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Please explain your <br />intended use of a <br />Restart the Arts <br />Grant, if awarded. <br />During the pandemic, The Hillsborough Arts Council's ov er reliance <br />on v olunteers became a huge v ulnerability for us. W hile we had an <br />Executiv e Director in place for sev eral years, our fundraising, <br />marketing, social media, program coordination, and Gallery and Gift <br />Shop, had been heav ily managed by v olunteers. W ith many of our <br />v olunteers stepping back during the pandemic, the burden of <br />managing all programs, social media, grants, and operations became <br />an ov erwhelming job for our Executiv e Director and HAC’s dedicated <br />core of v olunteers. W e were forced to scale back programs and cut <br />back hours at the shop, resulting in thousands of dollars in lost <br />rev enue and artist commissions. In January, 2021, our Executiv e <br />Director resigned, unable to manage homeschooling her children and <br />running our busy organization. Taking a financial risk, the board <br />decided to hire a part time Gallery and Gift Shop Manager and a Part <br />time social media and marketing contractor to ensure our most <br />crucial programs and functions continued to operate. As a result, our <br />Gallery and Gift Shop rev enues and artist commissions increased <br />more than 100% ov er our normal, pre-pandemic numbers. Our social <br />media and v irtual program engagement and attendance saw a <br />marked increase. Encouraged by these exciting results, the board <br />decided to transition our part time contractors to full time salaried <br />employees, with plans to hire a part time associate to support the <br />Gallery and Gift Shop Manager. W ith the goal of ensuring the <br />sustainability of our important inv estment in professional <br />management, we are working to optimize our fundraising apparatus <br />with the goal of increasing our sustainer base, enlist the support of <br />local foundations, and solicit major gifts. To that end, we are in the <br />process of purchasing a customer relationship management tool <br />(CRM) to ensure proper stewardship of funds and implement <br />fundraising best practices mov ing forward. The Restart the Arts <br />grant will be used to support our operating costs during this period <br />of transition. Stable management and a robust dev elopment program <br />will ensure The Hillsborough Arts Council continues to be a positiv e <br />force in our community and beyond, in good times and in bad, for <br />many years to come. <br />DocuSign Envelope ID: 5F87C543-753D-43CF-B6E6-16661AB51ADE