After a couple of tumultuous years, 2022 had a sense of normalcy to it, something that the arts sector has been craving for a while now. The ACF saw artists back on the platform to acquit the work they had finally been able to produce after COVID-related delays, whilst a bevy of new projects launched, providing a sense of new beginning.
We’ve looked back on 2022 and have compiled some of the key statistics from the year to give a taste of what 2023 may have in store.
Project targets
We saw 432 incredible projects fundraise in 2022. Breaking these down a little further, we can see that the highest percentage of projects chose a target between $5,000-$10,000 with the $10,000-$20,000 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 an ambitious target, we saw 35% of this bracket succeed which is fantastic; however, it’s important to note that majority of these successful projects were grant recipients, meaning that their funds were coming from a trust, foundation or a very generous individual. Find out more about receiving a grant via the ACF here.
Donations
It comes as no surprise that $50 remains the most common donation amount. This is the golden figure in fundraising, particularly in crowdfunding, as it sits in the sweet spot of ‘not too little’ and ‘not too much’ for the bulk of donors. For artists and organisations looking to run a project in 2023, it’s important to note this 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 figure) or it can be something to focus on in donor communications “By giving just $50 you can help give our theatre a facelift.”
When looking at donations more holistically, we saw that the average amount raised per project was $10,880. While this certainly isn’t a cookie-cutter figure to go by when setting a target, it’s good to keep in mind when setting a project target.
Most common category
We support any and all artforms on the ACF, so it’s always interesting to see which category is the most popular for any particular year. 2022 saw ‘Screen & Photography’ take home the crown with an impressive 133 projects sitting under this category. After seeing a lull of tertiary film projects in the previous COVID riddled years, it was exciting to see an influx of student films back on the platform, no doubt contributing to this result.
‘Theatre & Performance’ 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
Onwards and upwards
With audiences back in venues across Australia (mostly), we can’t wait to see the projects that grace the platform in 2023. If you’re interested in fundraising for your project in the coming year, get started now by creating a profile and check out our handy ‘First Timer’s Kit.‘