On March 28th, 2019, ArtsFund was pleased to welcome back Rena Henderson Mason, founder of Bold Agenda, a national consulting firm for nonprofits to host a board advocacy webinar, Activate Your Board in Advocacy: How to Bring Your Board Along. Geared towards staff and board members of arts and cultural nonprofits, the webinar focused on how to sell your board on greater advocacy and the ways in which both staff and board members can be effective in building advocacy into the organizational culture and greater board responsibilities.
Key learning objectives from the webinar were:
- Identifying barriers, potential risks, and best practices in advocacy
- Learning how to create board buy-in for greater advocacy
- Building an action plan for advocacy within board responsibilities
Why get the board involved in advocacy work? When the board is on-board, they can raise the voice and profile of the organization. Henderson Mason emphasized the importance of engaging the board in advocacy work noting that, “there is something that happens when you are able to advocate for the mission. You learn how to make change in your community, you learn more about your mission as a board member, you gain confidence about educating others in acting on your behalf, and you really begin to develop the leadership skills necessary to be a great board member and a great fundraiser.”
The tools provided in this webinar should provide you with a framework to develop a successful advocacy plan for any environment—helping you to get your board ready and activate your board in advocacy.
To learn more, view the full webinar here.
Click here to view the slides from Activate Your Board in Advocacy.
ArtsFund’s convenings series is sponsored by The Boeing Company.
Photo credits left to right: Survival to Success, photo by Robert Wade; Board Networking Happy Hour, photo by Evan McGlinn; Washington State Legislative Building, photo by Katy Corella.