January 2012 Communiqué Happy New Year!

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In This Issue

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Executive Director Report

Membership Report

T.O.TIX Report

Dora Award Report

Human Resources

Committee Update

Member Profile

Announcements

 

Executive Director Report

Jacoba Knaapen, Executive Director

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Happy New Year!
As we enter into 2012 we are committed more than ever to serve the TAPA membership through TAPA’s  Four Key Strategic Directions: Audience Development and Growth, Increasing Value of TAPA Membership, Achieving Financial Vitality, and Increased Advocacy and Organizational Capacity. Download a copy of TAPA’s Stratigic Plan.

In terms of Increased Advocacy, the Advocacy Committee is continuing to work hard at this critical time serving as a collective voice on behalf of all TAPA members; to educate and encourage city councillors to vote in favour of supporting the arts and to maintain current levels of funding as they deliberate  and vote on the new budget in the coming weeks (as reported in detail in the December Communiqué).

Our Organizational Capacity has recently increased and I am glad to announce two new staff members who are joining the TAPA Team. Firstly, please join me in welcoming Tamara Weisz as the new Metcalf Administrative Intern. Tamara will be working directly with me over the course of the next 12 months on numerous projects. Some of you have already heard from Tamara as her first assignment is working on the TAPA Stats Project Phase Three which is now nearing completion. Thank you to all of you who have completed this important survey, we can’t do it without your participation! The TAPA Stats Report Phase Three will provide all TAPA members with a significant new advocacy tool, as well as contributing to Increased Advocacy. We are aiming to release the results later in February/March, stay tuned for an invitation to the launch of the report. 

Secondly, I am pleased to announce Scott Dermody as the new Youth Outreach Coordinator. Scott has been working as a customer service representative at the T.O.TIX Booth and we are happy to expand his duties to incorporate the popular hipTIX program. You will no doubt be hearing from Scott in the coming months and our work in this area that helps us to move forward to realize our goals in Audience Development and Growth.

I am heartened by the sheer number of productions that TAPA Members are producing and the compelling stories that you continue to bring to the stage; 2012 promises to be an interesting year both on and off the stage and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with you all in support of building and bringing audiences to your work. See you at the theatre!

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Membership Report

Alexis Da Silva-Powell,
Corporate Partnerships and Membership Manager

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Travel, Retreat Initiatives Program – TRIP 2012
As announced at TAPA’s recent AGM, I know that many of you were very pleased to hear that TAPA has reconfirmed our sponsors to the TRIP program. Porter Airlines, Mainway Hunter Creighton and the Valleyview Artist Retreat are renewing their commitment to this valuable membership program for the 2012 calendar year.

TRIP, is a multi-tiered program designed to assist TAPA Members with travel associated with touring, international collaboration and professional development. In addition TRIP offers a unique retreat opportunity to the TAPA membership.

The three components are

  • The Porter Component
  • The Flight Component
  • The Retreat Component

2012 Application Deadlines

  • Monday January 16, 2012 by 5:00pm
  • Monday August 13, 2012 by 5:00pm

For Application Guidelines or to download the Application Form please login to the Members Only section of tapa.ca.  If you have any questions please email Alexis at alexisdsp@tapa.ca.

Thank you to our committed Founding Sponsors for their ongoing and generous support of this important program:

Upcoming 2011/12 TAPA Trade Series Workshop:

Sponsorship Bootcamp with Industry Leader Rachel Hilton

  • Gain an understanding of why corporations invest in not-for-profit arts
  • Understand what works in today’s challenging sponsorship marketplace
  • Learn effective strategies to turn a corporation into a sponsor or donor
  • Better understand the assets they have to ‘sell’
  • Be able to create logical links to a potential sponsor
  • Negotiate smarter and package more successfully
  • Become a more effective fundraiser

There may be time for smaller one-on-one sessions to speak directly with Rachel and receive hands-on assistance and direct advice on developing your sponsorship approach within a confidential setting.

TAPA Members: $22.60 includes HST and all materials
Non-Members: $56.50 includes HST and all materials
Date: Tuesday January 17, 2012
Time: 1:00p.m. to 4:00p.m.
Location: Studio A, Lower Ossington Theatre, 100A Ossington Avenue
Deadline to register for this session is Monday January 16th, 2012.  RSVP to Alexis at alexisdsp@tapa.ca

About Rachel Hilton
Rachel Hilton is an experienced senior marketing and sponsorship professional who has worked with some of the top cultural and entertainment companies including, the Stratford Festival, Dancap Productions, Culture Days, Canadian Stage and Toronto Just for Laughs Festival. Rachel is a motivated and passionate professional with over eighteen years of experience and a successful track record in a range of marketing and corporate fundraising disciplines with considerable experience overseeing the translation of business vision into multi-channel sponsorship marketing programs that build relationships between between the arts and corporate Canada. www.rachelhilton.ca

2012 March/April Theatre Guide – Book Now!
Do you have a show opening in March or April 2012?  Looking to reach a diverse audience?  Purchase an ad in the Theatre Guide!  The booking deadline is Monday February 7, 2012.

Download the Rate Card from the Members Only section of tapa.ca for more information or contact me at alexisdsp@tapa.ca with questions.

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T.O.TIX Report

Kevin John McDonald, Operations Manager
Bill van Heerden, Sales Manager

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December Sales

  • T.O. TIX returned $ 6,515.25 to TAPA Members
  • T.O. TIX sold 750 Member tickets

December Stats

  • A Christmas Story, The Church of the Holy Trinity
  • A Very Lupe Xmas, Fault Line Theatre
  • My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy!

*Numbers include in person sales, online sales, hipTIX and citySPECIAL

Happy New Year to all of our Members from the T.O.TIX Team!
December was a busy month for us here at the T.O.TIX booth – we had great success with many of your events and we look forward to selling even more for you in the New Year. Our LCD Screens continue to boost sales – don’t forget to have a look at our Member advertising rates for the Video Screens as well as our  extensive Window Signage opportunites. Remember to get your Ticket Allotment forms in to us as soon as possible – we get many customers coming up to the window asking for recommendations on what they should buy and we want to have as diverse a selection as possible.

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Dora Award Report

Sandra Lefrançois, Dora Manager

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Thank You!
Thank you for your continued efforts to register productions on time, it has made the jurors’ job much more manageable.

Remember, if you have a production coming up but do not have all the details finalized, you should still submit the following information to sandral@tapa.ca as far in advance as possible and include the following inforamtion:

  • Show Title
  • Venue
  • Open date – Close date
  • Contact for jurors to reserve tickets

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Human Resources

Janis Hobson, Business Manager

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This is the second in a series o
f helpful hints if you are being audited.

What to Prepare So That the Audit Is Almost Painless-The Audit Box
The audit box is the most valuable tool you will use to make the audit go smoothly.  It is simply a bankers’ box (or similar, I find copy paper boxes with the handles work well, too) that holds all of the information the auditor will need.  At first it seems daunting to prepare everything, so I start about a month before the audit is to take place and do it a little at a time.  If you get short notice then you can pick the items you know they will need and prepare the rest while they are there.  Once the audit is over then often this box becomes what gets archived.
Items in the Box:

Start with the Balance Sheet Items.  Assets first.  Run a copy of your Balance Sheet and cut it up so that Assets, Liabilities and Equity are on different pages.  Then put the “Assets” page in a file folder that will hold all of the asset back-up with the exception of the bank statements, bank reconciliations and deposit books as they are usually too large to put into a folder.  Then start putting all of the following in your box:

  • Bank Statements, Bank Reconciliations, Deposit Books
  • Banking papers – copies of who can sign cheques and the limits signing authorities have
  • GIC’s Investments – dates invested, amounts invested, and maturity dates with copies of the actual investments included
  • Accounts Receivable – Copies of all invoices you are expecting to collect at the fiscal year end
  • Accruals – Any accrued interest, or other accruals with back-up
  • Copies of any other assets that appear on your balance sheet, with back-up.

Helpful Hint:  I keep copies of all of the outstanding receivables invoices in a binder after I’ve entered them into accounting.  When the invoice is paid I take the invoice out of the binder and attach it to the deposit summary.  At the end of the year all outstanding invoices in the binder should add up to what is in the Accounts Receivable account.

Next are the liability items.

  • Accounts Payable – Copies of all invoices you have not paid at year end.
  • Deferred – Copies of all invoices/sales you are deferring.

Then Revenue.

  • Copies of all cheques for grants received along with the agreement from the funding bodies.
  • If you are a charitable organization then you need to provide copies of all the charitable receipts you have issued along with copies of the deposits made for donations throughout the year.
  • Copies of sponsorship cheques deposited throughout the year.
  • Copies of all deposit slips with backup.

Expenses are next.

  • Copy of the lease, mortgage, etc.
  • Invoices paid throughout the year with accompanying cheque stubs, banking authorization, etc.
  • Payroll – if you use a provider, then copies of the agreement with the payroll provider.  If you do not use a provider, then copies of Receiver General Payments with access to payroll records. (Do not put this in the audit boxes – highly confidential material)

Other.

  • Put together a binder with a copy of your General Ledger, Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cheque Log, Chart of Accounts, and Journal Entries.  Tab each section.  This should be a copy that goes to the auditor that you do not mind if they write their own notes on it.  As there are always auditors’ adjustments that need to be posted after the audit, re-run the reports after you’ve entered the adjustments.  This becomes your permanent copy.

Helpful Hint:  Once the auditor has provided you with their final adjustments, ask them for a copy of their final Trial Balance.  Then once you have posted the adjustments you can do a double check of your numbers to ensure you are in agreement.  It’s a great “double check”.

Upcoming in February 2012:  The Aftermath – You survived, they’ve given you their findings – now what?

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Committee Update

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2011/2012 Updated TAPA Committees List
TAPA’s many committees are either chaired by a TAPA Board Member, or have a TAPA Board representative who sits on the committee. The casting of the committees also includes deliberate outreach into the Membership and the community and this has been critical in providing individual TAPA Members the opportunity to voice your perspectives and bring y
our expertise to the various discussions and issues at hand.

At the AGM this past November, TAPA’s full slate of committees for 2012 were approved.

For a full list of the updated TAPA Committees List please click HERE

For a full list of the updated PAIS Committees List please click HERE

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