Mission statements are powerful tools for artists, arts organizations, or any group of people looking to have an impact with the work that they do. In one or two sentences, a mission statement can help you clarify the effect that you want your work to have for yourself, for your audience, and for donors. Missions statements are used to help others understand why you do what you do rather than what exactly it is that you do. Mission statements are about the “why” instead of the “how” or the “what.”

When you fundraise, you are asking people to donate whatever they have the capacity to offer and what they feel compelled to give to support your work. Donation tiers give a structure to that ask.

Raffles are a time-honored way for artists to raise funds. With a raffle, you solicit small donations in the form of “tickets” or entries to the raffle. Then, you randomly choose a winner to receive the prize.

Not all fundraising looks or functions the same way. Fundraising for different kinds of projects or in different fields will often adhere to specific norms, modes, and strategies.

For artists and arts organizations, posting on social media is important. Social media, whichever platform(s) you choose, will help you raise awareness about your work, keep your audience engaged with you between performances or other big events, let you connect more deeply to your creative community, and ultimately drive sales and fundraising donations. A successful social media strategy requires regular posting, which leads to a big question for many artists. What to post?

Artists and arts organizations, welcome to NYSCA season! What is NYSCA, why does it have a season, why do artists and arts organizations care about it, and what’s it doing on the Fractured Atlas blog? We’ll cover it all below.

It is impossible to ignore the magnitude of need for financial support locally, regionally, and globally. People are finding it harder and harder to access the resources they need to create art, to live a dignified life, and to even secure basics like food and housing. Because of this, there are lots of different individuals, groups, and organizations who are working to get money to people who need it.

For many artists, fundraising is the way that you get your work financially supported. Through strategies like crowdfunding campaigns, grant applications, membership drives, and end-of-year appeals, fundraising can help you secure the financial resources to realize your creative vision. While fundraising isn’t the only way for artists to bring in funding, it can be an important part of your life as a working creative.

At Fractured Atlas and on this blog, we talk about money a lot. We cover why it’s hard to talk about money, how artists can raise money, and argue that pay transparency is anti-racist. We cover crowdfunding, grants, and how to improve your chances at succeeding in both of these ventures.

When operating an arts organization or other kind of project, you have to decide what kind of formal structure is best for that project. Should you be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit? A worker-owned co-op? A collective? A business? A community group without any official structure?