Advocacy Resources

What Can You Do?

We have been in regular communication with our congressional and state representatives, and we need your help to amplify this message alongside us.

Here are steps you can take now:

• Contact your legislators via phone or email and share the impacts that the NEH and Michigan Humanities has on you, your organization, and your community. We have a sample script you can use at the bottom of this page.
• Share our story and this resources webpage with your network to spread the word.
• Consider making a donation to Michigan Humanities. A gift of any size will help us continue to serve our state in this time of great uncertainty. The Mellon Foundation has granted each humanities council $200,000 in emergency funding. This is a bridge, not a finish line. We still need your help. Please consider donating. Mellon has offered to match up to $50,000 of gifts received before December 31, 2025. Thank you for your support!

Tips for reaching out to your representatives:

• Download our Michigan Humanities Impact one-sheet that shows the impact of our work across Michigan if you need talking points for these communications with legislators.
• If calling your elected officials makes you feel nervous or uncomfortable, it may put you at ease to call after 5 p.m. and leave a voicemail or reach out via email. It still makes a huge impact.
• Most representatives utilize a Contact Us page, rather than making their office email addresses public. These will still be delivered and are a great way to get in touch. Look up your legislator’s website here.
• Don’t be discouraged if your legislator sends an automatic reply email response—this is typical. You might not receive a personalized response because so many constituents are reaching out. Your emails and calls are still making a difference.
• Most legislators have opportunities to meet in-person with constituents at local coffee hours. Check your legislator’s website for more information.

Script for Contacting Elected Officials

As a constituent, I am [writing/calling] to urgently request that you support robust funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the fiscal year 2026 budget.

[Say something personal about your connection to Michigan Humanities and the impact of their work on your community here.]

NEH is the only agency that funds our nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils, which provide vital cultural services and critical funding to local nonprofit organizations across the nation. 

NEH was created by an act of Congress in 1965 and reaffirmed by Republican and Democratic Presidents and legislators over the following 60 years.

Every Congress for 50 years has supported the state humanities councils and their effective distribution of federal dollars across America. These funds go directly to states (and your district) and allow councils to leverage an additional $2 in private investment for every federal dollar spent. In Michigan this means over $2 million in additional community investment.

The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve communities across our state, eliminating programs that are essential to our region’s cultural infrastructure. 

Again, I urge you to protect the NEH and funding for humanities councils.

——

If you need to find your legislator’s contact information, click here.

Questions? Please email info@mihumanities.org.