Situated in the hamlet of Rosebud, Alberta, 100 kilometres northeast of Calgary with a population of 100, the Rosebud Centre for the Arts was created with a mission of presenting arts and education in a faith-based community. And while its Rosebud Theatre is responsible for revitalizing the community in a big way, attaining sustainability in this rural area is no easy feat. Like any arts organization, the theatre faces a number of challenges and funding, says executive director Bob Davis, is at the top of the list.

It’s one of the reasons they launched the Rosebud School of the Arts years ago and why they introduced dinner to their theatre offerings, figuring it could bring in additional revenue to offset the costs of the school. The dining option also created a labour force through employment opportunities for students. The social enterprise model was successful, thanks to various intended and unintended outcomes. For example, students needing a place to live became tenants of the instructors, who created basement suites to meet the need for local housing.

A number of other revenue-generating enterprises were launched over the years, including a radio show, a gift shop, and an art gallery. Some, like the dinner, were more successful than others. But Rosebud essentially responded to their funding issue “by doing things our own way,” says Davis proudly.

Lack of funding is a common theme for every organization in the sector, especially in the arts. But, according to Davis, the issue is that much more significant in rural communities. For Rosebud, it comes down to a lack of access to corporate donations, since there’s only one major corporation in their region. And while Rosebud enjoys a wonderful relationship with that company, Encana, their art contemporaries in Calgary have a range of oil, business and insurance companies with whom they can potentially develop partnerships.

Corporations like to be seen supporting arts in the communities where they and their employees operate, explains Davis. It’s perhaps not surprising, therefore, to learn that while nonprofits in urban centres garner 35% of their funding from corporations, rural nonprofits receive less than 2% of their funding from such sources.

Reliance on one industry

Funding is also a challenge for Superior North Community Futures Development Corporation (Superior North CFDC). Designed to support and stimulate economic growth and diversification, specifically in rural regions, the Ontario organization represents a population of 14,000 over 12 communities, covering an area of approximately 350 kms.

According to General Manager Anne-Marie Bourgeault, their unique funding issue comes down to the fact that the Northern Ontario region was traditionally focused on a single industry: forestry. When it took a hit a few years ago, the effects were substantial, with many residents leaving in search of work elsewhere. As Bourgeault asks rhetorically, “If you don’t have people, how are you supposed to get money?”

She is of the mind that Superior North CFDC’s challenges are unique to their rural status for one simple reason: if one industry goes down in a bigger city, it’s not going to affect the whole urban centre. Alternatively, the loss of forestry impacted nonprofits in this region so significantly, they were forced to increase their mandates to draw in more people and to double up to conserve resources.

Things are starting to improve as communities are coming to realize small- and medium-sized businesses are more sustainable over the long-term than one big one (and that focusing only on one industry has potentially dangerous consequences). Forestry is also on the mend. “But it takes time,” Bourgeault says. “It won’t be what it was, but it’s getting stronger.”

Attraction and retention

Like the irrepressible domino effect, challenges have a tendency to be interconnected in big ways in rural communities. With the tanking of forestry in Superior North, for example, communities lost a swath of workers and volunteers. Bourgeault puts the number at 90 people out of a community of 350. To best illustrate what that means, she says, consider what would happen if one third of the people of Toronto were out of work. “That’s a catastrophe.” Not only is finding staff and volunteers an issue, retention becomes a problem too. “You get someone who really wants to give back to community, but they get burnt out,” she says.

Rosebud knows about that issue too. In their aim to revitalize some of their older buildings, Rosebud recently completed a capital campaign. They received a good chunk of support from government partners, but considering the slim population base, “the pool of donors is quite a bit less than in urban settings,” Davis says. “I think there’s donor fatigue,” he adds, explaining how with nonprofits from music, sports, church and more all looking for money, there’s only so much to go around.

The weak labour force was a challenge too. It’s why Rosebud added dinner offerings to the theatre school. One of their main issues was finding actors for their shows. They needed to draw from a mix of students, staff and contracted professional actors brought in from elsewhere, but recruiting qualified staff to come to the region wasn’t easy. With no grocery store, gas station or school in the vicinity, “you really have to make a strong case for who you are and what you do,” says Davis. “There needs to be a strong mission or purpose that people will buy into, because their lifestyle will change.”

Effects of the local economy

Not every organization feels their rural status creates a more challenging environment. Evidently, it depends on the region in which you’re situated and its unique characteristics. Take the Saskatchewan 4-H Council, a project-based youth organization dedicated to the growth and development of their members, leaders, volunteers and staff. They too deal with funding (money comes from membership, corporations and government grants), recruitment and retention issues. As Executive Director Valerie Pearson, explains, “We’re growing and as we expand our membership and programs, we need more money to do it.”

But here’s where this nonprofit may differ from other examples: over the past few years Saskatoon, much like the entire province of Saskatchewan, has been booming. Thanks to the strength of the oil and gas industries, former residents are moving back from stints in Alberta and fresh immigrants are coming from Ontario and other provinces.

In fact, the staff challenge at 4-H is more a question of whether they’ll be swayed by other competitive opportunities. And thanks to the reverse domino effect, more people in the province means more housing under construction, more teachers and more franchises.

Whether a result of the boom and/or due to a renewed focus and effort, it’s been an equally good time for 4-H. “We’ve turned the organization around,” enthuses Pearson. “We had to look at new and creative ways to get more people involved.” They also found new projects (like a new environmental initiative in the works) and constituents to work with, including First Nations communities, which has proven very successful.

Lessons learned

For 4-H, there are benefits in being both traditional and flexible. “We need to hold onto our core, what made us who we are, but we know that, to continue to grow, we’re going to have to change.” That means new projects, new markets and new technologies.

What has Rosebud learned about dealing with its own challenges? Patience is a virtue, says Davis. “Work with the assets you have because they’re probably good enough,” he adds. And because small rural areas necessitate a high level of connectivity between your work and everyday life, make a point to get to know the people in your community.

As for Bourgeault, she deals with volunteers and staffing issues by looking for innovative ways to get people engaged. She’s also come to find there really is strength in numbers, as more and more groups are realizing they can’t meet their goals by themselves. “Most solutions I find by looking at who has a similar mandate or passion about a topic and having people form partnerships.” In fact, 2010 was one of the organization’s most successful — that’s the year they organized four distinct partnerships, borne of all different sectors. “It’s time to introduce innovative ways of doing things,” Bourgeult says.

Elisa Birnbaum is a freelance journalist, producer and communications consultant living in Toronto. She is also president of Elle Communications and can be reached at: info@ellecommunications.ca.

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