"My Ottawa includes Culture": accounting for the 2004 campaign

"My Ottawa includes Culture" - Adrian Gollner's final -- post-campaign -- accounting posted to Artengine:

Monetary Donations:
Monies donated throughout the campaign: $4764.89
Monies raised at the Art Attack fundraiser: $4717.90
Total donations: $9482.79

Expenditures and reimbursements:
Signs: 3200 signs printed (400 French; 2800 English) $4025.00
Stickers: 6500 stickers printed (2000 French; 4500 English) $701.50
Reimbursements for expenses incurred during sign distribution: $331.11
Cost incurred in preparation for the Art Attack event: $452.49
Reimbursement of start-up funding: Artengine $500.00
Letter and Press Kit initiative: (postage, stationary and photocopying) $1569.35

Remaining Funds:
There is $1903.34 remaining after the campaign. It was thought prudent by the committee to retain these monies in the event that the arts are againthreatened in the 2005 City of Ottawa Budget. The monies will bedeposited in a bank account for the remainder of the year. If the fundsare not required to fight another campaign, then the "Our Culture Includes Ottawa Committee" will consider putting the money towards the bettermentof the Ottawa arts community. The exact application of the funds will bedetermined at a later date.

Businesses Who Donated Materials or Services:
Bright Brush Studios donated two large banners for the rally at City Hall
Mercury Lounge donated the use of their space for the Art Attack Event
ArtZone Fine Art Services delivered signs

The Course of the "Our Ottawa Includes Culture" Campaign
Within a few days of the release of the 2004 City of Ottawa Draft Budget afew artists and art professionals met and decided that an election-stylesign campaign should be launched. Donations for the campaign were accepted through Gallery 101 and a fundraising/publicity event was planned. The Art Attack event not only raised funds to continue the campaign, it created a forum through which signs were distributed, volunteers were recruited, and politicians and artists could speak to theimportance of the arts. The event garnered local, provincial and nationalmedia coverage and signaled to City Council that we were a force to bereckoned with. A larger committee was then formed to oversee the use of the funds and toplan the next steps in the campaign. At this time it seemed that agrowing number of councillors were leaning towards a small tax increaseand the protection of arts funding. With funds at the ready more signs were printed and stickers and bannerswere prepared for the rally at City Hall. The "March Forth on March F ourth" event, organized by CUPE, was another show of force andresolve, but momentum had to be maintained. With the publishing of anarticle in the Globe and Mail, in which the Mayor expressed his views, it became apparent that the campaign needed to be directed squarely atindividual council members. A letter campaign designed to deluge thecouncillors was then undertaken and each councillor was sent a press kitincluding copies of all of the coverage the cause had attracted. Further,a letter, organized by the Ottawa Art Gallery and signed by the heads ofOttawa's corporate elite in support of the arts, was sent to council andis said to have had a great impact.All of these efforts helped prepare the ground for the vote. Together with lobbying by other individuals and groups and a forceful statement insupport of the arts by the mayor, arts and culture funding was maintained. It should be noted that the "City Council decision to approve $719,000 infunding to art, heritage, and festivals is one-time" and we may well haveto fight the fight again this fall.