This is the sixth fundraising blog in a series aimed at helping musicians find the different paths towards achieving funding for their recordings. This is primarily to assist those involved in the Freedom Solutions Recording Plan or FSRP.

It takes a creative approach to fundraise money. Ask any professional fundraiser or non-profit organization. You have to have the drive, creativity and the ability to take a lot of no's before even a single yes.

There are a lot of other avenues to finding funding besides just going directly to individuals. This is key since most people will exhaust all options with the individuals they go to directly before they have achieved their full budget.

Visit the previous fundraising blogs that are posted each Wednesday for different ideas and approaches on how to obtain the capitol you need for your project.

Line item and section fundraising can be a smart and more centralized approach for some people to reach the budget goals for their projects. It can also depend on the type of person you are approaching for help.

The basic idea is, instead of looking for a number or monetary amount, you approach a potential donor or investor on more of a sponsorship level, asking for them to take care of a section or line item that is laid out in the budget, pinpointing a direct need instead of the larger picture.

For instance, if you had a record that was being recorded in 11 sessions at a studio that costs $500.00 a day; you could ask someone to cover one day or a couple days. You could even go a little further in detail and ask them to donate for the tracking sessions or the vocal sessions. This specified and detailed approach can bring more confidence to potential donors or investors because not only do you have the big plan and all the large scale information together, but you also have a solid grasp on the costs and an understanding of the small stuff and detailed information.

Other costs for smaller donations could be to ask certain people to help with gas and toll costs or food costs for the session. Perhaps you have someone that might pay the session bass player vicariously because he is a big fan of the bass.

It’s about taking a different view of your budget and looking at everything as an individual item who’s cost needs to be met financially. In this you can also offer credit on the recording. For example, I had one artist who had a donor pay my entire fee as the producer for the project. In turn, he became the executive producer to the producer. He ended up getting listed as one of the executive producers on the recording. He was thrilled and even has the album hanging on his wall, the band was thrilled, it was a chunk of the cost that was out of their way, and hey, I was thrilled.... I got paid.

This approach can also get people more involved in your project and allow friends to team up together to help you. If a group of three people decided to donate the food budget, they could be given the list that is planned for the sessions and either pick up the food and deliver it, or even cook certain meals for different days or nights and bring it down to the session.

This way it allows those donors to give financially, but also feel a part of the project and be more involved.

Another strong point for this approach is the trust barrier or trust issues some people might have with the band and band members. The FSRP bank accounts are handled solely by the artists. I have no control, interest or access to these accounts.

I like putting the responsibility and control into the artists hands, however some people may be weary about donating a large amount to be put in a bank account maintained by the artist or band.

This has been an issue in the past. It is the concern that the money will be spent prior to the session on items not in the budget. In this situation, by going after a specific donation with this potential donor and having them pay that exact amount to the person supplying the given service, it can make some feel more secure about what their donation is going to.

For example, let’s say you have a session player budget of $4,000.00. You are a solo artist and are bringing in a truckload of people to record. Let’s go even more detailed and say you are bringing in 8 players at $500.00 a piece totaling $4,000.00.

After booking the players in advance, you can explain who they are, what they are playing and that they are confirmed for the date. The donor can then write 8 checks out to these players for you to give to them when they do the session. It can bring up the trust level and make the donor feel more confident that the donation is being used in the specified manner for the given costs and not just putting a large cash sum in your bank account.

Look at the budget through a different set of eyes. What parts of it might appeal more to certain people you know? Who could you go to and ask for help on specific items? What kind of fundraisers could you set up that would be directly affecting specific parts of the budget?

This is another approach to finding the money you need to bring your budget and the project to fruition. Stay creative, take a different approach and take a look at the people or businesses you are going to for money.

Individualize and create a pitch just for them. While some people will respond better to raffles, some will respond better to the more assertive approach of just straight out asking for whatever donation they can give. Others might respond well to the line item or sectional fundraising approach. Find that right approach for the right person and complete the budget that you have set in place so you can get down to making that recording and all the elements that go with it.


© Loren Weisman