Toronto Arts Foundation announced Jini Stolk as the inaugural Creative Trust Research Fellowship in 2013.

Jini Stolk is Creative Trust Research Fellow at the Toronto Arts Foundation and has led Creative Trust, Toronto Dance Theatre, Toronto Theatre Alliance, and Open Studio. She chairs the Ontario Nonprofit Network and is a Centre for Social Innovation board member; she was previously on the Toronto Arts Council board, and chaired the Artscape, Hum dansoundart and Six Stages Theatre Festival boards. She is a William Kilbourn, Sandra Tulloch and Harold Award winner. 

Toronto Arts Foundation announced Jini Stolk as the inaugural Creative Trust Research Fellowship in 2013. The Fellowship supports thought leadership on the best research and practices in art-making and arts management, and will shine a light on those organizations - in Canada and around the world - that are finding new ways to adapt and change to meet the demands of our fast-changing world.

In the first year of the fellowship Stolk published nine new open source compendiums of knowledge and continued to write the widely subscribed ‘Creative News and Views’, the only arts management blog in Canada. To read Jini’s blog and publications, please visit www.creativetrust.ca.

The Creative Trust Open Source Toolkits are a compendium of processes, policies and program materials reflecting the most important thinking and activities in the success of the Creative Trust's Working Capital for the Arts program. The Toolkits grew out of our desire to share our approach and learning – providing ideas and examples for other arts and non-profit leaders to explore and borrow from, and are made possible thanks to our deeply rewarding relationship with Toronto Arts Foundation, through Creative Trust Research Fellowship. We hope they may offer inspiration and valuable ideas to others as they work to improve the strength and sustainability of their memberships and communities.

Creative Trust’s complete records and documents are available at the University of Guelph Library’s Archival and Special Collections Department. For information on the collection contact libaspc[at]uoguelph[dot]ca

Creative Trust Toolkits

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  Developing the Organization 

  This Toolkit contains details on our strategic thinking and work processes to develop a business plan and detailed extended budget; establish an office; hire staff and develop position descriptions and employment policies; identify, cultivate and involve board and advisory council members willing to participate fully in a major capital campaign; develop governance policies and practices; develop core communications, including vision and mission; develop a communications strategy and materials; and more.

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  Creating the Program 

  This Toolkit contains the critical paths, criteria and processes, program components, decision-making policies, and other details of Creative Trust’s Working Capital for the Arts and Outreach Programs, including the guiding principles which were at the core of our success.

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  Board and Governance 

  This Toolkit addresses questions of how will Board and professional staff share the responsibility of achieving our mission and vision?; how can we firmly guard against conflict of interest?; how do we ensure that our programmatic decision-making and grant-giving practices are transparent and fair?; how can we develop the profile and public trust necessary to achieving our funding goal?

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  Collaborating to Build Audiences 

  Creative Trust’s Audiences Project, launched in 2009, was the most in-depth and multifaceted community audience development initiative in Canada, engaging Creative Trust members in a 3-year in-depth learning process – from engaging and diversifying audiences; arts education and accessibility; data base and box office technology; to the use of social media – drawing on the most successful and best informed practices from our own city and around the world.

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  Collaborating to Build Facilities 

  Materials from the Facilities Initiative which raised awareness of the renovation and repair needs of Toronto’s small and mid-size performing arts facilities, including advocacy documents, deputations, collaborative infrastructure requests, and energy efficiency, environmental sustainability and accessibility projects.

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  Collaborative Fundraising 

  Creative Trust’s collaborative arts fundraising initiatives – the Endowment fundraising campaign and the Working Capital for the Arts capital campaign – remain uniquely successful in Canada. This Toolkit provides details on how each was conceived and carried out.

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  Expanding the Mandate 

  Covers the two year process of consultation and exploration of the possibility of expanding our mandate beyond Working Capital for the Arts to include other core elements of capacity including Audiences and Facilities Development; strategies, process documents, interim board reports, and detailed strategic initiative plans are included.

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  Exploring the Feasibility 

  Covers the one year process (2000 – 2001) of studying the feasibility of starting up a major long-term capacity building program for Toronto’s mid-size music theatre and dance companies: includes project work plans, values and vision statements, financial analyses, interview surveys and results, early program development, and the Feasibility Study Final Report.

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  Grants and Awards 

  Includes financial Agreements with companies admitted to the Working Capital for the Arts program; processes for release of grants and awards for deficit reduction and working capital; approval and payment processes; and Outreach Initiative Grants Program description, application forms, policies and procedures.