SMA Day Toolkit
September is the month when we celebrate state museum associations. Our theme for 2023 is SUPER, as in SUPERheroes and SUPERpowers. What is your SMA’s SUPERpower? Let’s raise awareness of the SUPERheroes who lead our SMAs and the SUPERpowers we use to serve our members.
The COSMA Communications Committee has devised a Tool Kit to make it easy for your SMA to participate. During the month of September, tell your story by sharing the good work and special people who make your SMA SUPER.
#COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA
Welcome to the SMA Day/Month toolkit. This tool kit is designed to make it easy for you to promote your SMA. The goal of SMA Day/Month is to demonstrate the presence and importance of the nation’s 45 SMAs.
How Your SMA Can Participate
COSMA has developed three ways your state museum association can participate. We recommend you share this information with your SMA leadership – staff, volunteers, and your board of directors. Everything is designed with ease of use in mind. COSMA knows you are busy! You can easily insert the following into your social media channels. The following graphics may be downloaded directly from the COSMA website statemuseumassociations.org.
Throughout SMA Month, please use the following hashtags with your relevant social media posts: #COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA.
Questions? Please contact COSMA at 682-219-9599 or [email protected]
Thank you for your participation, it is going to be rewarding and fun.
Three Ways to Participate
1. Write about SMA Day/Month in your SMA newsletter
Include a note about COSMA and SMA Day/Month in your newsletter. Let your members know what to watch for and how they can participate. Use any of the SUPER graphics and remember to include the hashtags #COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA.
Sample text:
__________(name of your SMA) is one of 45 state museum associations (SMAs) across the country – and a proud member of COSMA, the Coalition of State Museum Associations. During the month of September, considered SMA month, COSMA encourages SMAs to highlight their essential contributions that strengthen the museum field. The theme for SMA Day/Month in 2023 is SUPER, as in SUPERheroes and SUPERpowers. Among the SUPERpowers that SMAs demonstrate are efficient member services, solid leadership, creative communications, and advocacy on behalf of our member museums that support our communities!
2. Social Media Awareness Campaign
Use your SMA Facebook page, Instagram, and other social media to generate buzz about the importance of your SMA and tell your story. Promote the aspects of what you do, share facts/figures of your success, leaning on how you are a SUPERhero and your organization's SUPERpowers. Remember to use the following hashtags with your posts, #COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA.
Post the week of September 11:
Sample Text:
__________(name of your SMA) is proud to offer _____ (insert services/things you’re proud of) to our ____ (insert number of members) across the state to better serve their communities! As one of 45 state museum associations across the country, we collectively celebrate our service and value on SMA Day on Sept. 29! #COSMAConnects #SupportYourSMA
Post on September 29:
Sample Text:
Today, the [your state museum association] joins with SMAs across the nation to celebrate the importance of what we do for our museum communities. Please join us in recognizing an SMA’s service and value! #COSMAConnects #SupportYourSMA
3. Frame your SUPERpower! Invite your members and board members to fill in a frame, then take a photo with it.
SMAs should encourage their members and board members to download the SMA Day frame, print it, and complete the following sentence in the frame: “My SMA’s SUPER-power is……”
Then, have your members and board members take a photo with their completed frame and post it on September 29 in celebration of SMA Day. Ask them to use the hashtags #COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA in their posts.
Suggestions:
Pre-fill some sample frames with phrases like:
- (My SMA’s SUPER-power is) offering learning opportunities for museum professionals
- (My SMA’s SUPER-power is) connecting members to each other
- (My SMA’s SUPER-power is) guiding professional development for museums in our state
- (My SMA’s SUPER-power is) advocating for museums
Be sure you recruit a few of your members and board members with a direct request and share with them the link and/or graphic below.
- Encourage your members and board members to post their image with the SMA Day frames. They can post in two ways:
Option 1 - preferred
They can post their photo in the comments to your SMA Day Facebook post.
Option 2
They can post the image to their own social media with #COSMAConnects and #SupportYourSMA and tag your state museum association. Be sure their post settings are public.
COSMA Promotional Graphics
You may use these graphics for your publications to advertise or familiarize your board and members with COSMA.
Question:
What if my state museum association is unable to make a post on September 29?
With a little planning you can still participate by scheduling your post in advance.
To schedule a post, follow these steps:
From your News Feed, click Pages in the left menu. Go to your Page. Click Publishing Tools in the left column. Click Create Post in the top. Create your post. Click and select Schedule Post. Select the date and time when you want the post to publish and click Schedule, then click Schedule Post.
Get to know COSMA
Who is COSMA? The Coalition of State Museum Associations (COSMA) is the only national nonprofit organization whose priority is to serve the needs and aspirations of state museum associations (SMAs). Through COSMA, all SMAs have access to resources they need to strengthen museums across their state. Because strong state museum associations lead to stronger museums, one of COSMA’s primary goals is to help every SMA achieve its highest potential.
Long before COSMA was established in 2018, leaders of SMAs had been working together informally to bolster the national network of SMAs. The goals of this group over the years have remained much the same—to increase the capacity, communication, professionalism, and stability of SMAs so that they may more effectively serve the museums and museum professionals that make up their membership. Read more about COSMA history here.
COSMA operates on the strength of active and enthusiastic volunteers and two part-time contract employees. The work of COSMA is conducted by numerous committees with representatives from 19 states. Membership in COSMA is limited to SMAs and COSMA is moving into its 5th year of 100% membership retention. The COSMA and COSMA Foundation Board of Directors list can be found here.
How can my state museum association be a member of COSMA? Good news, membership in COSMA is open to ALL state museum associations. Your membership provides one full year of COSMA benefits and dues are based on a sliding scale. There is even a pay what you can option. COSMA benefits state museum associations (SMAs) by:
- Building the capacity of SMAs to better serve museums and museum professionals
- Centralizing communication and collaboration between SMAs
- Strengthening advocacy efforts for the museum field, at both national and state level
You can find more information about COSMA membership here.
How do I contact COSMA?
[email protected] | 682-219-9599
statemuseumassociations.org