We met our fundraising goal!
We are very excited to announce that through partnerships with Virtualware, Beanfield Metroconnect and Ubisoft, we have met the fundraising goal set by the City of Toronto!
As part of our February 2018 settlement agreement, TMAC was required to raise $2.5 million to provide the City with comfort that we are able to establish partnerships and secure private funding to operate the facility. While we never should have had to agree to these terms, considering our purchase agreement was finalized in 2014 and contained no such requirement, we agreed in order to bring an end to our legal dispute and secure the space for the benefit of our member organizations and the community.
While the original minutes of settlement dictated that the funds must be cash in the bank, the City agreed at a meeting in January that because obtaining ownership of the building is still out of the City’s and TMAC’s direct control and without a timeline, that sponsorship agreements including a condition related to TMAC obtaining title could satisfy the cash obligation – a totally reasonable term for a donor or sponsor.
Our big challenge in fundraising over the last few years has been the uncertainty around when and if TMAC would obtain title. TMAC’s mandate is to operate an arts facility – how can we ask someone to fund something that does not exist?
Our donors and sponsors have long been concerned about the complexity of our situation, since we’re dependent on at least two other parties to fulfil their obligations – the trustee for Urbancorp’s bankruptcy to follow through with the construction work it needs to do to sever the property from the space it will be selling on the commercial market, and the City of Toronto to cease interfering with our right to complete the purchase of the space – in order to take ownership of the building.
The clarity the January meeting brought allowed us to quickly secure commitments from our sponsors!
Drumroll, please… 🥁
We are very excited to announce that through partnerships with Virtualware, Beanfield Metroconnect and Ubisoft, we have raised $2.285 million toward our goal. (The difference of $215,000 is made up through revenue generated through our member leases, as allowed under the minutes of settlement.)
We are genuinely ecstatic to have support from these private sector companies – they get what TMAC is all about and have put in so much time and effort behind the scenes to support us and our member orgs over the years, and especially in the months leading up to now as we’ve hammered out the finer points of our joint programs. We can’t wait to share more about what they will be bringing to TMAC over the next few years, and how you can get involved.
