I don't think it's possible to escape online fundraising appeals these days. There are may different ways to do these drives and they all have their success stories. The Chicago Fringe Festival will be launching our own Membership Campaign later this month so keep your eyes peeled for more information. In the meantime though...I've been reading and discussing a lot lately about celebrities and their Kickstarter campaigns. Crowd-funding and social media programs have become the easiest way to launch a fundraiser and celebrities who have zillions* of followers can quickly meet their extremely large goals. But what about the smaller projects? A number of artists who have performed or will perform in the Chicago Fringe Festival have used Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Razoo and a number of other platforms to fund their entry in our festival. We have even had two successfully funded Kickstarter campaigns as well. Our goals have always been much smaller than some projects you'll find on those sites but we still feel that we struggle for every dollar. So here is what I will ask everyone who cares about Fringe to do. Go on one of the crowd-funding websites. Pick one. I'm not fussy which one. Find a small artistic project that tugs at your heartstrings. There are lots of search options so get creative in how you find it. Give them $5. Tell them Chicago Fringe sent you. Then ask your crowd to do the same thing. I'm not saying you shouldn't donate to the celebrity projects (I certainly have projects I would love to see happen), I'm just asking you to give a little bit of love to the little guys.
*Give or take a few million
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