There’s no better advice than from someone who has been in your shoes. Here are our top 12 tips from ACF artists and arts initiatives.
- “It is definitely knowing where your audiences are. I know for others, Instagram is their main channel, and they do nothing with Facebook. For us, Facebook is good because there is a lot of integration with it – so it sends out to Instagram as well.” — Nicole TJ
- “Personal relationships are everything. Even if it’s the best sales pitch in the world if I don’t know you or your practice I’m very unlikely to give. I need to have at least heard of you, if not be personally or professionally connected.” — Stephanie Lyall
- “Our video always starts with a story that we want to tell. We like to keep it quite short because in our view it is almost like an appetiser, to get people wanting to go to the page.” —Thomas Lo
- “I think we identified businesses as a potential major source of funds, and also appreciated the need to appeal to the community grassroots through an email campaign as well as radio, social and print media.” — Mullumbimby Sculpture Walk
- “Make sure you are prepared prior to commencing your campaign with what you want to achieve so that it is ready to go once you have raised enough money, and if you don’t quite hit the target, show your supporters how you will make the project happen regardless.” — Lizzie O’keefe
- “When you do big projects, people realise that they are actually participating in the project, they are not just giving a little bit of money, they are actually becoming part of it, and in the end, they get excited and you find that people want to continue to give.” — Irene Barberis
- “I learned to be very straightforward and specific in the ask. I learned that probably the bulk of the donations would come from a few generous donors giving larger amounts and giving early.” — Emillie Collyer
- “Its funny, but until you ask, you have no idea. It has been totally humbling that people respect our artwork enough to want to support upcoming projects. I think it has helped strengthen a sense of community around our work, and assist Clocked Out with our own forward planning.” — The Listening Museum
- “We chose to make the campaign short and sweet; only one month. That way we could lift the intensity of our requests because it was going to happen over a short period of time – before people tired of hearing about us.” — Black Hole Theatre
- “To not be afraid to ask people for help…That sounds so obvious, but when you are a small company of 2-3 people and trying to not only manage every facet of the day-to-day running of the business but to actually grow it in a way that is actually sustainable, it can be hard to go out of your comfort zone and ask people to provide their assistance – whether that’s monetary through fundraising/giving or just for advice or knowledge. Our ACF campaigns highlighted to us just how eager people are to assist – from both within and outside the independent theatre industry.” — Lab Kelpie
- “Personal relationships are everything. Even if it’s the best sales pitch in the world if I don’t know you or your practice I’m very unlikely to give. I need to have at least heard of you, if not be personally or professionally connected.” — Stephanie Lyall
- “Be persistent, cast the widest possible net, don’t be afraid to ask, keep the messages positive and upbeat, accept help from anyone who offers, aways thank people for donations or support of any kind.” — Marsha Emerman