Membership criteria

To be eligible, you must:

• operate generally in Guelph or Wellington County
• operate as a not-for-profit group or association, governed by a board/committee of community representatives
• actively encourage practising artists or be engaged in Arts or Heritage endeavours or pursuits.

Membership Fee: $85/year (includes membership in Guelph Arts Council)

Become a contributing member organization of guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca and you can create your own sub-site on the Gateway, enter information which will show on the main pages of guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca, use a number of shared resources which will aid in your operations, and take advantage of other Guelph Arts Council services.   Each member is asked to sign a Member Agreement covering basic terms of use of the site.

You can also opt for assisted membership, where Guelph Artrs Council will help you create and maintain your website presence for an additional $35/ year.  Contact Guelph Arts Council for more information (519) 836-3280 or gac@sentex.net.

Main Pages of guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca

You can enter information in the following sections of your sub-site and it will also appear on the main pages of the site:

• calendar of events - a listing of all your upcoming events which will show on your own sub-site and also integrate with the overall calendar of events on the guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca site, showing up on the general events calendar, events searched by discipline, and events searched by date
• news/announcements - put your media releases and other news, announcements, and items of interest in this section which will integrate with the overall news section on the site so your items will rotate onto the site’s homepage with news from other organizations
• volunteer opportunities - put short job descriptions for volunteers needed on your sub-site with dates and times and they will rotate on the site’s homepage with the volunteer opportunities from other organizations

Your Own Sub-site on guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca

You can enter your own information and set up your sub-site to include:

• mandate and description of your organization
• contact information - how people can reach you (your choice whether to include address, phone numbers, fax, email, website address or other ways to make contact with your organization)
• email subscription list - site visitors can sign up to receive regular information on your upcoming activities via email; you decide what to send them and how often
• events recap - a chance to share with your audience your successes, quotes from reviews and any other details you want them to have of events which are over
• photo gallery - put photos of your event, photos of your work, covers of your books, mug shots of upcoming artists, and other visual displays in this section
• frequently-asked questions - include questions and answers about your organization on your own FAQs list
• volunteer profiles - include information on some of your key volunteers, changing it as often as you wish
• forms and survey tool - create forms and surveys to use online to capture the information and opinions you need from your members, board, volunteers, audience and general public
• volunteer sign-up section - let your volunteers sign up online for upcoming events and activities, saving you some phone calls
• section/sub-section - additional pages you can create to meet your own organization’s needs
• list of associated sites / associations including those groups also included on guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca with links to connect your visitors to other sites which might interest them
• contact list - the general public, your regular audience, members, volunteers, artists and more can sign up on your organization’s own private contact list which can be organized into categories that make sense to you—these will be accessible only to your organization
• document library - each of your committees can have a special location on your site where you post documents for their review, minutes, agendas and anything else you want the committee to see; this section will be accessible only to your organization with access protected by your own passwords
• link to your website (if you maintain one separate from the guelpharts.ca / wellingtonarts.ca site)

Shared Resources/Professional Development Section

You can access, contribute to and share key information designed to aid arts and heritage organizations to operate efficiently and effectively including:

• shared media lists
• shared fundraising lists
• professional development tools for volunteers working in the arts
• network of contacts for each arts discipline
• professional development tools for artists and arts managers
• access to information on site usage/visits
• announcements for guelpharts.ca/wellingtonarts.ca members (read only)
• email campaign tools
• site help
• and much more

Guelph Arts Council Services

You can use any of the existing services available from Guelph Arts Council, including:

• consultation/facilitation/administration services
• Arts in Guelph newsletter - mailed to you six times a year, and priority for newsletter listings and coverage
• master calendar to avoid overlap and duplication of events (now here on this site)
• resource centre at Guelph Arts Council office
• mailing insert service at a special membership rate
• use of equipment including computer, scanner, digital camera, photocopier, postage meter at special membership rates
• centrally-located meeting space available at special membership rates
• mail-holding service (instead of renting a post office box)
• advocacy - building support for arts and heritage in the local community
• programs such as professional development workshops, arts schmoozefests, historical walking tours, youth awards, Doors Open Guelph