Did You Know that we are a Canadian Charity?!

Theatre Orangeville was recently a participant in the Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands public voting process for (what we thought was) one of three $3,000 grants. First and foremost, thank you to Rotary for all the incredible work they do to support our community, and congratulations to those who were successful in obtaining the most votes to be one of the lucky recipients of one of the (what turned out to be) FIVE grants. Much to our surprise, and elation, Theatre Orangeville, having finished in fourth place, was indeed awarded a $3,000 grant, thanks to the Rotary Club of Orangeville Highlands and everyone of our patrons and supporters who voted!

Throughout the process of recruiting votes, we had some interesting conversations with patrons and community members around our continual fundraising efforts, and why we participate in these types of fundraising activities, when there are so many worthwhile organizations in need. It felt like a good time to share a little about who Theatre Orangeville is, why we continually fundraise, and what exactly we do (in a nutshell)!

We are a  fully professional Canadian not-for-profit registered Charity! We support a Canadian mandate, hire Canadian staff and artists, and work on national, provincial and municipal levels to advocate for the importance of the Canadian performing arts and the impact they have on local communities and the well-being of all people.

We produce all-Canadian productions on our Main-stage. That’s over 150 Canadian Mainstage productions written by Canadian playwrights, over 45 Canadian presentations, over 700 Canadian performing artists, hundreds of Canadian directors, choreographers, composers, musicians, designers, carpenters, technicians, visual artists, and employ dozens of local (also Canadian) staff members. Over and above all of that, we mentor and provide programming and self-discovery opportunities for 1000s of students, over 250 Youth Academy participants, and dozens of neuro-diverse actors each and every year. 

Each year Theatre Orangeville also brings roughly 20,000 people to downtown Orangeville, from a 75km+ radius, who not only come to see a great show, but who patronize Orangeville restaurants and businesses while they’re here.

Not only do we do all of that, but we also have invested over $70,000 in other local Canadian community-based not-for-profits and charitable organizations over the past decade, through our Giveback to the Community nights. Our Giveback nights offer local groups a block of tickets to see the first performance of each MainStage production, which they sell as a fundraising opportunity to raise money for their organization. The ticket proceeds, minus a small administration fee, are then given to the local group to be reinvested in the community through their mission and mandate.

With our 1.6 million dollar annual budget, we also have 1.6 million dollars in annual expenses. As a not-for-profit charitable organization, our goal is to break even (a tightrope walk that all NFPs know so well), with any potential surplus (which we haven’t experienced in several years, given the slow recovery of arts organizations from pandemic times) getting reinvested in our programming and community, all despite of the accumulated deficit we acquired over the pandemic and are working diligently to eliminate.

Given that our ticket revenue only funds approximately 35% of our total budget (which is the standard across the Canadian not-for-profit Theatre industry), fundraising through granting programs, sponsorships, and foundation and personal donations, ensures that we can continue to serve our artistic and administrative mandates beyond enriching our community with a high-quality, professional theatre experiences. Funds raised outside of ticket sales ensure that we can provide youth with unique opportunities to transform their lives through the performing arts; that we can offer vibrant, engaging, and creative opportunities that grow the cultural experience though community partnerships.; and that we can nurture diversity, promote acceptance, and celebrate all abilities - benefitting our community, immensely.

Join us in celebrating Canada through sensational storytelling! Buy a ticket! Enroll a child in our after school programming! Make a donation! Tell a friend!