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Contact your local newspaper and invite them to your event. You can even write up a short article about your event for them. Reporters love this—it makes their job easier because it gives them a foundation to work with.

It doesn’t take as much time as you think, just organization.

NAMM, the trade association representing the international music products industry, has graciously offered free materials on the subject of advocacy. The new SupportMusic Community Action Kit is designed to keep music education programs strong and active in our schools. They do this by providing step-by-step guidance for effective music advocacy presentations designed to foster community support. This new kit includes:

• A 24-page guide to grassroots advocacy that also includes a Spanish translation.

• A CD-ROM with community action tools: presentation materials, handouts, petitions, press release templates, and more.

• 50 copies of the “Why Learn to Play Music?” brochure, which you can distribute directly to parents, school board members, and community leaders.

Get your free SupportMusic Community Action Kit by emailing your request to info@ namm.org. All materials and shipping costs are covered as a courtesy of NAMM.

Advocacy tip: Set aside one day each month in your school calendar to work on valuable ideas to make advocacy proceed smoothly and efficiently. Early in the school year, try to identify those most likely to get involve—do this part well, and the rest of the pieces will fall together more easily. Then you can focus on the fun how-to, proactive steps to get your advocates involved and tuned in; e.g., personal invitations, honorary guest seating, researching event ideas, demonstrations that include parents, grandparents night, school board/PTA performances, etc.

Remember, this isn’t about saving your job; it’s about saving one of the richest parts of our existence, the ability to make and be entertained by music.