Kickstarter – Crowdfunding Art Projects from Donations

Kickstarter is an incredible opportunity for crowdfunding creative projects by means of donations.

Crowd funding or crowdsourcing is a way of funding by receiving help from many people.

 

Kickstarter helps filmmakers, artists, illustrators, curators, inventors, writers, designers, musicians, and more, fund projects by donations from the public.  

Kickstarter may be an alternative to art grant funding, especially for emerging artists. Anyone who has applied for government grants and art grants know all the scrutiny artists have to go through. There often are numerous forms to fill out and they often require an artist resume with proof of exhibitions and awards. The artist may even have to undergo an interview. With all the trouble writing a grant proposal, there is no real guarantee that the artist will receive the grant at all.

With Kickstarter, all the artist needs is an original idea and the know-how to present it in a convincing way. There is no risk or monetary commitment. If the first proposal is unsuccessful, figure out how it can be improved, and submit another. It’s as simple as that!

A Kickstarter project begins with a idea and a goal. Then, set a cost for the project and a deadline for the goal to be achieved, usually within 30 or 60 days. The goal must be achieved before the project goes ahead. Donations are made by anyone who has a credit card and there is no limit to the amount that can be donated. Many of the successful projects have actually made much more money than the projected goal.

Kickstarter only takes 5% of the final pledge amount. The rest goes to the project! Also, all ownership of artwork created through projects stays with the artist.

 

A Few Ideas for Kickstarter for Artists

1. Get funding for your art show.
2. Publish an art book.
3. Collaboration projects.
4. A series of paintings
5. Performance art
6. Artist residencies
7. Any original idea… the possibilities are endless!

 

Artists on Kickstarter

If you are not yet excited by the prospect of Kickstarter to fund creative projects, check out these articles, which include Kickstarter success stories.

“Arts Funding Site Gets Kickstart From Business Bids”

“Could Kickstarter be Better than Government Grants for Artists?”

Also, take a look at these successful Kickstarter projects, artists who went way beyond their projected goals with Kickstarter.

1. Surreal Oil Paintings by JJ Long
2. Painting Residency

 Mike Filippello, one of our past artist spotlight features, has his own project underway. Here is what he has to say about Kickstarter.

 

Kickstarter is a fund raising platform. You set up a page with all the information about your project and what your goals are of the project. You should have a series of different rewards that people will receive when they pledge a certain amount...ex: $50.00 and you will get a limited edition of whatever that project is.. something that sets it apart from the regular product.

The most important factor about Kickstarter is the financial goal that you set. You can choose the time frame of your project and most people use the 30 day time frame for the funding of their project. The most important thing is this... It's all or nothing funding... If you don't make your financial goal... then you get nothing.. and at that point the project won't happen.

The funding is all on credit cards... if you don't make the goal.. within the time frame..then no money is charged to your backers credit card. There are a lot of projects that go way--above and beyond.. there is one project on the site for a new kind of Wristwatch..and their goal was $100,000... they have raised more than $ 7 million dollars.. seriously.. it's amazing what can be done if you find the right people and they are willing to support your project.

That's basically how it works. There are a lot of projects on the site and it's a great place to get started if you can find the support that you need. I've only raised $100 so far and I'm working all the time to find support. I use Facebook a lot but that can be hard. I'm reaching out to everyone that I can.. I want so much to make this happen for my projects. 

I hope that you will check out my project.. here is the link... The House of a Top Hat 

 

Tips for Kickstarter

1. Begin with an original idea
   
   
2. Outline a plan and rewards that people may want.
   
   
3. Create a video explaining your proposal and post it on Youtube.
   
   
   
4. Promote the video and your Kickstarter proposal with your network of online friends.
   
   
5. Look at the other artist projects that have been successful on Kickstarter. Take notes on how to write up a good proposal and apply it to your own.

Go here to signup for Kickstarter.

 

One final thing though!! Kickstarter is only available in the U.S. for projects, but anyone worldwide can make donations. I was really shocked when I saw this… that such a successful website will have such a restriction. Myself being from Canada, I cannot enjoy the benefits of Kickstarter. Hopefully they will open the borders in the future. What do you think? Do you think they will?