The 30th anniversary for Pink Triangle Services Ottawa is not off to an encouraging start as the GLBTQ advocacy centre struggles to meet its $5,000 goal for a holiday crowd-funding campaign.
The fundraising drive on Indiegogo is an experiment for the group as the organization tests new ideas to raise funds for supporting its counselling services and educational workshops.
While the non-profit organization relies on private donations, grants, and funding from the City of Ottawa, some years are definitely better than others, says Claudia Van den Heuvel, PTS Ottawa’s executive director.
“Last year, we didn’t receive any of the grants we applied for,” she says. “You never know if you’re going to get grants.”
GLBTQ hubs tend to experience more shortfalls concerning finances and high turnover rates for staff, says Carleton University sociology professor Alexis Shortfall.
“It’s not entirely uncommon for queer organizations (that) have been around for a long time to have difficulty with (organizational) structure.”
Shortfall explained this was because of inconsistent support and funding given to queer groups throughout the years.
This isn’t the first time PTS Ottawa’s finances have gained attention.
In January 2012, a former board member for PTS called its financial statements for that year “alarming,” according to reports in Daily Xtra, Ottawa’s gay and lesbian newspaper.
Five board members resigned that year after PTS Ottawa`s bylaws were amended to give the executive director the capability to make recommendations on the budget and strategic plan.
PTS Ottawa has also had trouble finding a permanent space to provide its services, having relocated its main offices three times over the past 10 years.
However, over the past 30 years, PTS has managed to become one of the most active GLBTQ groups in the city.
The group started out as an informal discussion group among gay men and women who met regularly in a downtown bar.
It was the first gay advocacy organization in the country to obtain charity status in 1984 which substantially helped the organization with funding.
PTS Ottawa also houses the largest lending library for queer-related literature in the country.
This year not only marks the organization’s 30th year in Ottawa, but also the beginning of just its second full year in its new space on Cooper Street, which Van den Heuvel says is much larger and more suitable for the organization.
But a better space has also meant higher costs.
“Renting downtown isn’t cheap. We pay more in rent but we have more square footage,” she says.
Staff members have often faced the brunt of unsustainable funding at PTS, Van den Heuvel says, since they are not always paid for the amount of work that they actually do.
“The amount we pay our staff is less than what straight people get.”
PTS Ottawa also depends on the support of various other queer advocacy groups in Ottawa for partnership opportunities and access to resources.
Even though PTS Ottawa has made giant strides in increasing the exposure of Ottawa’s GLBTQ community, Shortfall says she believes that these kinds of organizations are often viewed as “extra” to basic services.
The result, she says, is a lack of funding and resources.
“Cuts that seem to be grand and across the board disproportionately affect people who are vulnerable to homophobia and transphobia.”
According to Shortfall, this is because GLBTQ groups are often first on the chopping block when municipal or provincial governments enact funding cuts.