Shutting down a non-profit or charity can be expensive for its leaders, stressful for its staff, and gutting for the community it serves. Calgary Arts Development’s operational structural change grants are designed to help organizations close down. 

The COVID-19 pandemic is perhaps the most dramatic reason for non-profits and charities to close their doors right now. In a February report by Imagine Canada, around 12 percent of surveyed charities believed they’d be able to survive just 6 to 12 months under current conditions. Another 17 percent aren’t sure how long they can survive. (By contrast, 30 percent say they’ll be able to survive for over a year, while another 37 percent say they can do so indefinitely). Amid all of the pandemic’s uncertainty, closure, either temporary or permanent, is still a very real possibility.

Regardless of the reasons, social impact organizations rarely plan their closures in advance. Sara Bateman, director of community investment and impact at Calgary Arts Development, says the decision to close isn’t thought of as a deliberate stage in a non-profit or charity’s development. 

“There’s not a natural life cycle,” Bateman says. “You get set up and then you start asking for money and keep asking for money. What happens when your mandate or your point or your purpose is wrapped up? What does that look like for an arts organization — or another non-profit?”

In early February, Calgary Arts Development opened applications for their Organization Structural Change (OSC) Grant, a new one-year initiative to offer a total of $150,000 to Calgary arts organizations who need to merge, create a strategic partnership, or even permanently close in the ongoing financial uncertainty of the pandemic. 

This may seem like a morbid consideration, but ultimately, many social services organizations such as End Homelessness St. John’s are trying to put themselves out of business. A world where they aren’t needed is one in which the communities they serve have all they need to thrive — whether that is a home, enough food on the table, or dignity and respect in the workplace. Bateman says there will probably also be less money for social impact organizations once the pandemic is over.

As Cassie Robinson, now deputy director of funding strategy at the U.K.’s National Lottery Community Fund, told Future of Good in a 2019 interview, shutting down can also give space to a new endeavour that may be more relevant or necessary. She compared the process — and lack of planning for it in the social impact world — to the process of death. 

“As a society, we don’t face up to death,” she told Future of Good. “We like to avoid the idea that things are going to end. There is a lot of denial and avoidance and a lot of pain that needs to be faced. Humans aren’t generally good at sitting with hurt and other messy, difficult situations that come up with something ending.” 

Doing this well requires care — meaning time, good relationships, and a willingness to listen, Robinson said. It also requires a lot of investment into the narrative of how an organization closed down — can employees walk out the door proud of their decision, rather than feeling disempowered? 

Last year, a survey by Calgary Arts Development found nearly half of the Calgary arts organizations they spoke to did not believe they would be operating within a year under the COVID-19 pandemic’s current conditions. Imagine Canada’s report in February warns that charities are “fairly pessimistic in their predictions for the future” and believe their own fiscal conditions will worsen over the next three to six months. 

Bateman compares the current non-profit and charity landscape to a forest. If there are too many organisms — or organizations — competing for the same resources, that forest simply isn’t healthy. 

“When there’s a scarcity of resources and everybody’s just barely getting by, it might be a time to think…is constantly adding new organizations to the ecosystem the best way?” Bateman says. “Or should we be looking at how we combine our resources in a different way?” 

“When there’s a scarcity of resources and everybody’s just barely getting by, it might be a time to think…is constantly adding new organizations to the ecosystem the best way?” Bateman says. “Or should we be looking at how we combine our resources in a different way?”

According to Calgary Arts Developments’ website, the grant supports three distinct phases of change. ‘Exploration’ costs, covered up to $5,000, help organizations explore new possibilities or structural change for their organizations. A Phase 2 grant, ‘experience’, grants up to $15,000 for organizations to hire experts. And Phase 3, ‘execution’, offers up to $20,000 for organizations moving into mergers or the final stages of closure. 

The OSC grant will be handled in strict confidence and with attention to a particular organization’s unique needs, something Bateman says is essential to the process of offering these grants. 

“We’re committing to confidentiality right up front just so people can have open conversations and a really safe place to have them,” Bateman says.

So far, Bateman says she’s had conversations with four organizations since submissions opened on February 8 (they close on November 30). Two of those organizations are moving into the application phase. Another four organizations have either inquired about the OSC grant or have arranged meetings with Bateman about applying for it. 

Closing down isn’t just about settling an organization’s expenses. Bateman says it is also about helping an organization honour their work and legacy. She refers to the idea of “hospicing” an organization: understanding all good things must come to an end and figuring out how to do that in a way that respects an organization’s time and commitment and accomplishments. 

“It’s trying to create a different relationship and to support them where they’re at,” Bateman says. “The idea of hospicing is really to walk them through that process and to support them and be a friend through that.” 

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