information, which is then translated into the letter template below. This is a simple and easy way for a nonprofit to get the word out about their economic impact on the region.

The questions are:

• How many people does your museum/organization employ in your community?
• What is your museum/organization's annual budget?
• How many visitors does your museum/organization serves each year?
• What percent of those are out-of-town visitors? (provide an estimate)
• How many schoolchildren visit your museum/organization each year?
• What is your museum/organization's average admission fee?

Does this idea have potential for the SCNY ED Group? Share your thoughts here.

Message Preview
[Your information will be inserted here]
Prefix Firstname Lastname
123 Street Address
MyCity, St 12345

April 28, 2009

[The Official's information will appear here]
The Honorable Firstname Lastname
123 Street Address
Washington, DC 12345

Dear [Official's Title and Name will be inserted here]:

I am writing to express my disappointment about a recent amendment (S. Amendment. No. 309, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn) barring any museums, zoos, and aquariums from receiving any funds through the economic stimulus bill.

Museums employ more than a half-million Americans, spend an estimated $14.5 billion annually, and rank among the top three family vacation destinations. In fact, visitors to cultural and heritage destinations stay 53% longer and spend 36% more money than other kinds of tourists. Unfortunately, the economic downturn has forced museums to struggle just to maintain essential services.

I would like to provide for you a Community and Economic Impact Statement for my institution, the [UserField3]:
- [UserField3] employs [MergeField1] people in our community;
- Each year, [UserField3] spends $[MergeField2] on goods and services in our community;
- [UserField3] serves [MergeField3] visitors each year, including [MergeField4]% from out of town;
- [UserField3] serves [MergeField5] schoolchildren each year through school visits to museums;
- Admission fee: [MergeField6].

Museums are also critical partners to school districts. Many work with school districts to both train educators and help teach the curriculum. Many offer after-school programs for at-risk youth. Zoos and aquariums have tremendous public benefit for environmental education and wildlife conservation.

Please consider the economic impact that museums, zoos, and aquariums have on our community. They are in fact economic engines and a vital part of our nation's educational infrastructure, and will be critical in the economic recovery of cities and localities.I look forward to hearing your views on this issue.

Sincerely,
[Your name will appear here.]