Te Atamira, which opened in May, 2022, welcomed 90,000 visitors over the past 12 months, and is home to 38 community groups, with at least 15 other "ad hoc" groups every week, director Olivia Egerton says.
"People say, ‘why aren’t you making more money?’, it’s because we’re trying to keep the rental rates and things low.
"It means you get a lot of people, but they’re paying the cost of a couple of coffees.
"That’s part of all of the community being able to access it every day."
Till now, the not-for-profit charitable trust’s been heavily reliant on grant funding, but Egerton says the patrons programme is part of a goal to become more financially sustainable, enabling the organisation to have a longer-term view.
"Investment from the community means we’re not always scrambling for grants, which is not that sustainable, it’s exhausting and ... it can be three or four months before you know whether you’ve got it or not.
"[If you don’t] it’s panic stations, or if you just get part of it — which is what’s been happening — you’ve got to work out whether you can try to stitch it together or not."
There are three different levels in the programme, launched last month — a ‘supporter’, at $250 per annum, an ‘advocate’, for $1500, and a ‘guardian’, at $5000 a year.
Each level comes with different benefits, including private invites, free tickets and exclusive events.
Of the first-year target of $50,000, the programme’s already raised $27,000.
"The people who get involved in it get to share in the magic of what we’re doing," Egerton says.
"It’s all part of the community growing its arts and culture ... the $250 is like one coffee a week [and] I jokingly said on the [launch] night, the $5000 is halfway towards a golf [membership].
"Quite a few people have been surprised at how small our [supporter subscription] is — it’s the fact that everybody can make a difference.
"The wonderful thing is, a lot of people have been super-excited they can be a part of it."
Anyone interested in becoming a patron can visit the website, teatamira.nz, or email olivia@teatamira.nz
