ArtSupport Manitoba put on a workshop Saturday for the Portage & District Arts Centre Board of Directors on how to develop fundraising strategies.

Professional fundraiser Jim Robinson presented the workshop and he explains it went well.

"The group is keen. You have a lot of passion here, a lot of passion for art but also a lot of passion, I think, for making quality of life in the region better. They were very attentive, they were a very sharp group, they were challenging me a little bit on some of my information but all in all it was a pretty easy workshop [on Saturday]."

PDAC executive director Paul Legris says Robinson gave the board a very succinct, A to Z, strategy on how to work with their members, stake holders and the community to develop a fundraising strategy which will help them to grow and maintain their mission of celebrating the arts.

"We have a fabulous dance program, arts program, visual arts, and our message about raising money, raising funds, is about supporting those things, about supporting our dance program, supporting our exhibits, our gallery, our membership and keeping this a wonderful centre that's for our community. That's essentially what we did [Saturday]."

Legris explains they've begun applying the strategies presented at the workshop, however it is an ongoing process.

"We've started them right away, it's something that we learned [Saturday], it's ongoing. We've been talking about this for months but we've been working with our members, with our stake holders, with our parents who enroll their kids in dance to let them know that we need their support because their support is what keeps us alive. So this is ongoing, it's a never-ending process."

Saturday's workshop was customized for PDAC but similar workshops have produced successful results for other organizations.