Need Funding? Try Kickstarter!
Are you a writer, an artist, or a playwright looking for help funding a special project? Instead of going to your local bank, you might want to try another way of endowing your work. Kickstarter is a new way of funding artistic endeavors and other worthy causes. From the website:
We believe that…
• A good idea, communicated well, can spread fast and wide.
• A large group of people can be a tremendous source of money and encouragement.REWARDS! Project creators inspire people to open their wallets by offering smart, fun, and tangible rewards (products, benefits, and experiences).
ALL-OR-NOTHING FUNDING! Every Kickstarter project must be fully funded before its time expires or no money changes hands. (It’s less risk for everyone. If you need $5,000, it’s tough having $2,000 and a bunch of people expecting you to complete a $5,000 project. It allows people to test concepts (or conditionally sell stuff) without risk. If you don’t receive the support you want, you’re not compelled to follow through. This is huge! It motivates. If people want to see a project come to life, they’re going to spread the word.
STORIES! Kickstarter projects are efforts by real people to do something they love, something fun, or at least something of note. These stories unfold through blog posts, pics, and videos as people bring their ideas to life. Take a peek around the site and see what we’re talking about. Stories abound.
You need to be absolutely clear about what your needs are and where the money will go, but if you have a business plan for your project (um, you do have a business plan for your project, right?) and feel that it’s possible to get it completed within the time allotted by Kickstarter, this may be the way to go. It’s certainly an interesting concept.
And if you’re actually looking for a project to fund, looking through the available opportunities is a lot of fun. It just goes to show how many creative people there are working out there.
Consider different and unusual ways of getting your project to see the light of day. And then you’ll be .. beyond the elements of style!
Posted in Getting Published, Ideas, Research, Words, grants on January 19th, 2010