The Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives / Materials / Records / Inventories
	Inventory of the Records of The Body Politic & Pink Triangle Press
	Page 12 of 40 / Appx 800 words

Page 12 / Inventory Series 4
Fundraising

Solicitation of private donations to help defray the operating costs of The Body Politic occurred only sporadically during the '70s. It was only after the Dec 30, 1977 police raid that the need to raise money for legal defence forced us to learn more sophisticated techniques for direct-mail donation drives.

These techniques were then applied to efforts to raise cash for ongoing operations through regular mailings to subscribers -- the campaigns backed up from 1978 through 1981 by related ads in TBP's pages. [1]

In 1982 The Body Politic Sustainer Group was established, consisting over time of more than 40 people who pledged regular financial support. The Group survived six months beyond the demise of The Body Politic itself.

The Body Politic was rare among small Canadian magazines of the day in not counting on government grants for its survival. Not that we didn't try. In the late '70s applications were made to, and refused by, the Canada Council: see TBP # 35 (Jul / Aug 1977), p 9.

Some funding was granted under summer employment programs, and some was received from the Ontario Arts Council in 1976, 1977 and 1978 -- the last of which caused a controversy reported in # 48 (Nov 1978, p 13). We generally made a virtue of this adversity, proudly noting The Body Politic's independence of government funders.

This series includes only material related to fundraising directly for operating expenses. Fundraising for our legal battles -- the proceeds of which were held in trust and could not be used for ongoing operations -- was done by The Body Politic Free the Press Fund. For that, see Series 21: Legal defence.

85-007 / 01

Grant applications to the Ontario Arts Council, 1978-1984.

82-002 / 01

Developmental papers and donations correspondence, 1975-1979.

84-009 / 01

Developmental papers, 1980-1982.

85-017 / 01

Donation cards and fundraising records, 1980-1981.

85-007 / 01

Donation records, Oct 1982 - Jan 1983.

82-019 / 21

Files, forms and correspondence related to donations, 1978-1982.

87-004 / 16

Fundraising and promotional flyer samples, 1979-1983.

88-004 / 13

General donations drive, 1983. Developmental papers, monthly reports, donor cards and correspondence.

88-003 / 13

Donations program, 1984. Developmental papers and correspondence.

88-004 / 12

The Body Politic Sustainer Group. Sustainer Letter # 6 (Feb 1984), # 12 (Dec 1985) and # 13 (Apr 1986).

89-075 / 01-02

The Body Politic Sustainer Group. Sustainer donor records and correspondence; Sustainer Letter # 1 (Nov 1982) - # 16 (May 1987).

1. Major ads in TBP soliciting donations directly to the magazine or to Pink Triangle Press (not to the legal defence) are listed below. Most of these ads appeared during -- and were often thematically related to -- direct- mail campaigns. I list them all here as useful guides to the financial state of the Press at the time and, in a few cases, to pictures of some of its people at work.
   • Feb 1976 (issue date, as are all that follow), p 1: Announcement of the creation of Pink Triangle Press, with a donation pledge form.

   • Apr 1976, back cover: "Doing what you can."

   • Feb 1977 (back cover): "I just want to thank you...."

   • Mar 1977 (back cover): "Be a gay fat cat... cheap."

   • Feb 1978, p 13: Post-raid "Report to Pink Triangle Press supporters. 1: We have this problem." An ad on the back cover also sought donations -- "Search and Seizure Subscription Special: 1 for the price of 2!"

   • Mar 1978, p 21: "Report to Pink Triangle Press supporters. 2: $75,000 and where has it all gone?"

   • Apr 1978, p 19: "And you thought we published a magazine." Solicitation ad promoting other work (and works) of the Press.

   • Feb 1979, p 2: "Send money." Full-page post-trial appeal. Page 2, the inside front cover, more often saw ads for The Body Politic Free the Press Fund -- but this was a solicitation for the Press itself.

   • Mar / Apr 1979, p 2: "Not guilty, just poorer." Post-verdict operating funds appeal.

   • Mar and Apr 1980, p 2: "Does this look like an institution to you?" Full-page appeal run in sequential issues. A brochure produced for the related direct-mail campaign used much of the same text and imagery.

   • May 1980, p 2: "We haven't closed that gap yet." Full-page follow-up to ad in Mar and Apr issues.

   • Mar 1981, pp 5-7: "Who keeps The Body Politic going?" Sequential half-page ads featuring photos of TBP volunteers at work (Fay Orr, Norman Hay and Paul Aboud).

   • Apr 1981, pp 5-7: "Paul Aboud is still keeping The Body Politic going. And so is...." More volunteers photos (Linda Green, Bill Loos, Chris Davis, Leo Casey, John Fletcher, Andy Fabo, Jon Kaplan, Martha Fleming, and Smee Holzberg).
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