
So I have to tell you people about
Kickstarter. Kickstarter enables fundraising for "creative projects" in categories like art, film, music, photography, writing, etc in a fun online venue. The funds are all-or-nothing. You set a goal for your project, and if you meet the goal, you get the cash. If you do not meet the goal, you get nothing.
You describe your project, hopefully upload a video or at least some photos to help give voice to what you're trying to raise funds for, and set "rewards" in money increments for your donors. Kickstarter really encourages creative rewards - so it usually relates back to the project in some way, or are more personal kinds of things - limited editions, one of a kind handmade stuff, and experiences like private parties and the like.
We've launched a kickstarter for
PLUG and its been a great tool for getting the word out on what we're doing while trying to create a programming budget for the year. We've also had a lot of fun just kind of "cruising" kickstarter for fun projects going on in kansas city and around the world. I'm going to links to ours and some others here. In general I would say this is just a super resource and is so empowering at a time when funding for the arts is really in trouble at a government level. What's great about this is the real people- friends and even total strangers, displaying faith in the things you're trying to make happen.