Make the Case: Advocate for Your Organization Using Social Cohesion (Two-Part Workshop)
July 23rd, 1-2:15pm EST
How does your arts organization contribute to stronger, more connected communities? Can you clearly explain that impact to decision-makers?
Join the Make the Case team for a two-part interactive workshop designed to help artsvest participants understand and apply the concepts of social cohesion.
Participants will learn how arts and culture contribute to social cohesion using research from the Artworks Report and the Make the Case resource database, and identify positive outcomes in their own work.
By the end of the workshops, you’ll have completed a two-page brief connecting your organization’s work with social cohesion and tested its effectiveness with real-time feedback. This brief will provide new opportunities to demonstrate your organization’s alignment with social cohesion in grant applications, reports, and conversations with funders, investors, and decision-makers.
Key Documents:
- Brief Template with prompts and options
- Action #1: Write a Grant Paragraph
- Action #2: Write a Report Outcomes Section
- Action #3: Write Advocacy Talking Points
Our Shared Digital Space
Writing Room + Support Rooms
For the second part of the session, we will be in breakout rooms in our shared digital space.
This is like moving from room to room at a conference.
Here’s the detailed layout with room descriptions and hosts:
Writing Room
- This is a quiet room where we will be silently co-working together.
- Take some time to review the template and instructions on how it relates to your Social Cohesion brief. Then write!
- Please keep your mic muted!
- Put your questions in the chat!
- The Writing Room host can answer your questions in the chat or direct you to another room for assistance!
Hosted by:
- Jasper (artsvest)
Social Cohesion 101
- This is a speaking room where you are welcome to unmute your mic and ask for some guidance.
- The Social Cohesion 101 Room hosts can help you:
- Use the definition of social cohesion from Session One
- Clarify that your Brief content matches the purpose of each section in the Action Template
- Find relevant statistics or examples in the Artworks report or in the Social Cohesion theme page.
Hosted by:
- Brielle (artsvest)
- Isabelle (Make the Case)
Organizational Voice
- This is a speaking room where you are welcome to unmute your mic and ask for some guidance.
- The Organizational Voice coaches can help you with the parts of the template that are unique to your situation and community.
- If you get stuck on a way to phrase your idea, go to this room. The hosts are here to help!
Hosted by:
- Laura (artsvest)
- Aubrey (Business / Arts)
Pitching
- This is a speaking room where you are welcome to unmute your mic and read your action out loud to get feedback from a funder perspective.
- Making the Case is one part of the equation; Hearing the case is also important for success.
- Feedback can help us adjust our words to make sure our message comes across.
Hosted by:
- Reema (artsvest)
- Gabriel (Canada Council for the Arts)
Check Out Room with Make the Case
- To close your action journey, head to the Check Out Room.
- Talk with Hilary and Clara about your followup actions.
- Email your draft to your own email and celebrate with some virtual high-fives!
Hosted by:
- Hilary (Make the Case)
- Clara (Make the Case)
How to Move Around in Zoom Breakout Rooms
Here’s how it works:
–> Click the Breakout rooms button.
This button is in the menu along the bottom of your Zoom window. The icon is a black grid around four white boxes.
You might have to click More to see this button. The More icon is a white circle with three dots.
–> Review the options.
These will be:
- Writing Room
- Social Cohesion 101
- Organizational Voice
- Pitching
- Check Out Room
–> Click the one you want.
In this example, the Writing Room.
Click Yes to confirm.
–> You are on your way!
–> You can always move to another breakout room.
Follow the same steps to visit as many rooms as you need.
–> You can always start over.
Click ‘Leave Room‘ in the bottom right corner of your window and you will return to the Main Meeting Room. Tate can help!
Action #1: Write a Grant Paragraph
Convince a funder or investor that your project creates meaningful social cohesion outcomes.
You will adapt the paragraph you wrote in the Brief Template to write a paragraph that highlights:
- the community need or gap you responded to
- the activities you organized
- the changes you observed (participation, trust, connection, dialogue)
- the tool you used to measure these outcomes
- why investment helps create these outcomes
| Action Template | Your Social Cohesion Brief |
| A. About Your Project | STEP 1 |
| B. Results | STEP 2 STEP 4 |
| C. Why it matters | Artworks Report SLIDES RESEARCH SNAPSHOT SUMMARY NOTE (pdf) |
| D. The Ask | STEP 1 STEP 6 STEP 7 |
| Review STEP 5 for other relevant content |
Action #2: Write a Report Outcomes Section
Document the outcomes of the project in a neutral, evidence-based way.
You will adapt the paragraph you wrote in the Brief Template to write a paragraph that emphasizes:
- what happened
- who participated
- what outcomes were observed
- what evidence or signals support these observations
| Action Template | Your Social Cohesion Brief |
| A. About Your Project | STEP 1 |
| B. Results | STEP 2 STEP 4 |
| C. Why it matters | Artworks Report SLIDES RESEARCH SNAPSHOT SUMMARY NOTE (pdf) |
| D. The Ask | STEP 1 STEP 6 STEP 7 |
| Review STEP 5 for other relevant content |
Action #3: Write Advocacy Talking Points
Explaining the impact of your project in plain language to someone in a conversation.
In this situation, the goal is not to memorize a perfect script, but to remember the logic of your brief so you can speak naturally and adapt it to the person in front of you.
When having these conversations you should therefore keep these four things in mind:
- The project context
- The activity
- The interactions observed
- How these interactions signal they contributed to social cohesion
| Action Template | Your Social Cohesion Brief |
| A. Why it matters | STEP 1 |
| B. Results | STEP 4 |
| C. Next steps | Review STEP 1-7 for values relevant to the person you are engaging |
Check our Five Steps Guide for Writing Economic Impact Talking Points for additional tips.