AniaR
05-26-2013, 11:21 AM
The amount of mermaids asking me for money has really increased for some reason in the past 2-3 weeks. Everyone wants money to create or buy their own tail. I love you all, but I barely have enough money to pay my bills, and am struggling to pay health and dental expenses. So I'm not in any place to donate funds, or I would.
When I fundraised to buy my tails, or pay for part of them, I generally didn't get money from fellow mermaids (I believe 1 did give me 30$) everyone here is in the same boat. Tails are super expensive. Supplies for making tails are super expensive. If we could all afford them we wouldn't be scowering mernetwork every day for some form of support. I wrote a lot about how I fundraised for my tails in my book. One of the big things, and one of the reasons why I think so many mermaid related kick starters and other campaigns fail- is that too many people only look for support from within the community. A community that has no extra money. Mers need to think OUTSIDE the bubble. You need to appeal to a variety of communities. And you need to give people some substance, not just "I want to kick start my business!" because most of them we'll figure, everyone else has to do it the hard way, why should I give money to your business so you can make money?
Some things to consider:
-Business Grants: find out what ones are availible in your area, and apply, apply, apply. KEEP applying. That money IS delegated to help small businesses get their start.
-Sponsorship: create a pitch (see more info in my book on creating a detailed pitch) to send to local associated businesses. Offer them something in return like advertisement on your website, blog, FB, etc. Or trade an appearance at their location for sponsorship toward your project etc.
-Art Grants: Making mermaid tails, and performing in mermaid tails, both fall under different forms of art. In Canada we have Canada Council for the Arts that supplies grants for artists. Look into what art grants may be available in your area. If you can't find any info, check with a local art college or university.
-Save: it sounds like a no brainer but sometimes people don't realize that every little bit DOES help in this stage. Keep a change bucket in your room to toss loose change in. Make a commitment to put 20$ or something from every pay check into your fund. Ask friends and family to give you money or supplies toward your business as gifts for birthdays, holidays, graduation etc.
-Appeal to Artists and Photographers: a huge amount of money I got, came from my long term followers on devantART. People who had been following me for years and wanted to see me do this project. Artists enjoy supporting other artists. But you need to appeal to the artist community, not just the mermaid artist community. So get on some of these websites like deviantART, Flickr, Google+ etc. Don't join and just start asking for money. Get involved with the community, blog, post concepts etc. Get people interested in your idea. Incorporate your fundraising info into every image you upload, every blog you make, hell, put it in your signature. COLLECTORS also follow these groups. Not the creepy mer-collectors we often run into, legit art collectors. Art collectors spend big money. And they'll often be loyal to artists they create a good rapport with.
-Blog: Start a blog if you don't already have one. Get your fundraising info in there clear as day. Keep posting in your blog, and you'll attract more people.
-Make use of Paypal Donation Buttons: on every site you use or have
-Get Outside Your Usual Community: Start looking on special effects websites, modelling websites, aquarium websites etc. Network! The money isn't going to come from the mermaid community. So you need to get involved in others. If you plan on working with kids, start networking that way- you may find there is more funding available for education projects, or for conservation projects, etc.
-Pay it Forward: People aren't going to want to donate to anything that looks selfish. They like to know their money is going toward something bigger, or something that might better the world, or people. Before I even started collected money for my mertailor tail way back when, I made sure people knew I was comitted to a certain amount of volunteer work and specifically what that work would be. When I was fundraising for my merbellas tail, I let people know I was planning on passing my old mertailor tail on to someone else for free. So not only would they be helping me reach my mermaid dream they'd be enabling me to help someone else. I'm not saying you need to donate 1000s of hours, or give stuff away for free. Just that people need something to connect with. It has to be less about you, and more about the bigger picture.
I successfully fundraised for 3 tails. The first two were about evenly matched between other people giving me money, and me saving money. My merbellas tail was nearly all money from other people. I've made this work 3 times, and it was years before kickstarter or indigogo or anything like that either existed or became known. I know those of you who want to do this, will find a way to make it work. You just need to think outside the bubble :)
If you found this post helpful, you may find my index on how to be a professional mermaid helpful: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3687-The-Official-quot-How-to-Become-a-Professional-Mermaid-quot-Index along with my book linked in my signature. <3
When I fundraised to buy my tails, or pay for part of them, I generally didn't get money from fellow mermaids (I believe 1 did give me 30$) everyone here is in the same boat. Tails are super expensive. Supplies for making tails are super expensive. If we could all afford them we wouldn't be scowering mernetwork every day for some form of support. I wrote a lot about how I fundraised for my tails in my book. One of the big things, and one of the reasons why I think so many mermaid related kick starters and other campaigns fail- is that too many people only look for support from within the community. A community that has no extra money. Mers need to think OUTSIDE the bubble. You need to appeal to a variety of communities. And you need to give people some substance, not just "I want to kick start my business!" because most of them we'll figure, everyone else has to do it the hard way, why should I give money to your business so you can make money?
Some things to consider:
-Business Grants: find out what ones are availible in your area, and apply, apply, apply. KEEP applying. That money IS delegated to help small businesses get their start.
-Sponsorship: create a pitch (see more info in my book on creating a detailed pitch) to send to local associated businesses. Offer them something in return like advertisement on your website, blog, FB, etc. Or trade an appearance at their location for sponsorship toward your project etc.
-Art Grants: Making mermaid tails, and performing in mermaid tails, both fall under different forms of art. In Canada we have Canada Council for the Arts that supplies grants for artists. Look into what art grants may be available in your area. If you can't find any info, check with a local art college or university.
-Save: it sounds like a no brainer but sometimes people don't realize that every little bit DOES help in this stage. Keep a change bucket in your room to toss loose change in. Make a commitment to put 20$ or something from every pay check into your fund. Ask friends and family to give you money or supplies toward your business as gifts for birthdays, holidays, graduation etc.
-Appeal to Artists and Photographers: a huge amount of money I got, came from my long term followers on devantART. People who had been following me for years and wanted to see me do this project. Artists enjoy supporting other artists. But you need to appeal to the artist community, not just the mermaid artist community. So get on some of these websites like deviantART, Flickr, Google+ etc. Don't join and just start asking for money. Get involved with the community, blog, post concepts etc. Get people interested in your idea. Incorporate your fundraising info into every image you upload, every blog you make, hell, put it in your signature. COLLECTORS also follow these groups. Not the creepy mer-collectors we often run into, legit art collectors. Art collectors spend big money. And they'll often be loyal to artists they create a good rapport with.
-Blog: Start a blog if you don't already have one. Get your fundraising info in there clear as day. Keep posting in your blog, and you'll attract more people.
-Make use of Paypal Donation Buttons: on every site you use or have
-Get Outside Your Usual Community: Start looking on special effects websites, modelling websites, aquarium websites etc. Network! The money isn't going to come from the mermaid community. So you need to get involved in others. If you plan on working with kids, start networking that way- you may find there is more funding available for education projects, or for conservation projects, etc.
-Pay it Forward: People aren't going to want to donate to anything that looks selfish. They like to know their money is going toward something bigger, or something that might better the world, or people. Before I even started collected money for my mertailor tail way back when, I made sure people knew I was comitted to a certain amount of volunteer work and specifically what that work would be. When I was fundraising for my merbellas tail, I let people know I was planning on passing my old mertailor tail on to someone else for free. So not only would they be helping me reach my mermaid dream they'd be enabling me to help someone else. I'm not saying you need to donate 1000s of hours, or give stuff away for free. Just that people need something to connect with. It has to be less about you, and more about the bigger picture.
I successfully fundraised for 3 tails. The first two were about evenly matched between other people giving me money, and me saving money. My merbellas tail was nearly all money from other people. I've made this work 3 times, and it was years before kickstarter or indigogo or anything like that either existed or became known. I know those of you who want to do this, will find a way to make it work. You just need to think outside the bubble :)
If you found this post helpful, you may find my index on how to be a professional mermaid helpful: http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?3687-The-Official-quot-How-to-Become-a-Professional-Mermaid-quot-Index along with my book linked in my signature. <3