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Artists Turn to Nontraditional Funding Sources

Culture Chronicle

Kicking in for Art Projects
The Los Angeles Times - October 19, 2010
By Tricia Romano, Special to the Los Angeles Times

L.A. artists are turning to a nontraditional funding source: Kickstarter.com helps match projects with would-be philanthropists by allowing anyone to donate big or small amounts of money to bring an idea to life.

When Los Angeles performer Selene Luna applied for a grant in 2007 through the Franklin Furnace Fund, it took nine months and packets of paperwork to receive her money -- a small bounty of $3,000.

But last month, looking for financing for her online soap opera, "Selene's Hollywood Confidential," she turned to a less traditional fundraising source: Kickstarter.com. It took her 30 days to meet her $5,000 goal. In fact, she even raised a little more.

Luna is one many Los Angeles artists who have turned to Kickstarter.com, an interactive fundraising site that taps into an artist's online social media network. Started in April 2009, the site raises an average of $2 million per month in donations and boasts more than 300,000 users, according to co-founder Yancey Strickler. In Los Angeles alone, Strickler said, 800 projects have been funded, raising nearly $2 million for local works.Each Kickstarter project includes a pitch -- usually with a video, an update page and a list of the backers. Hanging over all the Kickstarter projects is a countdown set to a self-imposed deadline.

The easy integration with Twitter, Facebook and e-mail allows artists to ask for money in a way that doesn't feel like begging, encouraging contributions large and small. Most of the donations to Luna's project came in denominations of $10 and $20. For the full article, click here

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