We are gazing into the future and we KNOW big things are on the horizon for us.
Asking for support is uncomfortable. Expecting people to actually do it is unrealistic unless they can be given a clear understanding of your goals. That’s why we want to take a minute and let you know what we’re thinking.
We have three main goals:
We want to keep our print costs as low as possible
We want to expand our reach
We want to spread our message & empower our contributors
And how can we do that? With your help, we believe we can do whatever we put our minds to! The financial goals set out in our ‘Fund our Future’ campaign are based on real targets we’ve set for ourselves.
Base Target — $3,000
This covers our day-to-day operating costs: shipping, web hosting and shopping cart feature, customer management software, marketing, banking/transaction fees, and obligations we have to the Canada Library and Archives. At the very least, meeting this target means that we’re able to keeping doing what we’re doing. No added bells and whistles, but we can keep doing the work of perpetuating the arts across Canada.
[All it will take is 200 new or renewing digital subscribers.]
Stretch Goal — $6,000
We know you’ve been waiting for this one: we want to pay our contributors! You guys work so hard and you deserve a gesture of financial gratitude. This wouldn’t let us pay a huge amount, but enough to show that we’re here to support you on your creative career.
[All it will take is 400 new or renewing digital subscribers.]
Super Stretch Goal — $10,000
Real talk here. Blank Spaces has a small but vibrant team that has been working for free since the very first days. If we could honour them by paying them an annual or quarterly honorarium, we’ll be more likely to keep them enthusiastic about new projects and ideas. At this level of fundraising we would also remove our submission fee, meaning it would be free for Canadians to submit to Blank Spaces all the time, not just during publication months!
[All it will take is 667 new or renewing digital subscribers.]
Long Term Super Duper Stretch Goal — $30,000
This is the big one. This is the one that keeps us up at night, imagining all the doors it would open to us…
We want a storefront! We want to get out of the home office and into a spot in the community where we can become contributors. We want to offer a space for quiet reflection and writing; we want to offer workshops and seminars and art classes; we want a proper space for team meetings and design work; and we want a spot that truly reflects who we are and what we stand for. (We’re already making a list of artwork we want to commission from Blank Spaces contributors! Have we designed floor plans and proposals? Um… like a million of them. Okay. Not a million. But you get the idea. We’re obsessed. Our aesthetic of choice? Think Rose Apothecary on Schitt’s Creek - but literary.)
[All it will take is 2000 new or renewing digital subscribers.]
The beautiful thing about this fundraiser is that it’s not just about you handing over your hard-earned money. We are giving you something in return. At the very least, you’ll be getting a digital subscription to a great publication; not only that, but you’ll be investing in a vision that is helping to spread a message of inclusion and possibility to writers and artists across Canada. There is space for everyone. That is what we’re here to promote and that is what you’ll be giving your money to.