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Metronome Canada launches massive fundraising program
March 20, 2000
This article appeared previously in Canadian FundRaiser
One of Canada's most ambitious construction projects is pressing all the right buttons to raise funds to turn dreams into reality. Everyone in Canada, corporate or individual, is being asked through one medium or another to support the creation of Metronome Canada, a giant cultural facility to be built in the renovated and restructured old Canada Malting silos on Toronto's waterfront.
Metronome has been pursued as a dream since 1993 by John Harris, president of the Harris Institute for the Arts, which offers music industry education at the post-graduate level. The project really picked up steam in the past year when the city of Toronto executed a 99-year lease for the site, and Canada Customs & Revenue Agency granted charity status to Metronome Canada Culture/Heritage Foundation, enhancing the project's ability to seek donations from the public.

Huge support already in place
A tremendous amount of outside support is already guaranteed to Metronome. The construction, advertising and media industries have been particularly generous. Seventeen construction trades have agreed to donate 50% of their profits (valued at about $2.3 million) if they're involved in the building/renovation. Fifty-nine media patrons have already donated an estimated $2.6 million in advertising space and time, starting with 1,240 billboards in the Toronto area, and as the year turned, the campaign went national.
The City of Toronto Millennium Task Force has enthusiastically endorsed the concept as a millennium project and has campaigned on Metronome's behalf for further federal and provincial funding. Heritage Toronto, the Harbourfront community, and 64 founding corporate patrons are also on board. Although the Millennium Bureau of Canada Grants Program initially refused to provide the requested $10 million contribution to funding, Harris is now awaiting response to a revised proposal which - at the bureau's suggestion - focuses more on the programming aspects of the project and less on the "bricks and mortar".

Another $35 million still needed
If that funding comes through and $25 million in bank loans, to be repaid from revenue when the facility is open, is confirmed, Metronome still needs to raise about $35 million from the general public, corporate sponsors, and foundations. Support has already been strong from all three sectors and from right across the country. "It's amazingly broad-based," Harris says.
Backed by the extensive donated media support, the main fundraising elements are 'angels', merchandise, and public recognition on-site. Through direct mail and its website (http://metronomecanada.com), Metronome offers the opportunity to become a bronze, silver, gold, platinum, or diamond Metronome Angel for $50, $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 respectively. Each angel receives a numbered certificate and lapel pin, his/her name on a plaque in the atrium lobby, a listing on the website, inclusion in the database to receive updates, newsletters and invitations to special events, plus a tax receipt for 100% of the amount. Donations can be made directly on the website, charged to Visa.

A merchandise catalogue
The 22-item line of merchandise, which is showcased on the site but must be ordered by mail or phone, is also featured in a 32-page full-colour booklet published by Metronome and used for fundraising and promotional purposes. It was introduced at a major Metronome Canada pavilion in the Music building at the 1999 Canadian National Exhibition, where 1,952 items were sold, and it won the La Creme de la Creme Award of Excellence from the Promotional Products Association of Canada. Featuring the Metronome logo of two stylized notes, the line includes a clock, lapel pins, and a variety of clothing. Prices range from $5 for a lapel pin, through various below-$100 points for sweats, tees, etc, to $600 for a leather tour jacket.
The third form of public fundraising involves recording the donor's name on a patio stone for $50, a CD for $100, or a theatre seat for $1,500.
At the beginning of the year, the ongoing campaign comprises a major mailing of the brochure and the angels promotion piece to a database of about 4,800 persons who have in one way or another expressed interest, as well as ongoing meetings with potential corporate or individual lead patrons. Harris hopes to make a fundraising progress announcement in March.
International design awards for "the world's first Music City" Metronome Canada will include Canada's Music Museum, an 800-seat concert theatre, offices for the music industry, the Music Education Centre, music-related retail, a music-themed children's playground, and The Riverboat, a floating exhibit celebrating the coffee houses and folk music of Yorkville in the 1960s. There will also be a Malting Museum, in tribute to the buildings' original purpose, and several restaurants. Its design, by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg, has won numerous awards nationally and internationally.
"Metronome Canada will integrate, educate, celebrate and promote all facets of the Canadian music industry," the promotional booklet states. In Harris's words, it "will strengthen the infrastructure of the Canadian music industry while creating a dramatic international symbol of Canada's music community." Ground breaking is scheduled for Canada Day this year, with the Grand Opening planned for April 7, 2002, except for the Riverboat, which will launch a year later.
For further information: John Harris, Harris Institute for the Arts, 416/367-0162, fax 416/367- 1569, (toll free 1 800/291-4477), e-mail metronomecanada@hotmail.com, Web site http://metronomecanada.com.