Nii’kinaaganaa’s first AGM
The foundation held it’s first AGM on November 24, 2022 via zoom. Board members Patty Krawec, Terrill Tailfeathers, and Robyn Bourgeois were present. Nora Loreto sent regrets.
Community partners in attendance: Katie Kaiser (Mawikuti’k Society), Joni Hill (Medsin Cup), Anna Aude (Black and Indigenous Harm Reduction), Luke Nicholas (Kids Eat First), and Debbie Ironbow (Community Support - Saskatoon, SK)
Patty presented the financial and general reports.
The Foundation has taken in $102,795 since incorporating. It opened with a bank balance of $3.443 and has a current balance of $19,459.57 of which $7500 is designated for the Grassroots Grandmothers behind Stop Alton Gas. $86,777 have been disbursed through long and short term projects, support given directly to Indigenous individuals, the fire suppression capital project, and legal and administrative costs ($5,716). The linked report includes a breakdown of existing monthly commitments as well as details on existing funding streams. The bulk of the administrative costs were legal bills related to incorporation and we do not anticipate administrative costs being that high in 2023. At present the foundation does not have paid staff and our only regular fees are website and banking costs.
Pay Your Rent began as a Patreon fundraiser in July 2018 with the intention of raising money to continue sending sanitary supplies north to Iqaluit. In August 2018 we had a handful of patrons who donated $211 in total. In November 2021 Nora Loreto, Terril Tailfeathers, and I incorporated the Nii’kinaaganaa Foundation with a monthly budget of $2,195. One year later, we now allocate approximately $10,000 per month raised through Patreon, Ko-fi, PayPal, and e-transfer, hovering around 500 monthly donors along with many one time donors including Pup The Band who donated a portion of their ticket sales from the summer and fall tour dates.
We have three funding streams: long term projects that were in place before incorporation, short term projects, and support that is provided directly to individuals. This individual support has been the most challenging to get right and the primary means for distributing these funds at present is through community organizers who use it to provide support to people in their communities.
All projects are undergoing a review process to ensure that the foundation is meeting their needs and making effective use of the funds provided. We have also changed our reporting process so that we can track general categories of spending. Partners are invited to solicit donations for their project with donors going through Nii’kinaaganaa and designating their donation for that project. The foundation will top up the designated funding to ensure that programs receive their base funding level. This will allow current funds to be used elsewhere without reducing the organizer’s level of funding and allowing for the potential of increased funding. Existing funders are not able to designate their funding as that could unintentionally defund existing projects. This is intended to allow organizers to fundraise without needing to build their own infrastructure to manage donations.
We received three submissions for our call our for graphic design and so all three were accepted. These images will be shared on social media and used to create swag that will be available for purchase and as gifts for donors. Each of these artists will receive $500 after signing an agreement giving the foundation the rights to the image.
We will be dropping the ko-fil platform. It was initially intended to provide donors with the ability to make one time donations, something that is now availble via PayPal and e-transfer. Although ko-fi does not take a fee, it operates through Stripe and PayPal in a way that subjects the donations to fees from those platforms. Within Canada the most cost effective way to donate to the foundation is via e-transfer, however it is not possible to set up monthly donations this way.
At the close of the meeting all partners were invited to provide a brief verbal update on their work.
Debbie Ironbow remarked that this foundation is changing lives, something that all the partners echoed. We are changing lives.
What an extraordinary thing to be part of.
Miigwech.