How to fundraise your creative project
There are times when you just gotta wonder, what’s the point?
When the enemy seems too great, too many, too powerful.
And you feel silly about the things that you do, and the hope that you carry. Like the devil is laughing at you—“Really? You want to hit me with that? That’s all you got?”
And you think, maybe today I won’t write this post.
Maybe this week I won’t send out the newsletter.
And little by little you feel like resigning, giving up, giving in…
And then a friend sends a link for a fundraiser for a friend who has lost her house in the LA fires. You hear about how her and her son are homeless now, and that she raced out of the house before she could grab a jacket even.
And you’re grateful they made it out alive, but…
So you donate what you can. And you share the link with some other mutual friends. And people pitch in and share within their own circles. And you start to see something happen, something growing…a difference—however small—is being made.
And that flicker of hope that almost went out…it comes back. That it matters what you say and what you do. That if it can help one person, that’s the whole point.
So you write that post. You draft up the newsletter. You stick your middle finger up at the devil and give him a big, “Screw you.”
Because today, I’m making a difference. I’m going to make it better. One person at a time.
Cat xo
PS: I know many of us know many people impacted by the fires and are helping in whatever way we can, and if you feel like contributing to my friend Karlene Falco’s GoFund Me page: here’s the link. We volunteer-staffed a transformational leadership program together and she has always brightened the corner she’s in. (And she used to be a former breakdancer, which is the coolest.) Love you, Karlene. Praying for you and Gabe and everyone impacted by the fires.
Creative Fundraising
Speaking of fundraising, while I have yet to test out this strategy, I know a few authors who have been hugely successful with fundraising and crowd funding as a way to raise money for their book.
The truth is, it costs money to create a high-quality book, especially if you’re self-publishing it.
👉 It costs money to hire an editor to edit it. (You can only take your book so far, no matter how great a writer or editor you are.)
👉 It costs money to hire a professional designer to create your cover and format your book.
👉 It costs money to effectively promote your book, pay for a book tour, all the things. (I know of someone who crowdfunded her book tour—AROUND THE WORLD!)
Fundraising and crowdfunding can be a great way to raise money for your book (or any passion project, really). Strategies that have worked for other authors and creators include adding value for early investors (signed copies, swag, etc.), and creating content that brings readers and investors in on your journey with you so they can feel like they're part of it. (Listen to my interview with Derral Eves to hear the crowfunding success story behind the hit show The Chosen.)
The interesting byproduct of which is creating community (the gold standard!) and a ready audience/readership along the way.
If that’s something you want to look into, here are some platforms to explore:
💰 Kickstarter – Backers support creative projects by pledging money
💰 Gofundme – Crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for a cause
💰 Patreon – Run a subscription service, sell digital products, through this monetizing platform for creatives
💰 Twitch – Livestreaming service that allows viewers to donate to their favourite streamers
If I could turn back time
If you could turn back time, would you do anything different? Would you do it all again?
These are just some of the questions that inspired my book AGAIN, ONLY MORE LIKE YOU. Questions I was facing personally, if I’ll be honest.
Did I make the right choices? What if I had said yes? What if I had said no? What would be different? Would I be okay with that?
Years later, I can say I’m thrilled with where I’m landing. But it took asking those questions, and exploring those answers, to get here.
If that’s where you are now, I hope you’re inspired by Carmen and Ally’s journey. I hope you can see yourself for the hero that you are. I hope you can know that, even when you’ve spent your whole life getting here and you’re still not where you want to be, your best is yet to come. 💫
(And yes, I know, I can hear Cher singing that famous chorus line too 😂)
For more insta updates on my book, visit me on Instagram.