Collective Fundraising Pays Off

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Summer, 2000

A creative approach to arts fundraising has brought 23 theatre and dance companies from Toronto and parts of southern Ontario into a partnership known as the Creative Trust. Operating somewhat like a United Way for the arts, the Creative Trust negotiates corporate sponsorship on behalf of all the participating companies at once.

For sponsors, the Trust offers an unusual opportunity to reach 600,000 audience members in a wide range of venues. The Ontario government has pledged to match the Trust's donations through its Arts Endowment Fund Program; bringing the Creative Trust's total funds to over $1 million since February 2000. The first sponsor to commit funds to the program was Jackson Triggs Vintners, with a contribution of over $50,000. Other contributions to date range from $1,000 up to a generous $200 thousand from the George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation.