So, you've decided that overseas study is the way to go and you've roughly worked out how much money you need to save...how are you going to raise all those funds, you ask? The simple answer...?Any way you can!
For me, fundraising fell into three categories:
1) Donations
2) Trusts & scholarships
3) Concerts & events
I'm going to walk through each one of these processes and hopefully by the end of it, you'll have found it worthwhile.
Donations
Receiving donations is amazing. I mean, who doesn't love free money? Having said that, as the saying goes, nothing comes for free. Unless you're receiving money from your parents (and even then), donations should never be viewed as just free money, but seen rather as a trade. You should ALWAYS give something back, or at least offer something in return, even if it seems unnecessary. Your reciprocation to a donation could be as small as keeping people in touch with your progress via e-mail, to publicly thanking them by placing their name on a list of donors. By making what may seem as a small gesture, it could pay off dividends in the future if you ever need to seek donations again in the future.
Australian Business Arts Foundation
One fantastic resource for Australian artists is the Australian Business Arts Foundation (AbaF). This foundation facilitates in accepting tax deductible donations on behalf of artists with a particular goals in mind through the Australia Cultural Fund (ACF). You would need to write to them to explain your project and they would then need to approve it. Once approved, your profile goes up on their website and you will be able to begin accepting donations either through the mail or online.
The way the the ACF is able to pass on the tax deductible status onto you is this. Any donation you obtain will go into the pot at the ACF. When donors donate, they are asked who their preferred recipient would be and a record is made of how much money is coming in towards your project. The board of trustees meet (I believe) every month and money is allocated accordingly. As far as I'm aware, all money that is tagged for you as a preferred recipient will go to you and not to any other project. For more information please see the link in the previous paragraph.
Sponsorship Booklets
My first fundraising initiative was the creation of a 12-page A4 sized (3 x A3 double-sided) sponsorship brief booklet. These briefs were split into two categories; businesses and individuals. The contents of these two booklets were identical except for the sponsorship packages on page 4. The 12-page booklet looked as follows:
- p1: Front cover
- p2-3: Cover letter requesting sponsorship
- p4: Sponsorship packages
- p5: Expenses (tuition, accommodation, living expenses)
- p6-8: Three letters of reference
(I had one from Opera Australia, Victorian Opera and my singing teacher)
- p9-11: CV
- p12: Back cover
The idea of sponsorship packages was taken and adapted from Art Centre Melbourne's philanthropy model. I didn't have much to offer in way of reciprocation except for my singing, so I offered that, along with tickets to my upcoming fundraising concerts and public recognition. For more details see the two pictures below.
 |
| Business Sponsorship Packages |
 |
| Individual Sponsorship Packages |
I ended up printing over 120 of these booklets (Business and Individual combined) a good 10 months before I was even ready to head to the UK. I don't exactly remember, but I may have printed them before I had even heard back from the colleges...quite a risky move...
In hindsight, (and something I would recommend anyone that plans on making a booklet similar to this one), I would say delay creating a booklet until AFTER official letters have arrived and you've accepted. Having the official letter and being able to scan it into your booklet will be another selling point for your cause. Because my booklet was full of "am going to" or "I plan to" it was all a little bit uncertain, and people will more likely support you if they know you've already secured a spot.
If you've had a look through the booklet you'll notice that I also included something one other thing before when sending this out, that being, my audition CD. This disc contained three arias of contrasting styles showing me in my best light. THIS IS A MUST as even if you look terrific on paper, it still means squat if you can't produce the goods. If you can include a professional recording that would be ideal, however if you can do it with say a mini-disc recorder and a room with good acoustics, that should work well too.
It takes money to make money...
At the end of the day you want everything to look as professional as possible! Treat this as one business person dealing with another, and not a needy student begging for scraps. For this reason alone don't print these booklets off your inkjet at home. Have them done by a company that specialises in printing. Yes it will cost money, but remember that the organisations, businesses and individuals you send this to will have most likely received applications similar to this on more than one occasion. YOU NEED TO STAND OUT!
I used Kwik Kopy to print off my books and also all my promotional material used for my fundraising concerts. They were a little on the pricy side, but I had established a great rapport with them and because I was bringing in so much of my printing to them they gave me a discount. The results looked amazing and the booklets really made quite an impact.
(For those who are interested, the print was done on 3 double-sided A3 gloss 170gsm and saddle stitched down the middle.)
So, after I created my little booklet I needed to work out who to target. This actually took a bit of thinking, but I began with places that I had a relationship with. I target places like my old high school and it's Old Boys association, organisations that I had done concerts with, places I used to work for etc. This list wasn't that big and I needed to think bigger. I went to the Opera Australia website and looked at who their sponsors were and targeted each of them, both the companies and individuals (or at least the ones that I could find a mailing address to). I looked at other arts websites such as The Australian Ballet, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and targeted their sponsors as well. I also had a look at the Philanthropy Australia website which provided a few possible leads as well. In regards to individuals, obviously look for wealthy people that support the arts in some way, and not just anybody that's wealthy! Looking a people that donate to organisations such Arts Centre Melbourne or the Sydney Opera House would be a great place to start.
One thing I noticed was that large businesses and organisations was that they were much less likely to help individuals. They usually liked helping communities or groups with certain goals in mind that would benefit more than just one person. That's not to say don't try them as you may find you get something else out of them than money, but don't be surprised if you get a lot of rejections.
Speaking of rejections...YOU ARE GOING TO GET A LOT!!! It's inevitable! I know rejection sucks but you need to factor that a lot of people will say "No" to your call for help. And you know what? That's ok. It's their money and they can spend it anyway they want. All you really need though is one or two "Yes" and believe me, it'll make all the hard work and heartache from the "No" seem worthwhile.
After all that, I sum it up to these four main points:
- Sign up to the the AbaF ASAP so you can reap the benefits of tax-deductible donations
- Stand out like a professional, present professionally and people will remember you
- Always give something back for people's generosity
- Target businesses, organisation or individuals that you have a relationship with, or, target those that are involved and/or are passionate about supporting the arts.
Next entry will be on focussing on Trusts & Scholarships...stay tuned...
No comments:
Post a Comment