Among the other challenges, I mentioned the daunting applications. Sometimes an application process to receive a $5,000 bit of funding would take days to prepare, and then there is the reporting process that goes with it. Perhaps there is a way to simplify that process, especially if you are already a proven organization that includes the checks and balances going forward. In terms of the provincial government, for example, one of our biggest challenges is the operational investments that we receive from the municipal government and the province of P.E.I. Every year, I have to reapply and prove my existence for a small piece of seed money just to get the doors open each year, to get the festival and get the events going at The Guild.
If there were a way that we could even have three-year contracts, it would simplify life so much. I spend so much time proving my existence that I then run out of time to do what I should be doing, which is finding other opportunities for The Guild to grow.