Stratford not ready to begin Grand Trunk Community Hub fundraising, consultants say

The City of Stratford and the YMCA of Three Rivers have more work to do before asking local donors to support the planned redevelopment of the former Grand Trunk Railway repair shop in downtown Stratford into a community hub.

That conclusion was presented to council Monday by Celeste Bannon Waterman, a partner with fundraising consulting company KCI Philanthropy, which was hired last year to complete a planning study for a community fundraising campaign for a portion of the project’s estimated $68-million price tag.

“Any time we do a study like this, there are a number of readiness factors that we analyze and look at,” Waterman said. “For any organization, these are the things that must be in place or at least need to be addressed throughout the readiness phase of any campaign to ensure you are actually successful in meeting the goal. One of those is that well-defined case for support. In other words, what is the case you’re making to those prospective donors about why they should give you their hard-earned dollars?”

For the consultants, there were key details missing from the proposal.

“It wasn’t just about some of the costing details,” Waterman noted. “There were questions like, ‘What is the relationship between the YMCA of Three Rivers and the City of Stratford in terms of how this campaign is going to actually work on the ground?’ There were questions about who the other tenants are going to be within the site and other project details.”

Among the other factors the consultants examined, the project does have institutional leaders – the mayor and city councilors – to lead the effort while the YMCA has an experienced fundraising team, Waterman said. Still, there are questions about what level of human resource commitment the YMCA can accommodate while simultaneously fundraising to support itself. Waterman also said the project’s pool of prospective contributors is still in early stages of development, meaning work need to be done to secure the larger anchor donors whose early gifts might encourage others to donate. There are also questions, Waterman said, about volunteer support for the campaign.

“Here’s what we recommend you work on before we continue with the rest of the study,” Waterman said. “First and foremost, the city and the YMCA of Three Rivers (need to) work to create a memorandum of understanding. It’s really important to get that relationship clarified before we go out and start talking to people because, once you start, it’s really hard to go back and fix that.

“And there’s very much some key questions that need to be worked out. Who’s going to receive the money? How does that money flow? Who’s going to cover expenses? What is the amount we’re trying to raise funds for? For the YMCA, if they are going to raise money, are they going to hire staff?”

Waterman said Stratford and the YMCA also need to nail down the project costs and how much the city plans to contribute.

Waterman said the city should plan to contribute roughly 90 per cent of the total capital cost, which could be supplemented by potential funding from senior levels of government.

“Generally when it comes to capital for municipal projects, what I hear from donors is they’re looking for most or all of that to come from the city,” Waterman said. “So that might look like 90 per cent of the capital cost. Now it’s a ballpark figure and it really depends on other factors, including how much the cost is or if there’s other opportunities (for funding). There might be other opportunities municipalities can do creatively around social funding.

Before the full study can be completed, the city also needs to develop a project communications strategy while continuing to build a local donor pipeline, as well as tailoring the city’s fundraising and sponsorship policies to allow for a campaign of this magnitude.

Prior to council voting to have staff proceed with these recommendations, Coun. Cody Sebben – the only councilor to vote against the motion – asked the consultant whether a fundraising campaign for the community hub project is even feasible for a community this size.

“I don’t think I can comment without having clarity on the other factors,” she said. “There’s just too many unknowns at this point.”

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