At the December 19 SGM of Pride WA Inc, it was announced that Pride had accrued debts of $36,291.24 for 2007. Following the direction of the resolution passed at that meeting, another SGM has been called for February 17th. The upcoming SGM includes in a proposed special resolution a clause that states ‘Pride WA Inc here by agrees to be wound up volunteer [sic] or if required shall present a petition to the Supreme Court stating that Pride WA resolve that it be wound up buy [sic] the Supreme Court’. As Pride is not currently in a position to wind up voluntarily, if this motion is passed by not less than three quarters of the eligible members who vote either in person, by proxy or postal vote at the February Pride SGM, a petition will be presented to the Supreme Court initiating the wind-up of Pride WA.
In the two months between the SGMs the four remaining Pride committee members have been working on fundraising, developing strategic plans, negotiating with creditors, and re-evaluating the viability of Pride events. The committee was joined on January 21 by Paul Bluett, who has taken on the role of media spokesperson for Pride.
To raise funds, the committee have, in association a team of volunteers, been conducting a membership drive amongst former members of Pride. Mr Bluett told OUTinPerth that ‘The response from the membership renewal has been overwhelmingly positive’, adding that, ‘the membership renewal drive is a key part of the committee’s strategy, not purely to raise money… but in fact to reinvolve members community in Pride.’
In addition to the membership drive, the Pride committee have been seeking to raise further funds through sponsorships and fundraising. A fundraiser at the Court Hotel on December 29th raised $2,141, including $1,100 from pledges. The Pride committee is hoping that a second fundraiser at the Court Hotel, to be held on the Labour Day long weekend, will raise significant funds. A third fundraiser, the annual Pride quiz night, is planned for March 18.
The Pride committee will not be releasing an updated estimate of Pride’s financial state prior to the February meeting. The extent to which fundraising activities since December have mitigated the debts will be reported at the meeting, however ongoing insurance and administration costs are anticipated to have increased the debt.
Committees since 2001 have not been keeping records at the Gay and Lesbian archives as is suggested by Pride’s constitution. Without readily accessible past records, it is difficult for members and the wider community to ascertain whether the financial difficulties currently besetting Pride are purely as a result of factors arising in 2007 or are indicative of longer term financial or structural factors.
However, in the past five years, Pride WA’s annual reports have recorded a profit in only two years, 2003 and 2006. The size of the current debt, and the posting of losses in three out of the past five years for Pride seem to indicate that the current structure and events require a restructure if Pride is to survive in the longer term.
One of Pride’s problems is that currently only a fraction of people who attend Pride events are members. If even 10% of the 10,000 people who reportedly attended Fairday in 2007 joined Pride as new members, and the 2007 members renewed their memberships, subscriptions could cover the 2007 debt.
Mr Bluett identified that one of the key challenges is ‘to reorganise how Pride functions so that it doesn’t find itself in this situation ever again –and if that means a pared down festival etc so be it… because that issue of breaking even, or making a profit, needs to be equal with its community service role.’ A possibility that has been raised is that events that have become increasingly financially unviable, such as the Pride Party, may in future be run through strategic alliances with venues rather than by Pride WA.
While it should be noted that the survey was by no means comprehensive nor tamper proof, the results of OUTinPerth’s recent online survey would indicate that there is still community support for Pride. 80.7% of respondents to the survey did not want to see Pride wound up. 97.4% of the responses to the question ‘Should Fairday be saved?’ agreed that it should, while 90.3% of responses to a similar question regarding the Parade wanted to see it saved. Of those questioned, 71.9% believed Pride WA should still be responsible for organising Pride events.
Paul Bluett told OUTinPerth ‘I don’t get a sense that people don’t want it to be around so it’s just got to capture that good will and value it.’ The challenge for the Pride committee is whether or not they can do it. And the hard question for the GLBT community – are we going to deliver the support required to back them?
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Disclaimer: Editor Zoe Carter, and OUTinPerth Publisher Alex Maltby are Pride members and were present at the Dec 19 SGM. Both abstained from voting on the grounds of conflict of interest. Pride WA’s current membership drive is utilising facilities donated by Business Exposure, of which Alex Maltby is a director.
