What Do You Need Money For?
What one, or two, or three things do you have the most trouble finding money to pay for? Either because they’re expensive or because it’s hard to raise money for them?
A friend of mine at the Yale School of Management is doing some research in support of arts philanthropy. To his credit, he’s exploring how funders can better support very small organizations or projects with budgets under $20K (in other words, much of the Fractured Atlas membership).
So help him out and post a comment here with your thoughts or experience.
Tags: fundraising, philanthropy
We need equipment that can carry over from one project to another instead of just expenses per project. Purchasing a camera like an EX1 is under 20,000 but it not only makes more than one project more likely to be viable, it can also helps us with income that can be applied to ongoing expenses and development funds, and can help us offer advantages and benefits to employees and interns.
And development funds to get a project started. Research and putting together business plans, marketing estimates etc. all cost time and money which we have to invest before we even start to get funding.
How about funds for individual artists to actually create art?
I think one thing that chronically gets overlooked in this mess of arts organizations, art speak, arts arts arts! Gazooks! Is the individual artist.
It seems that organizations, arts funding groups, the whole shebang are all focused on organizational projects and not the artist. It’s all about the big deals, but not the individual. What about that individual artist who is struggling to create one piece, or one series of works?
I can’t afford to finish my works. I can design them, draw them out on my computer, archive them. But to print a giclee, to frame them for show, that runs me about 1500 dollars per image.
I don’t print money like the treasury. And I suspect there are many individual artists struggling in this economy as I am. My business just took a 90% decrease in revenues. So my “day job” is really suffering.
The availability for funding projects for the individual artist is zero to none and when it’s there, it’s so prohibitive and elitist (you must have the proper credentials and zee papers or vee vill not fund you!) it’s ridiculous.
Time to rethink the model.
Space rental, space rental, space rental. For rehearsals, performances, materials storage. This costs more than anything else and isn’t “sexy” enough for most funders unless it’s a permanent building they can put their names on.
Specialized shipping services for artwork can be very expensive-from building crates to fees for the actual carrier.
Equipment is the main thing that comes to mind for me. Funders typically just covers materials, supplies, and equipment or space rental. Owning your equipment allows you to “play” with it, experiment with it more leisurely, and this is paramount to ultimately crafting something well in the visual arts.
Agree with Laura - space rental!
what i need is equipment. i’m trying to record my first solo album after many years in other projects, and garage band and built in microphones dont cut it. i need good programs and good equipment.
Money for visual artists to do their work is almost impossible to find. There are some residencies if you want to go somewhere to work or sometimes there is a little money to give a lecture but there isn’t support to just stay in your studio and make work. And when an artist shows work, there usually isn’t an honorarium or rental fee for showing the work. NEA, many years ago, used to give some money to individual visual artists. But that was a long time ago. There is almost no support of any kind for
individual visual artists.
Start Up Money! As a production body, we work on a per-project basis. As such, we start back at just about $0 every time we begin a project. It is easy to get donors to give after they see/hear/experience a project, but getting them to believe before, is difficult. Our start up costs are necessary too - insurance so our artists are safe, administrative costs like copies and demo cds, websites, space rental.
Money for time to actually create the art especially if it’s something that takes a few months or a couple of years. That is the #1 problem.
In order…
1. Rent
2. Electric
3. Phone+Insurance+Food
I agree with what was said above… space! It’s difficult to find space that’s affordable and that works with the project you’re doing. And again, it’s not really something that a donor can easily put their name on, so it’s not usually something they want to contribute to.
Most of all, I need a new computer with software that can help me write, create graphics for marketing, and stay connected with the world! But yes, also money for space rental, any kind of multi-media equipment, travel costs, and money to PAY the awesome help I hire!! And money for festival application/participation fees is great too.
1. Money for individual artist to do work (enough money to take a leave-of-absense from a day job or (gasp) quit the day-job altogether.
2. Money for space rental.
We use our money for Artist Stipends, marketing, and space rental mostly.
I’ve received some grants (as an individual artist) that were for projects, but the grant that had the most impact on my life was one that was completely unrestricted. It was founded by a woman who had been a playwright - when she died, she left instructions for her money to be given away to playwrights which would be nominated anonymously by a panel - no application process. When I received the money out of the blue, I used it to get my teeth fixed (some back molars had cracked) and pay off all credit cards. That grant allowed some real breathing space in my life - I could focus on my work because I wasn’t drowning in debt or in pain.
They can provide a system to provide free technical assistance to each grantee, so the use of the money is fully optimized…so the artists can get the full benefit of the resource….a la the professional development cultivation that Creative Capital provides its grantees.
We’re start up and in need of many things. In particular someone to develop a communcations infrastructure (i.e. website and internal communication structure). Finding a space to meet/host screenings has also been an issue.
1. Ideally, a grant that provides not only a stipend for materials but an allowance that affords the artist to pay their monthly responsibilities while they are away for their residency.
2. Another alternative to equipment grants is a program that will allow artists to purchase equipment at affordable prices. Artists need to familiarize with their tools and sometimes it is not related to a particular project. It maybe difficult to apply for an equipment grant especially when it is tied to specific projects.
3.Payment for framing, shipping costs for works included for an exhibition. It is such an exorbitant amount that leaves artists broke by the end of the show.
My role in the arts is slightly different, in that I curate a film festival that presents art to the public. My biggest challenges are:
1. Affordable, clean, accessible and larger space/venue to present works to the public
2. Local and government commitment to the arts, and not their “hand picked” favorites that they re-fund…year after year after year…i.e., the symphony, the ballet, etc. There are other companies that provide works that are just as creative as some of the regulars. Unfortunately, the public rarely gets to see them, which also brings me back to #1.
3. Actually salaries for artists for a finite amount of time, just so people can catch up with their lives, get some breathing room, and just “create.” I like David Johnston comment; if that could be done on a larger scale, with some consistency, then it would re-focus the American artist away from creating their art “to sell,” to just “creating their art.”
Money to pay me a salary, marketing and quality equipment!
1. Money for artist fees proportionate to the work going into the creation/production - ie. generally in the range of FT salary
2. money for space of all kinds (as mentioned above)
Money to finally attend the acting conservatory I was admitted into.
There seem to be more financial opportunities once you are somewhat established, but acquiring funds as an individual (when you are just starting out) for a school that is private and receives little to no outside funding is next to impossible without a 501(c)3 status.
Companies want that tax-deduction.
Let’s see…start up money for business needs, including marketed website and computer!
Oh, You know…nothing people think we should have…like
1. food.
2. housing.
3. health care.
4. art supplies.
in that order
Money to cover basic day-to-day administrative costs is difficult to raise from donors. Donors prefer to contribute to specific projects and programs that deliver tangible results, such as a “contemporary prints wing” or public art installation. But being able to cover administrative costs is critical to the nonprofit’s effectiveness and efficiency. Many small arts nonprofits struggle with this.
As a painter my financial needs are studio rent and materials. Right now those are hard orders to fill. I no longer am able to paint as I wish because of material expenses. Holding on to my current studio has become my main focus.
Money to save our home at 307 E Lawrence St Montpelier Ohio 43543
I have had very mimimal success with fundraising for the purpose of participating instrumental music competitions. While I do feel fortunate to have attended a Creative Capital Fundraising seminar through which we were very well educated, it is still somewhat problematic and I think that the problem comes with knowing that the purpose of these events and the rewards (those being, should one take a prize, concerts in important cities and venues as well as greater exposure) has to be explained both to potential donors and to artists.
Living expenses! Sometimes we have the ideas, the team, the ambition and the materials but have to spend so much of our creative energy on working another (sometimes even arts-related) job, that little is left to carry out that vision. In many grant applications we are expected to itemize the grant money’s purpose when it would be great to put it towards personal overhead and let us use some of that creative energy to solve the equipment and space (i.e., concrete) problems.
To keep our home so when my grandma gets out of the hospital she still has a home to go to. Even though we owe about $88,000 on our house, if we could raise enough money, we could buy a mobile home. We need about $10,000 for a decent mobile home.
Agree with those who say we need money to live on while we create. I think they call that “fellowships.”
Personally, I’d like to have money to publish a book. Even if you find a small publisher to work with, they are strapped financially too, and can’t pay an “advance” which is usually used for living expenses by authors who write for large publishers. Wouldn’t it be great to have a grant to pay for research and living expenses while I’m writing?( I’m raking yards and cleaning houses, which gives me food and transport money but can’t pay for rent or health insurance.) Or a grant to manufacture books?
I would echo others references to money for studio rental/space as this is frequently a barrier to making art. In addition, as a performer, I frequently collaborate with other artists — musicians to write scores, other performers to be a part of my work, visual artists to create environments. So, I would say artist fees is the largest portion of my projects. In order to value my collaborators, I have to pay them. When I am able to secure funds, much of the funds go to artist fees and this is a vital part of my work.
We need money to buy a little piece of land and a couple of modular homes for our international artist in residency program. Obviously there are lots of other things we could spend money on, but this is what would make our lives a whole lot easier right now.
I just need money for my project….which is a huge project for mankind…thts it :D simple as tht …