Sandra Butel started as a paid volunteer in 1999. Since then, she says the Regina Folk Festival (RFF) has changed dramatically.
RFF started in 1969. It became a not-for-profit a few years later and, eventually, hired on its first full-time staff member in 2003. It now operates with five full-time employees, a number of summer and contract positions, and more than 650 volunteers.
“At some point in time there was more energy dedicated to finding funding and finding sponsor support and finding money so we could have professional staff and we could raise the profile of the artists,” Butel said.
Butel says the professional staff help fuel the festival’s sustainability. And the core group goes a long way in retaining volunteers.
“I think the folk festival does a really good job of helping volunteers to understand that the work that they do is really important and really essential in pulling off this event,” said Haley Bolen, long-time volunteer and former RFF staff member.
Not all non-profits run the same way
In Saskatchewan Fashion Week’s (SFW) eight years, co-founder Candyce Fiessel says the group relied solely on “sweat equity.” It operated with three unpaid directors and roughly 100 volunteers. The organization couldn’t run under a compensation model, because it didn’t qualify for enough grants.
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It took 10 months of work to plan the three-day event, which didn’t include the time dedicated to other events throughout the year like industry mixers.
As life changed and careers took off, some volunteers had to scale back. Having to train new volunteers to fill the gaps got “harder and harder as the years evolved.” All of this led to the group’s decision to pull the plug on SFW after its event in May 2019.
“It was really like a dance of what’s coming next and deciding we want to go out on top and let others come in and see what they can do,” Fiessel said.
No single recipe for success
Dr. Yvonne Harrison, a professor at Luther College at the University of Regina, teaches non-profit and voluntary sector studies. She says having paid staff doesn’t necessarily make organizations more effective.
Harrison says there isn’t a specific set of guidelines that creates a successful organization, but non-profit groups should include clear direction and leadership, structures and processes to advance goals, and the ability to adapt and grow in a changing environment.
Harrison says organizations shouldn’t operate in isolation. The RFF follows this guideline by working with a number of local arts groups including the McKenzie Art Gallery.
Butel doesn’t know if the festival will last another 50 years. But she says as long as it’s a viable option, it will be up to the next generation to run its course.
“This has been here to fill the needs of the people around us and it’s been adapting for 50 years so I can’t imagine that it’s not going to continue to do so,” Butel said.
RFF runs Aug. 9-11 at Victoria Park.
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