Indie and go fund me efforts

[Rebekah Krieger]

This year I have contributed to 3 different fundraisers for potters to get the equipment they needed and one potter to attend nceca who couldn't afford it (I didn't afford it that year... oddly enough) In 2 cases I didn't even get a thank you or acknowledgment that I contributed.  Thinking about this, I felt a bit jealous.  I didn't feel like my work was good enough to ever gain support to get a dream kiln. 

Why did I find myself contributing to their efforts but Unworthy of contribution for my own? If/ when you do contribute to these efforts, what makes it worthy of your contribution?  I would love to raise 10-20k to build a wood fired kiln with salt chamber. But I feel like my work has more growing to do before I am worthy of such a project. 

[Rebekah Krieger]

 I just wanted to add that this is not  intended to be a self loathing, draining, or negative post.   I reread it and realize it might come across that way.    I'm generally a very optimistic person and very goal driven.    But I'm trying to figure out if it's something inside of me or something about my work that needs to progress to feel this way. 

[Judith B]

I personally have always had mixed feelings about crowdfunding. Looks like some people are using it for just about anything and it sometimes look like their business plan is just too shaky for them to be able to grow, so they rely on crowdfunding.

For huge investment such as starting new projects or getting new equipment, it could make sense to have people invest in your project, become your patrons. Personally, I haven't supported many people that way for a variety of reason (the main one being not having that much extra money anyway). For pottery I feel like supporting your work by buying your pieces feels more natural to me than making a donation. 

Then so much time and energy needs to go in advertising the fundraising event or page and getting back to people that I wonder if it's not easier to just sell work?

[Joseph Fireborn]

Usually these people already have a cult following or at least some dire hard fans that do most of the work spreading the word. I also think go fund me is basically like buying a pot for a reason right? I could be wrong as I have never looked at any of these go fund me's for pottery, but in general usually you get something for giving your money to them?

It is an interesting subject. 

[GEP]

I have mixed feelings about crowdfunding too, and think it is being viewed as "easy money" which is not a disciplined mentality for running a business. I've seen too many campaigns that involve a purchase that could be saved up for in a year or two if that person's priorities were genuinely in the right place. 

I gave money to a local pottery facility that had all of their equipment destroyed by a flood. 

Another local pottery facility was seeking donations simply because they were about to go bankrupt. I chose not to give in this case. Their problems were a lot more complicated than a natural disaster, and money was not going to solve them.

I give money to my nephew's high school baseball team every year. Pretty sure all of that money comes from parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. 

[Mark C.]

I'm not a crowdfunder-I have never really liked crowds

We have given Money -pottery-time into the things we believe in-crowdfunding is just not one of them.

[Joseph Fireborn]

I spent some time looking through the gofundme pages for pottery. I just googled "pottery gofundme". I found most of them to be pretty odd. Very little information about what they plan to do with the money besides "get a kiln so i can make stuff", "get a wheel so i can make stuff". The only one that actually looked decent was a guy who was creating a local studio/school and he was returning any donation over xx dollars with a pot. He was nearly funded.

So it seems most of them are a wash. 

I agree with Mea though. There is a lot of merit in building your own business from the ground up. I always tell friends/relatives that you need to work your job and do your hobby as a second job until you can make it your first. Because I don't think most people really will commit enough time in their hobby to become an actual job. If you can work a 2nd job as your hobby and get it going enough to make it a profitable venture, then you probably have what it takes to do your hobby for a living. 

I think a lot of these people are hoping to skip that step with the crowdfunding. 

I have never donated anything to any kind of fund me page. I have seen to many people burned on the kickstarter stuff. 

 

 

 

[glazenerd]

As with any public venue created with good intent, it is quickly over-run by those with wrong motives. There is no screening process, so it's donor beware. To Mea's point: there are disciplines and lessons that can only be learned by going through the fire. Being a fiercely   independent soul: I make and pay for my own way, and with that comes the expectation of having no expectations or desire for others to help. Then when others do offer to help, it then becomes a blessing of kindness: even though I decline.

Nerd

[Rebekah Krieger]

Glazenerd- I know what you mean. others would feel as though they can claim responsibility for my success. (As a Capricorn that is not acceptable to me haha) I am surprised by the lack of etiquette from (some of) the ones I have contributed to. 

It will take balance with my life to pursue ceramics. With raising 4 kids, running a household, and being a realtor in a hot market, it's not easy. I know it will happen some day.... although I fear it will happen later in my life. 

[Denice]

The go fund me has gotten carried away,  it was for charities at the beginning.  I had a nephew ask for money to pay their utilities,  my sister set up one to get dentures.   I didn't donate I knew it wouldn't happen she had gone too long with out teeth for dentures to work.   She had a thousand dollars donated to it so she just used it for living expenses.  Denice

[neilestrick]

There was recently a well know potter who did a gofundme type thing to build a new kiln. The potter has been around for a pretty long time and sells a lot of pots, has a big following on social media, etc. He raised the money in a very short amount of time. It really bugged me that someone who is making a living from his work would think that this was the proper way to go about getting the money for his kiln. Like Mea said, how does this fit into a business model, and why would I give to someone who is more successful at selling his work than most people? If there had been a disaster of some sort that ruined his kiln, or he was sick and couldn't make work for a while, etc., then I'm might consider it, but not just because he decided he didn't want to save up for the kiln. It's not a surprise when a kiln needs to be rebuilt- you can see it coming for a long time.

I think this method of raising money should only be used for disaster relief, emergencies, illnesses, and startups. It should not be used because you aren't willing to save money.