Making a Case: A Role for Government

This section will help you to describe why governments should support heritage.

The first section provides impressive statistics, while the second section provides ideas to help you to develop your local case.

Canadians Recognize Responsibility

Nine out of 10 Canadians place a moderate to a great deal of importance on government support for arts and culture and 96% agreed that governments should help to protect and preserve our heritage. 88% believe governments should provide financial support to build and maintain facilities for arts, culture and heritage.

When governments invest, big things happen

When local governments support heritage conservation in the community, the return is extraordinary.

• 4 local governments forgave $3.42M in taxes, which resulted in a private investment of $5.6M. That is a 156% return on investment.
• 7 local governments contributed $436,000 in grants to homeowners. This resulted in a corresponding private investment of $2M. That is a 449% return on investment.
• 4 local governments reported contributions of $246,000 in other incentives such as providing advice, waiving fees and transferred density. This resulted in a reported private investment of $14M or a 5,794% return on investment.

Making a Case: A Role for Government

Use the intrinsic-instrumental-institutional framework to develop a well-rounded description of heritage in your community. Here are some suggestions to help you get started. (Read this short introduction to our recommended approach to making a case.)

Intrinsic

What are you saying about government support?

• Include impact statements in your communications and reports. Ask your board chair or someone who benefited from a program to write a heart-felt testimonial.

Instrumental

What statistics describe the impact of the support?

• Perhaps you have experienced an increase in attendance, or you are gaining a new audience. Perhaps a new program has led to increased donations or you were able to secure another grant (e.g. the leveraging effect). Do not forget to include volunteer time and in-kind contributions.

Institutional

How has government support strengthened your organization and programs?

• Describe your financial health. Or, if your organization is not in good financial health, describe your plan to improve the situation.
• Invite the mayor and councillors to activities so they can see the impacts for themselves.
• Describe the internal impacts coming out of government support and how you were able to deliver stronger, more beneficial programs.

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Every year, Heritage BC produces important surveys of heritage conservation in BC. This is typically the only source of instrumental (statistical) information that is specific to BC’s heritage sector. The reports can be found here.