This is the seventh 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.

Rallying the troops….

When you create an album, you’re not doing it alone, it takes a number of people to help you bring a project to fruition as well as many different parts, pieces and stages. The same is true for the fundraising. You don’t have to do it alone and when you don’t, it can be worlds easier.

Whether you are in a band and have a group of people to fundraise, or you are a solo artist raising funds on your own. Bringing in a team of people can help you reach your budget faster.

Friends, family members and even fans can all play a part in what we call rallying the troops.

What’s in it for them?

Close friends and family will always be supportive, especially if you are organized and have the details in place. Those closest to you will do what they can to help you, that is why they are friends and why they are family. However, getting the help of others may require some kind of incentive. It doesn’t necessarily make them selfish, it just means that time and resources are often hard to come by and they have to be driven to work on things that have something in it for them.

I advise people to offer a percentage to those assisting with fundraisers. Talk to friends, talk to family about the project and about what you are trying to do. Then tell them that for whatever they help raise, you will in turn give them a percentage of your choosing.

Most give ten percent to friends and occasionally will give larger percentages to individuals that may have access to potential donors that could bring in a large sum.

Ten percent, when you think about it, is not a lot to give away for, in a sense, hiring a fundraiser. If a friend were able to take some of your materials and bring it to even two people that both donated $250.00 dollars, you would end up with $500.00. Then after giving $50.00 to the person that found those two donors, you walk away with $450.00 for your recording budget.

Bringing in a team of people that you know can speak and communicate well, people that believe in you and people that understand your goals, can give you a wider spectrum of options and ideas.

Just as they can help get out to donors, they can also give you ideas on who to talk to. This larger circle can help make contacting a “cold contact” or someone you don’t know at all and have no ties to, suddenly become a “warm contact” or someone you have some kind of tie to through a common acquaintance.

Sometimes these fundraisers who are working for a percentage can get you a sit down with them and a potential donor to get you in the door to make your pitch. Remember, even though you end up making the pitch, the contact was made through your friend and they should still receive the 10% or what ever the decided percentage.

This also allows your friends to be involved in the making of the recording. You can set goals to inspire them. If they raise a certain amount, then the percentage they receive can go up after that. For example, if someone goes out and finds a thousand dollars total for you over a period of time, you can up their percentage as a sign of both gratitude and an inspiration for them to find more money and contacts since they stand to make more off of doing so.

Certain goals can be laid out to as benchmarks to hit for fundraisers, which could give them certain album credits. For instance, if someone were to raise a sixth or more of your budget, you could list them as an assistant executive producer on the cd itself. Some people love the credit. Some people want to be involved, get the bragging rights and be part of something. These people can be a great asset to you as you can help them live out some of their secret dreams.

Some people may not want to be a musician, but they may want to be part of a project. This could give them that element as they give you their help. Remember, the more people you involve, the more resources, names and contacts are created for you to achieve the budget.

The more people that you know who become involved, the easier it will be not only to find funding opportunities, but also to get the word out around other areas of funding. Having friends spread the words about benefits, raffles, and fundraising shows are just a few of the things a larger network can help with.

The more the word gets out, the more press and marketing will come your way. The more people you have getting this word out to their friends, may in turn get those friends to tell others. It’s building a major network and spreading the word through every avenue to gain the most contacts, connections and press to find the donors and investors you need.

When you think about it, it’s really good practice, since these are the exact same concepts and methods that you will need to implement to market and promote your recording when it is done. Reaching people and reaching out to people to raise money or help you raise money is much harder than reaching out to people and getting those people to reach out to sell and promote your group and product.

This stage of funding will help you and create the foundational stages of grassroots marketing which is the final and ongoing step after you complete the project.

 

© Loren Weisman