Advocacy

Learn about NEFA's current advocacy work, find organizations that advocate for the sector in New England and nationally, and learn about the impact of the arts. 

Contact: 

Ann Wicks, Communications Director & Co-Accessibility Coordinator
Direct: 617-423-1390

Current Advocacy Actions

How will the SAVE Act impact elections and your right to vote?

This legislation passed the House on February 11, 2026, and is heading to the Senate. Learn how this will disenfranchise voters, and tell your Senators what you think. 

Contact your Members of Congress

FY27 Appropriations Advocacy

National Endowment for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Humanities, & the Institute for Museum and Library Services

Contact your members of Congress about the important cultural, economic, and health benefits the arts and humanities provide in your community.

Contact your Members of Congress

8.19.25: Fact Sheet: The Department of Justice’s “Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding on Unlawful Discrimination”: What You Need to Know

Created by: 

• LDF (Legal Defense Fund)
• AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice)
• Democracy Forward
• Latino Justice
• Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights
• National Women's Law Center

Tracking Federal Actions (2025 & 2026)

• Americans for the Arts' Executive Order & Impacts and Executive Action Tracker
• Americans for the Arts' Action Fund Breaking News Page
• AP's Executive Order Lawsuit Tracker
• Council of Nonprofits’ Executive Orders Affecting Charitable Nonprofits
• Grantmakers in the Arts’ Community Resources on the New Presidential Administration’s Actions
• NASAA's Federal Updates

National Organizations & Resources

• Alliance for Justice: Advocacy Self-Assessment Check Up for Nonprofit
• Americans for the Arts: Advocate
• Arts Action Fund
• DataArts: Research & Advocacy
• National Assembly of State Arts Agencies: Advocacy
• National Council of Nonprofits
• National Endowment for the Arts: Impact
• National Independent Venue Association (NIVA): State of Live National Report and State Reports
• Nonprofit Vote: nonpartisan resources to help nonprofits integrate voter engagement into their ongoing activities and services.
• NeuroArts Blueprint's Neuroarts Research Center
• Performing Arts Alliance: Advocacy Basics
• Policy Literacy for the Creative Sector: Policy Literacy for the Creative Sector is an open-source policy brief educational template for creative workers. and is a collaborative effort between ADC Consulting and Scansion. Designed to support sectoral affinity groups and small-budget entities, the template serves two primary purposes:
  • Provide baseline educational content on the intersection of the creative sector and public policy.
  • Serve as an editable template and starting point for anyone who wishes to host regular policy briefs and to learn and/or educate cohorts on cultural policy

New England

• Connecticut Arts Alliance
• Connecticut Office of the Arts
• Cultural Alliance of Maine
• Maine Arts Commission
• Massachusetts Cultural Council: Federal Funding Update
• MASSCreative
• Arts4NH (New Hampshire Citizens for the Arts)
• Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
• Vermont Arts Council
• Vermont Creative Network

NEFA's Activity in New England - FY25

NEFA's grants and resources support artists and organizations in all six New England states. This work is possible through our partnership with New England's state art agencies, the National Endowment for the Arts, and additional funders.

Learn more about NEFA's partnership with the New England state art agencies
 

​Federal Investment & the Arts in New England

The Arts Power the U.S. Economy

• The Bureau of Economic Analysis and the NEA together calculate the arts and culture sector’s contributions to the gross domestic product. In 2022, arts and culture added over $1.1 trillion, or 4.3%, to national GDP, and nationwide employment in the sector increased 6.4% to a total of 5.2 million arts and cultural jobs. The arts are also a powerful export industry boasting a trade surplus of $21.0 billion in 2022.
• Arts & Economic Prosperity 6 (AEP6) is an economic and social impact study of the nation’s nonprofit arts and culture industry. Nationally, the sector generated $151.7 billion of economic activity in 2022—$73.3 billion in spending by nonprofit arts and culture organizations and an additional $78.4 billion in event-related expenditures by their audiences. This economic activity supported 2.6 million jobs, provided $101 billion in personal income to residents, and generated $29.1 billion in tax revenue to local, state, and federal governments.

Federal Arts Funding Broadens Distribution of Resources

• The National Endowment for the Arts annually recommends about 2,300 grants, benefiting every Congressional District. The majority of grants go to small and medium-sized organizations (budgets less than $2 million) and support projects that increase audience access to arts programming.
• 35% of NEA grants take place in high-poverty urban and rural communities. Approximately 4,000 communities of all sizes are served each year through NEA grants, with many projects bringing the arts to geographically underserved areas.
• Around 41 million Americans annually attend live arts events supported by the NEA, including approximately 36,000 concerts, readings, and performances, and 6,000 exhibitions. Millions more attend these events and access other artistic and educational experiences online.
• Federal agencies and nonprofit organizations partner with the NEA on national initiatives, using the arts as a platform for enhancing the quality of life for all. Such partnership examples include: Creative Forces, Shakespeare in American Communities, Blue Star Museums, NEA Big Read, Poetry Out Loud, Musical Theater Songwriting Challenge, and the Citizens’ Institute on Rural Design.
• The NEA is an integral part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, serving on the nonpartisan U.S. Semiquincentennial Commission Task Force and offering grantmaking support for this initiative across the nation.  

Federal Investment from the National Endowment for the Arts Creates a Thriving New England

• In FY25, with support from the NEA and private foundations, NEFA awarded 562 grants to artists and cultural organizations in New England and across the nation, totaling over $6.4 million.  
• In addition to grants, support from the NEA enables NEFA to convene and provide networking and technical assistance to artists and organizations in New England.
• CreativeGround.org, NEFA’s searchable directory of New England’s creative economy, supports the visibility and connection of over 32,000 of the region’s artists, cultural organizations, and creative businesses. It is the only data-sharing tool of its kind in the country and contributes to research on the sector while highlighting the real people and stories behind the numbers.