To create art, you need materials and tools. For the most DIY of us, we can find some of those materials and tools around our homes. But the rest of us will need to source tools, equipment, and materials to make our work.

Fiscal sponsorship is an important tool for artists, arts organizations, and creatives looking to fundraise to support your work.

At Fractured Atlas, we are dedicated to helping our community of artists and arts organizations get the resources you need in order to bring your vision to life. Often, this means fundraising.

Artists and arts organizations looking to start your next year off strong are probably considering an end-of-year fundraiser. End-of-year fundraising is a chance for you to connect with your current and previous donors, thank them for their support, and ask them to give one last time before the new year. For artists and arts organizations with either 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor, it’s also a time for your donors to make their final tax-deductible donations before the end of the year.

I know it feels like we’re barely settling into fall, but the end of the year is right around the corner. For artists and arts organizations from independent theater producers to the Met, we’re all entering into a major time for fundraising in the calendar year.

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.

Social media can be tricky for all of us. Should you use it as a way to show yourself in the best possible light or use it as a way to be authentically vulnerable with the people who are in your network? Should you use it as a platform to talk about social and political issues or is that just virtue signaling? How do you modulate between the nice dopamine hit you get when you get a “like” and the negative feelings you might experience seeing people whose social media presences make them seem blissfully successful and happy?

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.