Multi-faceted funding sources vital to SAAG success

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on November 2, 2022.

Herald photo by Al Beeber Communications co-ordinator Jeremy Franchuk, second from left, speaks about preparations for the upcoming SAAG Social as executive director Su Ying Strang, left, and others listen Tuesday at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

A new fundraising initiative will be unveiled Thursday when the Southern Alberta Art Gallery hosts its second annual SAAG Social.

The event runs from 7 to 10 p.m. at the downtown art gallery.

SAAG is looking at developing a sustainable fundraising model for the future and the announcement that will be made during the event will put in the spotlight the gallery’s efforts to gather financial support from a spectrum of sources.

The event will feature live performances by Steven William Foord, Jess Tollestrup and Lolly Willowes, a 50/50 draw, various food offerings and a silent auction.

Executive director Su Ying Strang said Tuesday SAAG wants to celebrate the 100-year history of the original Carnegie Library which opened in 1922 and to look toward the next 100 years.

Last year the board of directors hosted the first social which occurred just about the time Strang was hired in her role.

“They were really looking for a way – at that point everything was starting to open back up – to come together and celebrate with community. Just the opportunity to gather and connect again,” said Strang.

At the same time, the board was looking for a fundraiser that could be a “friend-raiser” in terms of community building, she said. So the board looked at an event doing double duty, creating an event that would allow the community to connect and have fun while raising much-needed funds for SAAG, Strang said.

The gallery is “really working toward a diversified revenue stream that has sustainable public sector funding as well as investment from community,” said Strang.

“I strongly believe that having that good healthy mix of public sector funds as well as donations from community members and earned revenue from events like a fundraiser is how you can really have a healthy organization that can survive some of the ebbs and flows,” added Strang.

Strang said SAAG is lucky to have a team that is excited about what it does – “it’s not everyone that gets to work in a sector, in a field they’re passionate about. I personally feel really grateful for that every day. But at the same time, you’ve got to meet needs so it’s a balance of making sure we’re investing properly in our institution and bringing in the funds to do so is such a big component of that,” the executive director added.

“The fee-for-service model allows us to leverage income and revenues from other levels of government so we bring in federal funding, we bring in provincial funding and then we also bring in that private sector funding and that earned revenue piece.”

She said “incredible” city businesses have stepped forward to support the event with Subaru of Lethbridge being the presenting sponsor this year as well as in 2021.

“The energy and vibe is ‘lets get together, let’s keep it light and friendly, have some food, have some drinks, connect and enjoy one another’.”

The new initiative that will be launched Thursday will address a need to look at how SAAG is asking people to support the gallery. With the centennial of the Carnegie building, the opportunity is here to look at the past century of community building and philanthropy in Lethbridge “and we want to think about what is the sustainable and inclusive approach to philanthropy and community building and how we’re engaging with our donors for the next hundred years to make sure that these spaces continue to thrive and be hubs for those communities in perpetuity.

“So we have a really cool new fund development that will launch at SAAG Social,” said Strang.

“This organization has a history of not just one or two people who have contributed to it; it’s been hundreds of people who have built the legacy of art and culture in Lethbridge and have done that through activities and institutions that have been based here,” said Strang of the library and SAAG which has operated for 50 years.

“We’re really encouraging folks to share the stories of the folks who have contributed to the institutions in this building and the building itself over the past hundred years” which will be a hands-on community engagement piece at the event.

The fund development part will be an opportunity to contribute to the future.

“We’re looking past and present” and now is a “a moment for us to say ‘let’s really make sure that those next hundred years are sustainable, inclusive and community driven’,” Strang said.

“The cost of doing things today is not the same as the cost of doing things 10 years ago. We need to be able to address that in a multi-faceted way and it’s not just us relying solely on community, it’s not just us relying solely on public sector funds, it’s a combination of them both. And that’s where that sustainability piece comes in – it’s broadening our donor pool, it’s working with public sectors funders, with the City of Lethbridge and administration and council to make sure that we’re building the city we want to see in the next hundred years. And we need to start that work now,” said Strang.

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