The 2022/2023 Financial year was a promising one after a couple of years of stops and starts. Artists and audiences alike have adapted to the ‘new-normal’ and the sector has seen the public re-engaging with the arts en masse, encouraging artists to produce new work.
We’ve had a look back at the year to see exactly what made this a record breaking year for the ACF, and to give a taste of what this new financial year might have in store.

Donations
It was a record-breaking year for the ACF with a total of $11,178,206 being donated through the platform! This incredible figure speaks to the generosity of donors and outlines a sense of new beginnings for the arts sector.
Hand-in-hand with this increase in donations was the growth of the average amount raised per project. For the 2022/2023 financial year, the average amount raised was $12,718 – almost $2,000 more than the previous year.
Looking at donations on an individual level, it came as no surprise that $50 remains the most common donation amount. This is a ‘goldilocks’ figure in fundraising, particularly in crowdfunding, as it sits in a sweet spot of ‘not too little’ and ‘not too much’. For artists and organisations looking to run a project in this new financial year, it’s important to keep this in mind as it can help with setting a realistic target (e.g. multiply the number of people in your network by $50 to get a starting target) or it can be something to focus on in donor communications “By giving just $50 you can help take our quartet on tour.”
Project targets
Over 700 projects ran on the ACF platform in the last FY year – how fantastic is that? These incredibly dynamic and diverse projects had targets that ranged from under $2,000 to over $50,000. Breaking this down a little further, we saw the highest percentage of projects chose a target between $5,000-$10,000 with the $2,000-$5,000 bracket coming in a close second.
Turning to the highest target bracket, it was great to see a healthy percentage of projects aiming for the $50k+ benchmark. With ambitious targets, we saw over 47% succeed which is fantastic; however, it’s important to note that majority of these successful projects were grant recipients (meaning that their funds came from a trust, foundation or a generous individual). Find out more about receiving a grant via the ACF here.
Most common category
The artforms supported on the ACF are diverse so it’s always interesting to see which category is the most popular for any particular year. The 2022/2023 FY saw ‘Theatre & Performance’ take home the crown with an impressive 147 projects sitting under this umbrella. This is a fantastic indicator that theatres have opened their doors with audiences filling the seats once again.
‘Screen & Photography’ followed as the second most popular category with ‘Music’ just behind this.
*When looking at the graph below, please note that projects are able to select more than one category

The show goes on!
With audiences back in venues across the country, we can’t wait to see the projects that grace the platform in the new financial year. If you’re interested in fundraising for your project, get started now by creating a profile and check out our handy ‘First Timer’s Kit.‘