City pilots new local event grant

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A new local grant is being piloted this year, known as the Community Event Grant, replacing the former Community Investment Fund (CIF) that was introduced in 2013.

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Largely revising what CIF had to offer, the Community Event Grant changes language to refocus what the grant is used for, as well as allocation amounts.

Criteria was altered to put more of a focus on new events by offering seed funding, as opposed to operational funds. It notes first-time and up-and-coming events that demonstrate goals to enhance arts, culture and heritage, and align with the City of Airdrie’s social policy.

In CIF, there were three main categories—neighbourhood grants of up to $500 in matched funds, small-scale event grants of up to $1,000 in matched funds, and large-scale events of up to $10,000.

Between 2014 and 2019, repeat applicants were often given funding for their already established events, with lower funding streams seeing next to no interest. Jennifer Lutz, community developer at the City of Airdrie, said CIF wasn’t quite meeting its intended purpose.

“What we can really learn… is almost all these organizations accessed CIF at least three times, so it was a continuous stream of revenue for these events that kind of turned into operational money versus seed money,” said Lutz.

“The applicant pool remained really small, and I guess the just of it is that it really wasn’t meeting council priorities to create new events with diversity,” she said.

“We’ve decided to rename it so that people know that there’s a real difference.”

Under the new criteria, events in their first year that expect more than 200 attendees can apply for up to $2,500, or a gift-in-kind.

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Others that are in their second or third years, also expecting over 200 attendees, can apply for up to $5,000 or a gift-in-kind.

Lutz said the 200-attendee criteria was introduced to allow the City to be more involved through its Special Events process.

“We wanted events to be at more than 200 attendees so that would trigger our Special Events process, where we’re making sure the events are held safely and in conjunction with all our City departments,” said Lutz.

Other changes include a simplified application process, and assessments conducted through direct conversations.

Lutz said the goal was to be more hands-on in assisting organizers.

“It’s all a trigger to hook up a community event with a community developer to connect with other groups, and really leverage that funding,” said Lutz.

“They may get $2,500, but they’re also going to get a lot of staff time and assistance. Maybe there are other ways we can support them through marketing and different connections,” she said.

A program review was started in 2018, with information shared with council, the Community Services Advisory Board (CSAB), and past CIF recipients.

Through that process, it was found that evaluation criteria was broad, there was a lack of allocation formulas, and outcome measures were subjective, said Lutz.

“We’re trying to attract diverse groups where English may be a second language, but there were a lot of barriers to this grant,” said Lutz.

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“I think that’s one reason why we just didn’t see $500 neighbourhood grant applications. It was just too onerous, and too much process within it,” she said.

“It was also just a once-per-year thing, and required a year in advance to apply for it.”

2022 will largely be a pilot year for the grant. It will undergo a review at the end of the year to see if any improvements are necessary.

Lutz added that past recipients of CIF aren’t being completely excluded this year.

“We do have some gap for this year. We don’t want to add more issues for people who are recovering from covid, so we are still going to look at the past applications in the pot for this year,” she said.

“We’re not totally cutting anybody off this year.”

Councillor Tina Petrow and Mayor Peter Brown were concerned about what the revisions could mean for smaller events, such as block parties, that find it difficult to guarantee a 200-person attendance.

“I don’t know any block party that has had 200 people at it. I… don’t think there’s an opportunity for people to host those in their communities, which to me strengthens those communities,” said Petrow.

“I’d hate to see that go away. There’s no what there’s that many people at any block party that I’ve been to,” said Brown.

Lutz explained that for smaller events such as block parties, which often don’t require additional funding, organizers could still apply for other City contributions such as road blocks or signage.

“Part of this marketing is to have those conversations. You may not need $1,000 of funding, but you could use (something else),” she said.

“It’s hooking people up to a community developer to make it easier and better for everyone.”

On average, the City allocated about $40,000 per year through CIF. The same amount was allocated for the revised grant for 2022.

The Community Events Grant intends to be a quarterly allocation, improving flexibility, said Lutz.

“The review process won’t be a year in advance, so it will be more nimble and active.”