Fund it Wednesdays are back for 2017!

We were thrilled with how many people joined us for Fund it Wednesdays around the country last year, and can’t wait for this year’s events.

How Crowdfunding Could Work for Your Startup or Idea:

Bank of Ireland are continuing to partner with Fund it to bring you crowdfunding sessions taking place throughout Ireland in 2017.

These interactive discussion sessions will aim to give you all you need to know about Crowdfunding as an alternative way to unlock funds for your startup or idea through engaging with your customers, fans or social media followers.

Fund it Wednesday in Bank of Ireland Workbench, Dublin last November

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of fundit.ie will talk about crowdfunding, the benefits and pit-falls, and what you need to know about the domestic and international sites to make a decision on which one is best for you.

Successful Project Creators will be there to share their pro tips, and you’ll have the chance to workshop some of your own crowdfunding plans for your next project.

Come along and meet like-minded people over pizza and a beer and leave with the tools to make your dreams a reality!

Events:

All events are free, but places are limited, so be sure to reserve your ticket and tell your friends early! Bookmark this page to check back for ticket links and dates for later workshops.

Wed 29th March: Bank or Ireland Workbench, Cork (map). 

Wed 26th July: Bank of Ireland Workbench, Galway (map).

Wed 20th September: Bank of Ireland Workbench, Limerick (map).  Reserve your tickets

November: Bank of Ireland Workbench, Dublin (map). 

See you there!

Edvinas Maciulevicius ran a Fund it project to raise money for his documentary film ‘Our Mental Health‘. He exceeded his target in the first week, and in this blog post, shares his insights into how he made it happen!

Edvinas and the team working on ‘Our Mental Health’

For our Fund it project we aimed to raise €1,500 to produce a documentary film on the mental health of young Irish people. We hit our goal within the first week and raised over €2,000 in total. Here’s a few things I learned from running a successful crowdfunding campaign.

Social Media

Creating social media profiles for your project is a really effective way to build hype before the project even starts. To do this effectively, put out good content that’s relevant to your project, and bring value to people online. Use social media to build up an audience for your project and create a relationship with that audience before the campaign starts. You don’t want to be a stranger asking for a pledge when it goes live. You want your Funders to feel comfortable handing you money online and a reputable Facebook page can go a long way in helping them do so.

Continue the conversation when the project is up and running. I found that thanking people directly from your project’s social media page was a great way to reach a wider audience. Be sure to embed a link to your project every time you thank a Funder. This is a really effective way to reach friends of your pledgers’ who may not know about your project.

Put out weekly updates to keep the momentum going. Even after we had hit our goal, we informed our audience how the money that goes over the line would be put to increasing the production value of the film.

Rewards

Don’t be fancy, be smart. Initially we tried to get cool rewards such as branded hoodies and wristbands but it was a waste of time. Not only was it expensive but it was also impractical and difficult to organise. I don’t think anyone really wanted materialistic rewards. Funders were more interested in saying “I took part” than in wearing an elastic bracelet.

Try to give back non-monetary value for your most popular reward – in fact for all rewards if possible! Analyse your project and figure out the different ways you can bring value to a Funder without it having to cost you a lot of time or money.

For the ‘Our Mental Health’ project we offered our Funders an invite to the film’s premier event, a digital copy of the film as well as a mention in the credits, all for a pledge of €20. This brought a lot of value to the Funder without it having to cost us a cent. Arranging a venue for the premier was quite easy and free – whereas the other potential rewards that we decided not to go with, would have taken a lot of time and effort to deliver. In our case the €20 reward proved to be the most popular.

If needed, bring in a third party organisation to help you provide an experience for your generous Funders. People who back your project with a large sum of money will have a genuine interest in you and your project, so why not invite them to a dinner and tell them all about who you are, what you do and where the idea for the project came from. With a bit of hustle, it could be possible to arrange for a restaurant to contribute towards or even donate a dinner in return for some publicity.

In a nutshell – find out what is special about the project that you’re doing, and what is the most cost effective way to give some of that “specialness” back to your Funders.

Edvinas sharing his pro-tips with Claire FitzGerald from the Fund it team, Project Creator Kevin Callaghan and Lia Boyland from Bank of Ireland at the Fund it Wednesday event in the Bank of Ireland Workbench Cork, 2017

Spikes in Pledges

The first and last week of the project received the most pledges. This seems to be the case for a lot of Fund it projects – it may be good to keep that in mind when planning your campaign strategy.

Be sure to “salt the tip jar”. Inform close friends and family about your project before it goes live and get some pledges from the get go. Projects tend to receive a lot of attention in their initial week. By having some money in the pot your project will look more appealing to someone who may know nothing about it. People are more willing to put money towards a project if there is money already there.

We received a lot of pledges in the last week of our campaign long after we had hit our €1,500 goal. It’s the perfect time to create a sense of urgency and get more Funders. Use social media to announce the project is coming close to an end. Induce a fear of missing out.

Aim High!

The biggest piece of advice that I’d give to anyone doing a crowdfunding campaign is to aim high! That’s the only thing that I would have done differently. We hit our goal within the first week, which not only slowed down our momentum in gaining more Funders but also killed off a little bit of our own motivation. Ego, time and effort all came into play when we set a “realistic” goal for ourselves. But looking back on it now it was more of a safety net. If we had stepped outside of our comfort zone and aimed to raise more, we would probably have a higher quality film today.

We’re celebrating our sixth birthday! Over the last 6 years, Fund it has attracted €4.2million in pledges from 66,500 of you wonderful people, living in 66 different countries. Over 1,400 projects across every county in Ireland have been funded for performances, films, events and projects in music, science, art, fashion, publishing, tech and gaming since the site launched in March 2011.

Every year for our birthday, we commission a Fund it Project Creator to create a design which sums up what Fund it means to them, and to celebrate the amazing achievements of our Fund it Creators. This year, we collaborated with Aoife Challis from Print Block, who has designed a limited edition, hand-printed tote bag to reflect the individuality and creativity behind every Fund it idea.

Fund it 6th Birthday hand printed tote bag designed and printed by Aoife Challis of Print Block

Fund it is among the most successful reward-based crowdfunding websites globally, and is run by the charity Business to Arts who support creative partnerships between business and the arts in Ireland. When Project creators encourage pledges to their idea by offering rewards, and promoting them to their network, it not only enables Creators to attract financial support but it also allows them to build connections with new audiences and consumers. That’s where the magic really happens!

Mojo Creations and Kyle Lane are just two recent Fund it success stories. George Dempsey Flanagan ran his second Fund it campaign for another of his wonderful origami book and craft packs. Mojo Creations is going from strength to strength, and George received a €30,000 investment (100% of what he needed) on RTÉ’s Dragon’s Den this week! (26 March 2017)

Joanne Condon who runs Kyle Lane, a furniture ‘upcycling’ shop in Tipperary, used Fund it to publish a new book on DIY upcycling projects. Joanne found that Fund it gave her the confidence to think bigger, moving beyond the town of Clonmel, and has since featured in the Sunday Business Post, on RTÉ’s Nationwide programme, and in House and Home magazine and most recently, the Irish Examiner.

Just a couple more project highlights over Fund it’s 6th year include the pop-up establishment of Our Table, a café run and staffed by those exiting the Direct Provision system and the development of Free Feet Medical, a breakthrough in technology for sufferers of Parkinson’s disease.

We can’t wait to see what year 7 has in store, so get those incredible ideas in to Fund it today!!

We’re really excited about our first Fund it Wednesday event of 2017! We have two brilliant Project Creators joining us at Bank of Ireland Workbench, Cork on 29 March, to share their insights and pro tips (reserve your free tickets here!)

Edvinas Maciulevicius

Edvinas Maciulevicius is making the documentary ‘Our Mental Health‘, and is an inspiration in how to make social media work for you in a positive way!

Ed and the team working on ‘Our Mental Health’

Ed: “The idea was to create a ‘Conor McGregor style’ promotional video – on mental health. I though it would be the only way to grab people’s attention on social media. And it worked! Creating a documentary film on mental health initially proved to be quite difficult. We knew that we needed to have some sort of credibility before we approached people. Although it’s more common now to talk about mental health, a year ago it still was a taboo subject and not everyone was willing to talk about their experience (just goes to show that already, Ireland has come a long way). So we decided to launch a Facebook page and it was flooded with people wanting to take part.

Four months down the line we had enough social media leverage to launch a Fund it campaign and raise a budget to create something that will hopefully change Ireland. Although our ambition is big our goal is actually quite realistic. We hope that this film will do two things – 1: encourage people to open up and talk about mental health; and 2: inspire people to be the listening ear to those that do. When you look at it in this simplified way, changing Ireland doesn’t seem so unrealistic. But we believe this small shift will have a snowball effect. And in the long run it will in fact change the course of mental health in Ireland.

‘Our Mental Health’ is due for release really soon!

Kevin Callaghan

Kevin Callaghan, sculptor

Our second speaker, Kevin Callaghan, some of you might remember from our Fund it Showcase last November. Kevin ran his Fund it project to raise money for a residency and solo show of is sculpture works at the National Sculpture Factory in Cork. He developed bespoke sculptures called ‘Condie‘ especially for his Fund it rewards, and they proved so popular, he has actually launched a separate enterprise selling the sculptures! Kevin has been working with the great team in Bank of Ireland Workbench, Cork on launching his new business (cond.ie coming soon).

Kevin Callaghan’s ‘condie’ sculptures installed in Bank of Ireland Workbench, Dublin for the Fund it Showcase last year

We can’t wait to see how Kevin’s career develops through his residency and new business. You’re not going to want to miss the opportunity to pick the brains of this successful artist and entrepreneur!

Sculpture by Kevin Callaghan; photograph copyright: Sylvain Deleu

We’re so excited to see what all your amazing ideas bring to the mix, so make sure you reserve your ticket!

Those details again:

Wednesday, 29 March
Bank of Ireland Workbench, Cork (map)
5.30pm – 7.30pm

See you there!

The Best of 2016 – Find out which projects are in the cool gang

Before we launch ourselves into 2017, let’s take a minute to see who was top notch and ones to watch in 2016. Trends we spotted across Fund it in 2016 were an increase in projects by Social Enterprises and Small Businesses; and the Music category is still the topping the charts.

Big Spenders

5 projects with the most amount of money raised
1. Free Feet Medical *Social Enterprise
2. Seán Hurley 1916 Commemorative statue
3. Zeminar – A Life Changing Day *Social Enterprise
4. ZASKA Debut Album
5. Furniture Crush *Small Business

The Popular Kids

The 5 projects with the most Funders
1. ZASKA Debut Album
2. Them’s the Breaks
3. OUR TABLE *Social Enterprise
4. This is How we Fly – Second Album
5. Frankenstein Bolts – New Album

Blew Their Top

5 projects that went furthest above their target!
1. James O Connor new EP “Day by Day”
2. project:ULTIMATE
3. Black Box to Red Carpet Theatre Company
4. Traitor
5. Flights of Fancy: Art Exhibition

Will your project make the list in 2017? Get that first resolution ticked off and submit your project now!

Here’s to a mega New Year from the Fund it Team

– We wrapped up Fund it Wednesdays with a Creator Showcase

We have now finished the incredible journey of Fund it Wednesdays with Bank of Ireland for 2016. On 2 November, we returned to Bank of Ireland Workbench in Dublin for the last Fund it Wednesday, and to celebrate, we launched a Showcase of some of the creations made possible thanks to all of you, the Fund itcommunity!

Here are some photos we took to tell the story

A great turnout on the night – thanks to everyone for coming down.

Performance on the night by Patrick Freeman

We had a screening of the award-winning Breathe, directed by James Doherty

Thanks to Creators Mark Cullen of Pallas Projects and Aoife Coyle representing Sarah McGahon Millinery

Artist-Run Europe

Docklands Print Commission: Colin Martin, Mojo Creations, Fermata, The Little Book of Sham

Artist-Run Europe, Cherry Blossom Fall, Beyond Leaving

Kevin Callaghan

Thanks to all the Creators who took part in the Showcase, and we’ll see you for more Fund it Wednesdays with Bank of Ireland in 2017!

The design and ease of use of Fund it has always been at the centre of what we do. We tried to make sure Funding a Project would be as easy as pie, but, hey, things can always be easier! So that’s why we’ve made this step-by-step guide to walk you through the process.

1. Creating a Fund it account

Like all websites which take payments, we must capture some basic information to ensure your security, and so Project Creators can deliver your Rewards. If you’re new to Fund it, click the ‘sign up’ link in the top right-hand corner of the page, as you must be logged in to fund a Project.

You will be asked for your date of birth to prove you are over 18 years of age – see our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy for details. Enter your email address and create a password for your account.

You can choose whether you want to receive the Fund it newsletter, then you must agree to Fund it T&Cs and click ‘create my account’.

2. Finding the Project you want to fund

Use the ‘browse projects’ button at the top of any page to find a project you like.

You can also choose a Category you’re interested in, or if you have a project in mind, search for it in the Search bar.

3. Start funding

Once you’ve found the Project you want, you can fund it right away by clicking the ‘fund:it’ button under the image…

Or if you want to see all the details, click ‘read more’ and go to the Project page.

Once on the Project page, just click the green ‘fund:it’ button on the left panel under the image or video.

4. Choose your Reward

To choose a reward, just click the button beside the amount you want to pledge…

Of if you’d rather pledge a different amount, enter the amount in the ‘define your own amount’ field

If you want to support but don’t want a Reward in return, just tick the box.

You can choose whether to make your pledge public or anonymous, then tick the box to accept Fund it Terms & Conditions.

Click ‘fund this project again’.

5. Confirming your pledge

This page will show a summary of the pledge you are about to make. Click ‘fund this project’ to proceed, or click the ‘edit’ button to make a change.

6. Enter your credit/debit card details

Enter your card details on the secure Hosted Payment Page processed by Realex Payments, and click ‘fund this project’ again.

6. Pledge complete – browse for other projects 

Congratulations! Your pledge is now complete. Check out the other projects recommended for you!

Happy Funding!

Hello world!

Get the details! This extensive handbook has everything you need to know about how to make your Fund it Project a success!

Today Bank of Ireland & Fund it are announcing the launch of a series crowdfunding tools extensively discussing all aspects of crowdfunding and how to successfully raise funds through the site.

Here at Fund it, we’re all about helping you succeed at crowdfunding. With our team of professional fundraisers here to help you every step of the way, we’re so much more than just a platform.

To help spread our knowledge as far and wide as possible, we decided to create this handy Crowdfunding Toolkit with the headline pointers you need to follow to fund your dreams into reality. We will be releasing an extensive Crowdfunding Manual, with all the details of everything you could ever need to know about how to crowdfund too, which will be available on Fundit.ie soon, but download the Toolkit now.

 Daniel Heaslip, Bank of Ireland, Lesley Tully, Bank of Ireland, Risteard O’Domhnaill, Atlantic, Andrew Hetherington, Fund it

This week, Bank of Ireland & Fund it announced the launch of a series of crowdfunding tools extensively discussing all aspects of crowdfunding and how to successfully raise funds through the site. On July 31^st Ireland’s first Irish-specific crowdfunding manual will be released on Fund it. In partnership with Bank of Ireland, the Fund it team have also announced the latest phase of technological developments to the site, enabling faster submission & launch processes for creatives and entrepreneurs.

Over the last 5 years, Fund it has firmly established itself as Ireland’s leading reward-based crowdfunding platform for creative ideas. Having attracted pledges from 66 countries, over 1,300 projects across every county in Ireland have been funded. 65,000 people have successfully funded Irish performances, films, events and projects in music, science, art, fashion, publishing, tech and gaming since the site launched in March 2011.

Fund it is among the most successful reward-based crowdfunding websites globally, with a 71% success rate, and is run by the charity Business to Arts who support creative partnerships between business and the arts in Ireland. Project creators from across the creative industries encourage pledges to their idea by offering rewards linked to their project, and promoting them to their network. By doing this, it not only enables projects to attract financial support but also to build a new connection with their audiences and consumers.

The announcements were made in Galway where to date, 84 projects have successfully raised €362,803. 411 projects outside of Dublin have raised €1,594,562. One of Fund it’s most recent success stories saw Risteard Ó Domhnaill’s documentary Atlantic, narrated by Brendan Gleeson achieve incredible box office success. Over 760 funders pledged €45k to the production of this film and television project. Similarly, Waterford based GIY’s Grow HQ a unique food project raising over €21k.

2016 saw the launch of ‘Fund it Wednesdays’. These lively discussion sessions aim to give insight into all you need to know about crowdfunding as an alternative way to unlock funds for a start-up through engaging with your customers, friends or social media followers. Upcoming sessions include Wexford and Dublin.

 Created by Shane Kenna, Keep Sketch

In September 2015, Bank of Ireland announced a three-year investment and partnership with Fund it to further its support of Ireland’s entrepreneurs and creative sectors. This investment has empowered the team at Fund it to invest in and develop the technology of the site, continue to provide hands-on moderation and engage with new markets.

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts and Fund it reflects on this milestone:

“With the announcement of our new technological developments with our partners Bank of Ireland we look forward to offering our users a further enhanced Fundit.ie experience.  Fundit.ie supports Irish projects, both urban & regional, and we are constantly astounded by the innovation and creativity that emerges through various projects from all corners of the country. The newly published manual is a free resource for entrepreneurs and creatives seeking to raise money through crowdfunding”.

Commenting on the launch of Fund it’s new crowdfunding manual & technical developments, Dave Tighe, Head of Innovation, Bank of Ireland said:

“Bank of Ireland and Fund it began this journey less than a year ago. We are delighted to see the additional supports they now have in place with the crowd funding manual which along with the technical developments on their site will no doubt benefit both those who wish to crowd fund but also those who wish to support the campaigns.  Bank of Ireland supports entrepreneurs extensively across Ireland through a number of initiatives and our sponsorship with Fundit will help the next generation of talented professionals to start and succeed in their businesses.”

Fund it have undertaken extensive research of its user activities, and combined it with professional fundraising and crowdfunding expertise to create a comprehensive crowdfunding manual. This manual will also be available through the Business to Arts website.

Want to know more about how to create great Rewards? Here’s all the information you need, plus some great tips and examples!

Do Projects have to have rewards?

Yes. Projects have the highest chance of success when accompanied by a series of considered, desirable rewards. Good rewards reflect the creativity, passion and energy of the project. This can often prove the difference between a successful and unsuccessful project.

What type of rewards should I offer?

A well-designed set of rewards can really help a project on its way to success. Think about the motivation of your funders and build your rewards around this.

Here are some tips for designing your rewards:

· Rewards should be cost effective. Use your skills and available resources to offer rewards that have a high value to funders but little cost to you. These often offer added value goods (e.g. signed copies of books) or experiences (allowing fans to sit in on the bands recording time) as opposed to monetary value.

· Rewards should be deliverable. Plan in advance to make sure you deliver what you promised.

· Rewards should be desirable. While there is an element of goodwill, people want to receive a unique experience or sought-after product.

· You need a range of rewards and we would suggest 5-8 options to get people involved at different levels. The most common reward costs are the €25 and €50 rewards and as such we recommend offering rewards at these levels. A higher average pledge is associated with a higher success rate with the small percentage of more expensive pledges accounting for a large portion of the overall value (as shown below). This stresses the importance of offering attractive rewards at higher price points.

· Some practical advice:

– Make a list of each possible expense for each reward level and come up with a total.
– Be very clear in listing what each reward level entails.
– Including everything from the previous reward level plus something additional is a common approach.
– Not all rewards have to be different amounts. If you want to get many pledges at €60 provide a few packages available to pledges at this cost.

Are there any rewards that I cannot offer?

Rewards cannot be financially incentivised, this basically means no equity-, ownership- or securities-based rewards.

You must provide something more than just a thanks. We feel a thanks should come as a standard with any contribution and therefore does not constitute a reward in its own right.

Other than this, barring anything illegal or offensive, you can be as creative as you please when offering rewards.

Can I put a limit on the number of rewards that I have?

Yes, creative rewards are often only feasible in limited numbers and this is perfectly fine.

Take inspiration from some of these top rewards:

Today, Fund it turns five years old, and we’ve brought some friends over to have a party!

For this year’s milestone celebration, we wanted to think a little harder about the journey we’ve all come on, and why we think Fund it is truly special. Because Fund it exists as a platform for all the wonderful creative minds around Ireland, we usually focus on all the great things that are made possible through their efforts, and don’t tend to bore you with talking about ourselves too much. But with the world of crowdfunding getting ever more populous, we thought a little reflection on why we do what we do was a good place to start as we look back on the past five years.

So we invited the crew from Keep Sketch, a design collective who funded their stationary range through Fund it, to design an image which celebrates what makes Fund it unique…. But they got so carried away, that they just had to make one each!

Here’s five illustrations, from five artists, highlighting the five things that make Fund it who we are today:

1. Shane Kenna

Shane titled this image ‘We All Work Together’ to celebrate that Fund it is based and provides employment in Ireland and has local experts in fundraising and the cultural and creative industries who will work with you to make your project ready for go-live.

Shane Kenna is a Designer / Illustrator, living and working in Dublin, Ireland. His style of illustration focuses on a minimal use of shape and pastel colour. Shane has worked with a wide range of clients, both Irish and international, on a variety of projects including large branding work, editorial, advertising, packaging and web.
https://indigoandcloth.com
@Shane_Kenna

2. Dave Comiskey

Dave’s illustration highlights that Fund it is non-profit and so charges a basic fee of 5% to support the running of the site, and 3% to cover the transaction and other costs for processing your pledges. We charge no extra costs per pledge, and no charges are made unless a project reaches its funding targets within the allotted campaign time.

Dave Comiskey draws pictures on the computer, and then colours them in, on the computer.
http://www.davecomiskey.com
@dave_comiskey

3. Imogen Oh

Imogen shows that Fund it has one of the highest success rates for reward-based sites anywhere in the world. Our success rate has never dipped below 71%, against larger international comparator sites who range 32-46% success for their campaigns. If you know of a higher success rate for an all or nothing site, let us know!

Imogen Oh is an illustrator and typographer based in Dublin. Working independently since 2013, she has also been a frequent collaborator with designer Shane Kenna. Specialising in digital art and hand lettering, Imogen’s work focuses on flora and fauna, and employs an inherent passion for pattern-making and textile design.
http://imogenoh.com
@imogenoh

4. Fuchsia MacAree

Our success rate is consolidated by the ‘Moderation’ we provide each project. No project goes live on Fund it without at least one phone conversation with a project creator to talk through the project idea, test the fundability, check the campaign and communications plan and ensure your network is primed and ready to support your idea. We love how Fuchsia captures this collaboration.

Fuchsia MacAree is a freelance illustrator living and working in Dublin. She works on commercial and personal projects, is a member of the Illustrators Guild of Ireland and tutors in Illustration in NCAD.
http://www.macaree.ie
@fuchsiamacaree

5. Alex Synge

Alex’s illustration shows that because we’re Irish and based in Ireland, the funds realised for Irish creative ideas stays in Ireland. We know that c. 20% of the funds pledged to Fund it projects is coming from outside Ireland, so we’re genuinely bringing new income to the creative sector.

Alex Synge is a graphic designer and artist based between Dublin and Belfast. He specialises in design for print, web and visual identity for a wide range of clients in the cultural, commercial and academic fields. As an artist, he has exhibited work in Dublin, London, Glasgow, Milan, Skagaströnd, Boston, New York, Chicago and LA. He proudly runs collaborative illustration-project-meets-stationery-company Keep Sketch which he founded in 2010.
http://www.thefirst47.com
@thefirst47

All Together Now!

We absolutely love these images from Keep Sketch and we’re so excited to share them with you all.

We want to say a huge THANK YOU to the 65,000 of you who pledged to over 1,300 projects in the past 5 years; and to our friends in Bank of Ireland, who will help us make the next five years even better. Be a part of it and submit your great idea today!

A great crowd at Bank of Ireland Workbench in Galway for ‘Fund it Wednesday’ with Filmmaker Richie O’Donnell and Andrew Hetherington, Co-Founder of Fund it

A big thanks to Filmmaker and Fund it Project Creator Richie O’Donnell who joined us in Galway for ‘Fund it Wednesday’ with Bank of Ireland, to share the secrets of his success. Following on from his award-winning documentary ‘The Pipe’, Richie’s latest film ‘Atlantic’ turns the lens on fishermen in Ireland, Norway and Newfoundland, and the management of ocean resources in the North Atlantic.

Richie crowdfunded ‘Atlantic’ through two hugely successful Fund it campaigns which together raised over €40,000! He made crowdfunding part of Atlantic’s story, drawing in funders and supporters who were passionate about the issues explored in the film, which affect ordinary people and communities on both sides of the Atlantic.

Here are some of Richie’s tips for success from the night;

Don’t underestimate the power of traditional media such as local radio, newspapers and television

Richie’s success was rooted in a lot of hard work and planning but he credits the media coverage he secured in helping the campaign to really take off. The project saw a surge in pledges after Richie appeared on Tonight with Vincent Browne, with pledges jumping from €17k to €21k within minutes of the broadcast airing.

The Irish Examiner, Irish Times, The Irish Skipper, Newstalk FM, Radio 1, Today FM and other local stations all covered the story and added to the project’s success

Design Rewards that don’t eat into your funds – utilise your skills and available resources to offer Rewards that have a high value to Funders but cost you little to deliver.

Atlantic’s higher-level Rewards offered Funders interesting, creative and exclusive experiences that were straightforward and inexpensive for Richie and his crew to deliver:

Keep in contact with your Funders

Your Funders have your back and are actively engaged in making your project a success, they will be the audience, promoters and ambassadors for your campaign and beyond.  Use Activity Updates to keep your supporters engaged, fill them in on what you’ve been up to and let them know what’s up next!

Atlantic premieres at Audi Dublin International Film Festival on 25 February, tickets are available here

Follow updates on Atlantic on Twitter at @AtlanticStream and on the film’s website – www.theatlanticstream.com

Thanks to everyone who came by Bank of Ireland Workbench on the night, we heard lots of fantastic campaign ideas that we are looking forward to seeing submitted to Fund it in the coming weeks!

 If you missed out on our crowdfunding clinic in Galway last week don’t lose heart! We’ll be touring the country with our partner Bank of Ireland to deliver more ‘Fund it Wednesday’ sessions throughout the year. Full calendar of events HERE.

– Written by Orla Basquille

The true key to crowdfunding success is Preparation.

Preparing your Network: Before launching your project, you need to build up your network and organise your contacts to be sure that from the minute that clock starts counting down, you have people eager to click that Fund It button!

Preparing your Project: The next step is getting your content together. You want your story to be so compelling that no-one could be left uninspired to join you! You will also need to have fantastic rewards that really drive funders to jump on board, creating a strong community. If you’re looking for pointers, try the Hints & Tips here.

Preparing your Timeline: We are always here to help and we spend time with every Project Creator perfecting their project before it goes live. So remember to factor in time for this when you hit the submit button. One of the most important things to remember is to allow time for delivering rewards. Don’t leave yourself floundering in a rush to deliver tickets, or still with CD packs to deliver 6 months later!

Here’s what a typical timeline looks like:
Preparing Network: Minimum 1 Month
Moderation with Fund it: 2 Weeks
Campaign Duration: 6 Weeks
End of Project and Contacting Funders: 2 Weeks
Preparing Rewards: Minimum 2 Weeks
Total: Minimum 3.5 Months

So get the ball rolling and get your Project started today!

Bank of Ireland are partnering with Fund it, Ireland’s leading crowdfunding site for creative ideas, to host Fund it Wednesdays, monthly talks taking place throughout Ireland in 2016.

These lively discussion sessions will aim to give you all you need to know about Crowdfunding as an alternative way to unlock funds for a startup through engaging with your customers, fans or social media followers.

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Fund it, will be joined by a previous Project Creator on Fund it to talk about crowdfunding, the benefits and pit-falls, and what you need to know about the domestic and international sites to make a decision on which one is best for you.

The first of these drop-in Workbench Sessions will take place on Wednesday, 27 January, from 5.30-7pm in Bank of Ireland, 1 Grand Canal Square, Docklands, Dublin 2 (map).

Refreshments will be provided on the evening and all our welcome to attend.

For more information contact:
Claire FitzGerald, Fund it

In 2015 almost 8,500 of you jumped onboard and helped bring more art, experiences, literature, education, music, film, joy, enterprise and design into Ireland and the world! Here’s the round-up of the ones you got into the most!

We can’t wait to see what you all get up to in 2016! Happy New Year from the Fund it Team!

Here’s a list of our top picks from the wealth of creativity in the Fund it community. For something unique, creative and Irish to put under your tree this year, this is your one-stop-shop!

An Obstacle Confusion 

Illustrated by Wendy Shea for An Obstacle Confusion

An hilarious book about the infamous Barney McKenna from the Dubliners. A book full of the quirky stories and anecdotes that the late Banjo Barney was famous for – with voluptuous illustrations of characters from his life, including, of course, the Dubliners.

David Monahan Photography 

Image from On Leaving by David Monahan

David Monahan created a series of portraits of emigrants from Ireland before their departure. With his book, Monahan has stunningly captured a moment in Irish history and lives.

Print Block 

Image from Print Block Makes website

Print Block is a collective of textile designers who create hand-printed textiles and they have just created a gorgeous collection of printed scarves.

Fight Like Apes

Fight Like Apes album cover by Loreana Rushe

Our top pick for music has to be the critically acclaimed Fight Like Apes self-titled new album. After splitting from their record label, Fight Like Apes turned directly to the fans to fund their most mature album to date.

A Shower of Dubs by Chris Judge

A Shower of Dubs by Chris Judge drying on the racks at Damn Fine Print

This fantastic print of characters from Dublin’s Docklands was created by artist & illustrator Christ Judge as a reward for the Docklands Arts Fund projects. You can still get your hands on this limited edition print here. Every print that’s sold adds funds to Ireland’s first Art Fund, which will be dedicated to projects in Dublin’s Docklands.

The Cake Cafe Cook Book 

Image courtesy of The Cake Cafe

This gorgeous book is the perfect gift for Christmas, chock full of wonderful, easy bakes! The stunning graphic design on this little book will ensure it’s never on the shelf for long! After the book was launched through Fund it, The Cake Cafe produced a series of kitchen goodies to brighten up the home.

A Lonely Impulse of Delight

Some of the artworks created for A Lonely Impulse of Delight, commissioned by So Fine Art

To celebrate W.B. Yeat’s 150th birthday, So Fine Art commissioned a series of fine art prints from some of Ireland’s leading artists.

My First Book of Irish Animals 

A page from inside My First Book of Irish Animals by Juanita Browne

This is the perfect book for teaching your little ones the wonders of Irish wildlife. From bats to dolphins, they’re bound to have fun trying to spot them!

Would you Marry A Farmer? 

Would You Marry A Farmer? by Lorna Sixsmith

A hilarious book from Lorna Sixsmith on the life and trials of Irish farmarettes! Fund it allowed Lorna to publish this novel which has launched a series of follow-up blogs, interviews, and another book in the series!

SMORGASBOARD 

Image of SMORGASBOARD courtesy of Richard Kelly

SMORGASBOARD is the ultimate board game for foodies! You can now find the game in shops and restaurants around Ireland and the UK, including throughout John Lewis stores.

Pictured at the announcement of Bank of Ireland’s three-year partnership with Fundit.ie to support the further development of Ireland’s leading creative crowdfunding platform were Richard Kelly co-creator of the boardgame SMORGASBOARD; Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts & Co-Founder of Fund it; Michelle Darmody of Cake Café; Dave Tighe, Head of Innovation, Bank of Ireland; and Alibhe McDonagh, cellist with Trio Elatha. Richard, Michelle and Ailbhe have all successfully raised finance for their creative projects on fundit.ie

We’re delighted to announce we will be working with Bank of Ireland to further its support of Ireland’s entrepreneurs and creative sectors, which will in turn support vital ongoing development of Fundit.ie.

Fundit.ie was established in 2011 as Ireland’s first crowdfunding website for creative projects that, in its first four and a half years, has successfully hosted approximately 1,200 projects ranging across publishing, film, music, food, events, fashion, science, performance and more.

The investment from Bank of Ireland over the next three years will help us to:

• Invest in and develop the technology of the site, to future-proof for the changes that are taking place in the industry

• Continue to provide the hands-on moderation which has contributed to its success rate of 72% and higher

• Maintain the Irish owned and operated business model, ensuring knowledge, employment and financing remain in Ireland

• Continue to keep costs low for project creators and help support ongoing costs

• Expand the categories available for fundraising to include heritage, enterprise, community and social projects

• Expand its presence internationally and engage with new markets, leveraging the Bank of Ireland’s extensive network

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts and co-founder of Fundit.ie said “Bank of Ireland was a founding patron ofBusiness to Arts 27 years ago and we are delighted that the company’s commitment remains strong as both our businesses have evolved. This three-year investment in Fund it will help us to develop the reach of the platform, leverage the assets we have and safeguard the future of a key funding tool for so many communities, artists, and projects in Ireland. We are really looking forward to working with the team in the Bank to support their work with the start-up and entrepreneur communities to create a crowdfunding opportunity to help develop talent in Ireland. The core concepts of crowdfunding are transparency and community engagement, so we’re delighted to be bringing in a new partner to Fund it that already know us well and believes in what we do, to help us support the growth and development of the site.”

David Tighe, Head of Innovation at Bank of Ireland, said “As a leading financial services company in Ireland, we are committed to supporting Ireland’s entrepreneurs and the wider communities we work in and we are looking forward to partnering with Fund it to support their ambitious growth plans. We have an extensive programme of activity ongoing to support entrepreneurs alongside the provision of finance including partnering with the Startup Gathering, a major new national initiative as part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2015. Taking place from 5-10 October 2015, the event will showcase our vibrant startup sector to an Irish and International audience with events taking place in five cities on the theme ‘Start, Scale, Succeed from Ireland’. Our partnership with Fund it is a significant addition to our ongoing support for startups.”

The partnership was announced today with support from entrepreneurs who have successfully funded projects in the past on the Fund it website, including

• Richard and Maggie Kelly, creators of the board game, SMORGASBOARD who raised €8,750 on the site from 113 people who supported the manufacture of their first games. SMORGASBOARD® is now on the shelves of over 80 stores nationwide including Avoca, Brown Thomas and Eason, and launched last month in 44 John Lewis stores throughout the UK. The game has now sold over 5,000 copies, manufactured at the Hasbro Ireland plant in Waterford. SMORGASBOARD.ie

• Ailbhe McDonagh, cellist with Trio Elatha who crowdfunded their debut album Trasnán on Fund it raising €2,595 from 47 fans. After the CD launch at the Sugar Club in Dublin and the subsequent launch tour of Ireland, it has received airplay on many Irish national radio stations. Trio Elatha, who comprise fiddle, cello and guitar, are going on tour in both Ireland and Switzerland in early 2016, and will use the CD to launch a U.S. tour in 2016/2017. Trioelatha.com

• Caroline Ryan and Jennifer Phelan, two of the artists who comprise Print Block textile print collective based in Dublin who raised €4,090 from 84 people. In June this year, Print Block Makes launched a range of five limited-edition hand screen-printed wool scarves available online and at Irish Design Shop in Dublin. Printblockmakes.ie

• Michelle Darmody of Cake Café raised €3,282 from 145 people who funded the design and first print run of The Cake Café Bake Book. Since the campaign, the book was picked up by Thames & Hudson who distributed it internationally, as far away as Australia. The book won an ICAD Award for its design by Niall Sweeney, and was featured at the Ballymaloe Literary Festival. It’s on its second print run. thecakecafe.ie

We’re developing a critical path of developments which will roll out over the coming three years on Fundit.ie.

The Fund it community have been great friends and fans of the Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival since we launched four years ago. In that time €175,000 has been pledged to 59 Fringe projects! This year marks the 21^st birthday of Tiger Dublin Fringe Festival, so for our top picks we’re turning it up to 11!

Oh! What A Lovely Rose!

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 16 – 19

Remember to Breath

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 7 – 12

score

Project Arts Centre, Sep 14 – 19

(Not) Belonging

Samuel Beckett Theatre, Sep 12 – 14

The Windstealers

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 7 – 13

boy

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 15 – 19

Douze

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 8 – 13

Harder Faster More

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 9 – 13

It’s My Party Conference (and I’ll Cry if I Want To)

Smock Alley Theatre, Sep 14

Ghosts

Project Arts Centre, Sep 13 – 14

Stories Through Sound featuring Nina Perry, Crash Ensemble and Adrian Crowley

Spiegeltent in Wolftone Square, Sep 9

We’re extremely excited about this year’s festival and hope you get to see all these and lots more… Now get thee to a box office!

We want to share this fab illustration that Project Creator and friend, Loreana Rushe, created to celebrate all the fantastic projects achieved through Fund it by our 4th birthday!

We want to say ‘THANK YOU!’ to 55,817 funders who pledged over €3 million to make 760 projects a reality in 4 years!

At this time of year things start heating up in Fund it Towers in preparation for our favourite activity – Summer Festivals! Although Ireland has more Festivals than you can shake a stick at covering every possible interest, unfortunately they don’t happen by magic. Huge amounts of hard work, creativity, genius, collaboration and funding go into every single one, and we’re delighted to be a small part of what makes so many events a reality.

So, if you’re taking to the Festival Stage this summer, here’s some advice for festival fundraising:

Timing Is Everything : The Performance category on Fund it has almost 20% more successful projects than any other category, and Festivals are a big part of that success. One of the best ways to make your project stand out in the crowd is simply to start your crowdfunding as early as possible.

Take the pressure off by being organised : Aside from allowing sufficient time for your project to be successfully funded – we recommend 3-5 weeks – you should definitely allow several weeks between the project ending and your Festival or performance dates. This gives you time to get all your rewards ready, round up your funders, and still have time for rehearsals!

Great visuals draw a crowd : You don’t have to wait until you have your official photography or footage of rehearsals before getting started. The best images and videos are specific to your Fund it project and show that you want to take your funders on this journey with you.

What people don’t even know that they want : Coming up with Rewards can be the hardest part of your project, but the earlier you start, the more creative you can be with developing really exciting rewards – things like inviting funders to sit-in on writing sessions; including a funder’s image in your props; bringing them in for brainstorming or movement workshops; using their name in a joke; inviting them to super-special exclusive parties; or any of the really creative things you want your friends and funders to be a part of!

We can help! Remember, our team of expert fundraisers are here to help you through the process before launching your project. So, get your submission in A.S.A.P. and make crowdfunding a fun part of the journey, not just a means to the (rapidly approaching) end!

We’re celebrating the first two albums to have had Fund it rewards pre-sales counted in the Irish Album Charts!

Crowdfunding is always the very beginning of  a long and winding road for Project Creators, and we’ve been working with the Irish Recorded Music Association so we can continue supporting this journey for Irish musicians.  Talk to us to make sure you get your Fund it pre-sales counted!

Fight Like Apes, Fight Like Apes

Fight Like Apes raised €20,687 from 501 funders, offering CD and download copies of their album in their rewards. The self-titled album was released on Friday, May 15th. If you weren’t one of the 501 funders, you can pick up your copy here: itunes.apple.com/ie/album/fight-like-apes

Ríona Sally Hartman, Big Starving Thing

Ríona Sally Hartman raised €2,415 from 62 funders for her debut album Big Starving Thing which was released last Monday, May 18th. Pick up a(nother) copy here: www.rionasallyhartman.com

Next stop, chart success! Keep bumping those numbers up folks, with Fight Like Apes already at No. 3, we want to see both of these in the top 10!

Crowdfunding is the financing model of the people, of communities. But every crowdfunding platform has different terms and conditions and works a bit differently from the others.  It’s important to be clear on what works for you, so you choose the right one to fundraise for your project. Carefully think through all the implications before deciding.

Here’s some reasons why we champion All-or-Nothing fundraising, and why we’re not convinced that Flexible Funding is good for creative projects…

What’s the difference between all-or-nothing and flexible funding?

Fund it operates an All-or-Nothing policy – if you don’t raise 100% of your target in the time you have selected, then we take no money from your pledgors, and you don’t receive any funds.

This is a really GOOD thing. Seriously. It protects you and your idea. And, it protects your fans.

Consider the alternative.

Some crowdfunding platforms have begun to provide Flexible Funding, where the money is taken from your pledgers straight away. After the (much higher) charge per pledge, the project creator receives any money pledged to their project, irrespective of whether they’ve raised what they needed OR whether it’s enough to deliver the rewards they’ve promised their funders.

But I just need some money, so how would that be bad?

Say you’ve worked out that you need to raise €5,000 to record and duplicate your debut CD. If (using Flexible Funding) you raise €800 from 40 people giving €20 each to receive a copy of the CD – once your campaign finishes, you’ve now got a big problem. How will you fulfill those rewards? Will you have to borrow €4,200 from somewhere? How will you pay that AND the interest back? Or will you cut back on everything, make 40 copies of something inferior to what you’d hoped for, which leaves you artistically compromised and reputationally at risk because your fans were expecting much more?

Does this change fans’ behaviour then?

We’ve seen that only a very small number of Irish projects are proving successful on Flexible Funding sites, and raising the full amount that they need.

We’ve seen evidence too that audiences are holding back from pledging support, as they don’t want to be part of something that only a handful of people end up supporting.  As a funder, there is more incentive to pledge to a project when you are guaranteed only to be charged if the project creator will have the means to deliver their creation and your rewards.

This simply doesn’t happen with all-or-nothing funding, as everyone is part of a project succeeding, but is protected if it doesn’t hit its target. And you are risk free as you don’t have to deliver your rewards unless you raise everything you need to do so.

What does choosing Flexible Funding say about you, and your creative dreams?

The target chosen by a project creator represents the minimum amount they need to pull the project off and create their rewards successfully. By selecting to Flexibly Fund a project – what you’re communicating to your fans is that you don’t REALLY need that amount. That you’ll be happy to take anything. That your target is ‘best-case-scenario’. That’s not very compelling, is it? Where’s the ticking clock, the race to the deadline? Why would people jump on board and push the project to their network to help you get over the line in time – when really, there is no line?

As a project creator, by declaring your willingness to accept any funds, it undermines your credibility, your belief in your ability to achieve your goal and deliver the project you truly wish to achieve.

The psychology of targets encourages funders to rally around to help you reach your goal. If there is no consequence to falling short, there is much less drive to bring you over the line.

Still want to see the hard evidence?

Fund it’s success rate has always been above 72% – nearly 3 out of every 4 projects that go live are successful. We’ve seen of late that over on the flexible funding sites, as few as 1 in 10 projects is making anywhere close to its funding goal. That’s devastating, and it’s easily avoidable.

That’s why we think flexible funding is a bad deal for creativity. We hope you agree.

Can you believe it?! It feels like only yesterday we were just a little nipper, and now here we are, four years old, and starting school!  Well kind of… We celebrated the end of our 4^th year by getting out to meet so many of you around the country in our Crowdfunding Clinic Series, thanks to huge support from theIrish Music Rights Organisation. And we had so much fun doing it, thanks for joining us!

We’re looking forward to seeing what you have in store for Fund it in the year to come, but let’s take a minute to celebrate all the amazing things you’ve been up to so far!

Almost 56,000 of you have pledged more than €3,125,000 to 1,090 projects. That’s an average pledge of €56!

So, with a 72% success rate, over €2,900,362 was raised by successful Irish creators from 60 countries worldwide.

THANK YOU!

Fund it are holding a series of free introductory Crowdfunding workshops in Sligo, Cork and Dublin early this year. Our expert team of Fund it Moderators will be joined by experienced Creators to show you how you can tap into your network to bring your creative dreams alive!

Is it for me?
This is an introductory workshop for people with dreams who want to learn how to crowdfund them into reality.

What will I learn?
This workshop will cover the 4 phases of a crowdfunding campaign:
Phase 1 – Prepare Yourself
Phase 2 – Prepare your Project
Phase 3 – Running the Campaign
Phase 4 – Completion

When and Where?
Monday, March 2nd at 11.30am:
The Hawk’s Well Theatre, Temple St. Sligo. Map
Friday, March 13th at 2pm:
CIT Crawford College of Art & Design, Sharmann Crawford Street, Cork. Map
Thursday, March 19th at 5pm:
Irish Music Rights Organisation, Pembroke Row, Dublin 2. Map

Sign me up!
To book a place on one of the workshops, please email with your name and date/venue of choice.

We look forward to seeing you there!

We are delighted and proud to say that this series of workshops is generously supported by IMRO

We spoke to Richard, one of the creators behind the increasingly popular SMÖRGASBOARD board game, to find out more about their journey after crowdfunding.

SMÖRGASBOARD – a board game for foodies launched on Fund it in June 2012, at a time when access to finance through traditional routes was virtually non-existent for small start-up companies. While researching the game and the market, industry experts all told them that SMÖRGASBOARD was too niche, that it could never work… But Richard and Maggie spent a long time developing the game and were convinced of its potential, they just had to figure out how to roll a six and get straight to GO. For them, crowdfunding was a new and exciting opportunity.

Not only was crowdfunding through Fund it a way to get the money they needed, but more importantly, it was a chance to test the water. By ensuring a certain number of games were already pre-sold before committing to go into production, it took a lot of the risk out of the venture. They could also communicate with funders throughout the campaign and get valuable feedback. This also offered the opportunity to share their story, for funders to become part of the family, and ultimately have a really strong connection with the finished game.

Their Fund it campaign didn’t just connect with individuals, it was an opening and a talking point for approaching prospective clients before production even began… Like when they went on a trip to Ballymaloe with a prototype under their arm. Darina Allen herself couldn’t help fall in love with Richard and Maggie’s story and agreed to stock the game then and there!

The relationship with retailers wasn’t always as easy to manage, however. Crowdfunding is not the usual way of doing business, so the process had to be explained and expectations on delivery times had to be managed. But it gave Richard and Maggie the opportunity to tell the story behind the game and create stronger bonds for long-term business. They generated between 20-30 stockists before their Fund it campaign ended, and with all of those early retailers still renewing orders, it was definitely worth it!

So where has their crowdfunding journey brought them? SMÖRGASBOARD formed a Ltd. Company last year and is now a profitable business for Richard and Maggie. They are also spreading their wings and you may just find SMÖRGASBOARD in a well known multiple in the UK soon! SMÖRGASBOARD – a board game for foodies was an early project on Fund it, when crowdfunding was brand new to these shores, so Richard and Maggie are considered pioneers by their peers. They have been able to impart their experience and their knowledge to others who wish to crowdfund board games, and would advise anyone to consider crowdfunding for their project.

Here’s some tips from these pros:
~ Don’t underestimate how much time the campaign will demand – it needs to be a full-time job for those few weeks.
~ Use all the social media channels you have, including multiple accounts on the same platform.
~ Use as many media contacts as you can find – Radio gave them huge exposure, with pledges going through the roof after interviews and mentions!
~ Plan!
~ Keep the campaign short and keep feeding news and ideas out throughout.
~ If you’re funding for a product (rather than an event), have a launch night for all your funders – They can meet you and find out more about your product and in turn they’ll be the best advocates you could hope for. Funders of SMÖRGASBOARD still drop them a note to say ‘hi’ now and then.

Thanks so much to Richard, Maggie, and their son Tom and daughter Rose (the team’s trusty quality controllers!), for sharing their dreams, their business and their story with us.
Want your own copy of the game? Hop on board here!

Crowdfunding is truly about sharing. Sharing the passion, the journey, the means, the art and the experiences. So we wanted to bring together some of these great moments and stories that we shared with you all in 2014.

Projects We Funded: A small taste of the projects that excited the team here in Fund it Towers:

Projects you funded: The projects with the most funders in 2014:

Projects most funded: The projects with the most amount pledged in 2014:

 Atlantic: €32,079                          Out of Thin Air: €21,787              GIY’s Grow HQ: €21,564                Drop Everything: €18,442          Daddy Pig: €12,515                    iD by Blue Teapot: €12,420

Share your story:
What better time than the brink of a new year to start putting those dreams into action?! At this time of festive joy and socialising, take inspiration from all that giving and sharing, and start your project today… after all, there’s no time like the present! (Pun intended, sorry). And if you need a little help, have a look here and maybe take a leaf from the books of some of these beautiful projects:

Looking forward to the year ahead:
2015 promises to be an exciting year with the year of Irish Design 2015 and Yeats 2015 celebrations. If you have a project in these programmes, Fund it would love to hear from you.

We hope you have a very happy and inspiring Christmas and holiday season, from all of us here at Fund it!
*Andrew, Claire, Rowena, Margarita and Camille*

Fund it will hold a series of free introductory Crowdfunding workshops in Dublin, Cork and Sligo in the new year. Our expert team of Fund it Moderators will be joined by experienced Creators to show you how you can tap into your network to bring your creative dreams alive!

Is it for me?
This is an introductory workshop for people with dreams who want to learn how to crowdfund them into reality.

What will I learn?
This workshop will cover the 4 phases of a crowdfunding campaign:
Phase 1 – Prepare Yourself
Phase 2 – Prepare your Project
Phase 3 – Running the Campaign
Phase 4 – Completion

When and Where?
The first of the workshops will take place at 5pm on January 13th 2015 in The Liquor Rooms:
7 Wellington Quay
Dublin 2
(downstairs in The Clarence Hotel)

Sign me up!
To book a place on the workshop, please email with your name and artistic area of interest (e.g. film, music, design, etc).

We look forward to seeing you there and watch this space for details on more workshops in the series in the coming months!

We are delighted and proud to say that this series of workshops is generously supported by IMRO

It’s another momentous day here in Fund it Towers, as the counter has just clocked €3,000,000 in pledges! We have just two words…. WOO HOO!

It’s been so exciting to see things develop on Fund it over the past 3.5 years, with Project Creators being more ambitious and achieving higher targets all the time. Julie Feeney (who raised €23,045 for her album ‘Clocks’) held the record for highest amount raised for quite a while, but in the last few months alone we’ve seen three projects raise over €20,000 – Atlantic, Out of Thin Air and GIY’s Grow HQ – Atlantic is the current record holder on the site with €32,079 pledged. As artists and creatives become more familiar with what their network will get excited about, crowdfunding can represent a more reliable income stream. It’s great to see crowdfunding still accelerating – each million euro milestone was reached faster than the last, and we’re confident that will continue!

We had a little chat with one of our recent Project Creators to raise over €20,000, Daragh Muldowney, to get some insight into this growth in crowdfunding in Ireland. Daragh has had two projects on the site, ‘Jewellery Box – Ireland’s Hidden Jems‘, and ‘Out of Thin Air‘.

“With crowdfunding, creative projects that may otherwise have just remained an idea, now have a platform to raise funds. I’ve found crowdfunding creates a buzz and a desire from my audience to see the projects succeed, and people feel closer to the idea and a part of the creative process. My first Fund it project for a book and exhibition ‘Jewellery Box – Ireland’s Hidden Gems’ (€12,300 raised), was so well received the exhibition travelled from Dublin, on to New York, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Berlin and Dubai. Without Fund it there would have been no books – and the books that have been printed are works of art.”

Crowdfunding continues to grow as a source of income for creatives in Ireland. Having recently launched the 1,000th project on Fund it, it’s amazing to see a whopping 94% of those projects are still coming from first-time Project Creators. At the same time, a little over half (59%) of all pledges on Fund it come from first-time Funders, meaning there’s still strong growth in the number of people wanting to be crowdfunders; but it also shows the strength of the Fund it community and how willing Funders are to return again and again to keep supporting new projects.

So for the 53,000 pledges, from Funders both returning and new, we want to say a huge THANK YOU for €3,000,000 pledged. Here’s to the next 1,000 amazing and wonderful ideas, and the next €3 million pledged!!

So here you are, only a few days left to your campaign, fingernails long bitten away, hair clutched firmly in your fingers, so close to the edge of your seat you’re about to fall off….

Don’t worry! It’s not over ’til the fat lady sings!

Many projects use the very last few days of a campaign to bring it over the line, and in some cases, even most of the way! You’ve done all the research, you’ve kept your social media updated and interesting, you’ve notified everyone and their Granny about your project, and made a really compelling case for support, so what’s left? We’ve put together a few tips for how to maximise those all-important last few days.

1. The Personal Touch

While your social media is still really important, you should put most of your efforts into one-to-one contacts from now on. Focus on the few key people whose name you’re surprised still hasn’t appeared on the list, and contact them personally. Make an upbeat, personal appeal, and sell your rewards. Don’t beg, and don’t just ask for general support. Think of the reward that person would like, or the price-range you think they’d like to support at, and sell the relevant reward to them.

E.g. ” Hey Jim, how’s Molly? Just letting you know our Fund it campaign ends on Tuesday, and the limited edition print I’m offering in the €50 reward would look absolutely perfect in that little space beside the door in your hall, above the table with the picture of Billy on it. I’d hate if you missed the opportunity to get it!” (Ok maybe not, but you get the picture).

2. Don’t Beg

You’ve heard it at every turn, but now it’s more important than ever. It’s so very tempting to spiral into a frenzied panic and just plead for help, but no matter how much this project means to you, you’re only likely to put people off with that tone. Your social media should be full of reminders of why getting involved in this project will be the best thing people have ever done, and of the amazingness that your project will bring to the world once it’s complete. You should definitely remind people of the looming deadline, but tip: “Tick Tock, Tick Tock” is not an appropriate tweet – they’re not on the clock, you are.

3. Use Your Network Effectively

You should separate your contacts into those who have supported and those who haven’t. Check the list of those ‘who haven’t’ from your closest friends and family. If they’re on it, ask yourself why they haven’t pledged yet? Are they broke? Do they hate your work? Did you just tap them for money 3 months ago? If you can confidently answer no to all, then it’s just a matter of pinning them down. Those who can’t support can still help by spreading the news, so don’t write them off if they’ve told you “thanks, but no thanks” previously. Ensure when they’re helping you out that they get across the All-Or-Nothing nature and the project deadline.

4. The Large Investor

Depending on your target, you may have been hoping for a significant contribution from one or more funders. If you’re down to the wire and relying on this support, it’s time to pick up the phone. This can be a very difficult thing to do, but it’s absolutely necessary. You need to ensure the funder knows just how important their contribution is, and the nature of the deadline that’s looming. Even if you have a sponsor who has agreed to bring you over the line by making up any shortcomings, don’t wait until the last day. Let them know that by putting in their support before the end, it encourages others to do the same, and will therefore be worth much more than just the money they put in.

5. Media

It may seem late in the game for this, but if you have any media contacts – bloggers, radio DJs, journalists – who can do you a favour with a short turn around, it’s worth it for the final push. Any media coverage you may have had earlier in the campaign will have reached plenty of people who loved your idea but just never got around to funding. By hitting that audience again, you can remind them before it’s too late.

It’s in our nature to leave things to the last minute, so don’t despair if your friends and network are doing the same. The hardest part of crowdfunding isn’t convincing people to part with their money, it’s mobilising the crowd, so keep up the good work ’til the timer gets to 0!

– Written by: Claire FitzGerald

As you can see from our previous posts here and here, we’ve been doing some digging around to find out more about music projects on Fund it. And since pictures tell a thousand words, we’ve put together this infographic to share some more of our findings with you:

– Research by: Effy Yifei Yu

As part of our research into music projects, we spoke to 5 Project Creators to follow up on the progress of their current work, and to find out about their interaction with fans through their Fund it campaigns.

Mister Ebby’s first album ‘Wired’ was the first ever successful music project on Fund it.

‘The Fund it campaign helped create a buzz around the first record and a lot of people were checking out the music when it launched and ended up buying. Fund it was a focal point for the album and also a talking point afterwards.’

Following the release of his latest single ‘The Bay’, Mister Ebby will be releasing his second album ‘For Night Skies’ soon, which will be a shorter album of a set of instrumental pieces for solo piano.

Delivering his project rewards, Mister Ebby had good fun involving his fans as backing vocals on the album.

‘I was worried that it would feel like I was wasting time in the studio. But in the end, the small crew of people who came along had a blast. They got a tour of the studio, got to hang out and have tea before singing vocals on two tracks. One of them had his wife and two kids with him, and we ended up sampling the two kids chatting and using tiny bits of that on another track also, which the Dad was very pleased about indeed. Of all the rewards that required close engagement, that one was the one that ended up being really rewarding on all sides.’

Julie Feeney’s campaign for her last album ‘Clocks’ is still the most successful music project on Fund it so far. And she certainly hasn’t stopped since then.

‘I have been busy performing around Ireland, while preparing for the New York tour this year, the upcoming show ‘Different Lights’ at Vicar Street in September, and my performance at Cork Opera House in October. I finished composing my first opera ‘Bird’, but decided to recompose more after its second developmental stage. And also I’m starting to write my 4th album now!’

In terms of her project rewards, Julie is currently scheduling to fulfil awards to 3 remaining funders to deliver two Skype concerts and an international album delivery.

‘I have been meeting my followers frequently at live shows after the campaign, and I’m so grateful that they are supportive of all the work that I’ve been involved in.’

Pat Coldrick has nearly finished his new album ‘City Jam’.

‘Only waiting for the CDs to be manufactured now, and the album will, I’m 95% sure, be released by the end of June this year.’

Pat already had an established fan base before the Fund it campaign and has been continuously communicating with his fans online. He feels Fund it definitely helped enhance their connection.

‘As part of my project rewards, I’ve so far delivered a private gig at a funder’s wedding, and am still scheduling for the other private gig. Besides that, I will also hold a gig at a restaurant, whose owner has supported my album through Fund it.’

John Lambert, aka Chequerboard, received great success with his album ‘The Unfolding’ released last year.

‘The album garnered lots of great reviews for which I’m thrilled, and also some music synch opportunities came about which has been a big bonus. My plan now is to start writing a new album. It can be a big undertaking to put out a body of work, so I tend to hibernate for a while afterwards to regenerate, and let new ideas form.’

Chequerboard thinks that his Fund it campaign has certainly brought him closer to his fan base.

‘There is a lot of interaction involved with trying to rally people’s support and in getting the rewards to people afterwards, which gave me plenty of direct contact with my fans. I definitely feel more connected with them as a result. The most pleasurable and important aspect of the process was the confidence it gave me in going forward and putting the album out. It’s an enormous boost to know people believe in what you’re doing and it gives you a lot of energy and momentum that might be difficult to muster otherwise.’

Aoife Scott has been very busy since her Fund it campaign last year, as she got an opportunity to go on a tour immediately after the campaign, therefore her album production was slightly extended. However, she’s back with good news!

‘The album is coming along nicely! I’m finished with the other music project, and after a year of being influenced by other artists, I have reshaped my album to reflect who I am now. I’m currently preparing for studio next month and I can’t wait for this whole part of my album! It is due to release this autumn.’

As one of the emerging artists, Aoife also told us about how it felt to crowd fund for her debut album.

‘It was a little bit stressful! Putting your future in the hands of others is a scary thing to do! But having faith that it will work out is the best part of managing the campaign. Knowing that people believe in you is just an incredible feeling. I would definitely consider crowd funding again, but maybe for something completely different! It’s a great way to connect with people and I loved every part of it.’

If you want to read more about our research in music projects, please click on this link to the blog post.

– Written by: Effy Yifei Yu

Here in Fund it towers we’ve spent the last couple of months burrowing away through data, to try and get a better insight into our fastest growing category… Music projects have been going from strength to strength, increasing by 40% in the last year alone and we want to share some of our findings with you. To do this, we’ve looked at all of the projects listed in the Music category; but music isn’t just about recording, so we’ve also looked at the music projects which crop up throughout the site, in almost every category, from gigs, festivals, videos, performances, art, books, fashion and technology. Since the first (Mr. Ebby Wires) successful music project happened on the site, music has become integral to the Fund it community. Music projects now make up over a third of all pledges on Fund it.

We know that pledges to music projects tend to be a little lower, and durations of music crowdfunding campaigns tend to be a little longer. A number of factors influence this. Notably, 60% of all recording projects on Fund it are for debut recordings, meaning a tendency to play it a little safer when crowdfunding. These types of projects reflect a younger audience demographic too. Notably, as 77% of those debut recording projects are successful, it shows that crowdfunding is a way for friends, family and fans to facilitate emerging artists to create the music they want to hear. But it is not just about the newbies though! More established artists using Fund it to record albums have seen almost a 100% success rate, showing that the direct-to-fan route can work at all points in your career.

An interesting pattern appears when we look at when Music projects are being funded. The autumn , particularly September and October are the quietest for music campaigns. December, March and July are the busiest!

As for where music projects are being successful, we see County Sligo punching above its weight, sitting in the top three counties – alongside Cork (second) and Dublin (first) – for amounts pledged to music projects. It’s clear that the musical roots are holding their own against population numbers, with Clare and Galway, which are steeped in music talent, coming in fourth and fifth on the list.

*Bonus *

We have been talking to several music project creators about their project progress, interaction with fans, and delivery of the rewards. Here’re some snippets of our interesting conversations. Want to know more? Click on this link to read the full blog post.

Julie Feeney: ‘I have been meeting my followers frequently at live shows after the campaign, and I’m so grateful that they are supportive of all the works that I’ve been involved in.’

Mister Ebby: ‘The most fun reward was the backing vocal bit… the small crew of people who came along had a blast… we ended up sampling the two kids chatting.’

Aoife Scott: ‘Knowing that people believe in you is just an incredible feeling I would definitely consider crowd funding again.’

Chequerboard: ‘It’s an enormous boost to know people believe in what you’re doing and it gives you a lot of energy and momentum that might be difficult to muster otherwise.’

– Research and writing by: Effy Yifei Yu

Here at Fund it we believe in great design, which is why we’ve teamed up with House and Home and the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) to celebrate just that.  We want to help you bring that ideal product to market, and shine a light on beautiful design in the everyday.

If you’re a fan of excellent design for the home, you’ve experienced the ‘Aha!’ moment. It’s that little glimpse of joy you feel when you handle a product that makes a task you thought was already simple, even simpler. Either that, or it’s just too beautiful for words. It’s a product that shows the possibilities of good design and craft, proving that both are for everyone and that somehow, they just make life better. Within minutes, it’s in your shopping basket.

The House and Home MAKE IT Awards 2014 in association with DCCoI and Fundit.ie, is on the hunt to find just such a product. Not only that, but we have combined our industry expertise to help get the winning product to market. This is an open call to professionals, graduates and students in the Irish craft and design industry.

Have you got what it takes to
MAKE IT?

Click HERE for entry form!

AWARDS & PRIZES

OVERALL MAKE IT AWARD
(Sponsored by the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland)
For a product that boasts intelligent design which combines form and function, innovative use of process and materials, commercial viability and addresses a gap in the market.

• €2,000 cash
• 5 one-to-one mentoring sessions with experts from the DCCoI design & mentoring panel
• 2 one-to-one mentoring sessions with Fund it on creating a crowdfunding campaign on Fundit.ie
• A photoshoot & feature profile in House and Home Magazine

THE MAKE IT: SMART DESIGN AWARD
(Sponsored by Fund it)
For a product created using new digital technologies i.e; 3D printing/laser cutting/etching/CNC milling and/ or other digital fabrication technologies.

• 2 one-to-one mentoring sessions with Fund it on creating a crowdfunding campaign on Fundit.ie, along with on going support throughout the campaign
• An opening pledge of €300 to get the campaign started from Fund it
• Profile in House and Home magazine

THE MAKE IT: READERSʼ CHOICE AWARD
(Sponsored by House and Home Magazine)
Voted for by the readers of House and Home magazine

• 2 one-to-one mentoring sessions with Fund it on creating a crowdfunding campaign on Fundit.ie
• Profile in House and Home magazine

* Winners may be eligible to win more than one category

We are out of the terrible twos!!! To all of you who make creative projects from Ireland happen, we want to say a huge THANK YOU for three fantastic years. Here’s to many more!

To help us celebrate, The Project Twins, who have been both Project Creators and Funders on the site, have made this fun and informative illustrated response to what’s happened in those 3 years. It shows just some of the amazing things that can happen when people come together and crowdfund.

And just in case you missed it earlier… THANK YOU from everyone at Fund it!

We realise we should be sharing some of the changes we’ve been busily and quietly making to the site, so that you can get a picture of what we are doing under the hood… Sure better late than never!

You might notice Fund it looking a little different from today, and performing a lot faster when you browse the site. That’s because we’ve introduced ‘Pagination’.

What’s ‘pagination’ when it’s at home?

When you browse through our categories or use the search function, the site will now show only 10 projects per page. At the bottom of the 10 projects will be these nifty buttons for getting you to the next 10 projects, and so on…

And Why?

It makes the time it takes to load pages lightning-fast! And it makes it easier to get around and search or browse through the hundreds of projects which have been live on the site over the last three years.

Projects will still be listed with the latest projects uploaded to the site showing first.

That’s it. Simple!

Yikes! It’s started snowing. There we were thinking about summer… and what’s our favourite thing about summer…? All those great gigs and festivals  of course!

With your sofa floating out the door, and your hands frozen in their sodden gloves, what better time to think about those warm sunny days of music, theatre, street performance, dance, comedy and maybe a few drinks post performance(!)

Programmes are already filling up and performers will need to get their acts together (literally). So don’t leave it to the last minute to figure out how you’re going to pay for it all. Get ahead of the crowd and start planning your fundraising now. We’ve prepared a quick check list to make sure you have everything in order well in advance before the hazy days start melting away, and you’re panicking a week before the show without two cents to rub together…

Plan Your Budget: Rather than leaving crowdfunding until the end to try and make up the shortfall, plan it into your budget from the beginning.

Rewards You’d Want: Give as you would like to receive. A thank you is great, but it should be expected no matter how much/little people spend. Rewards that offer real value (whether that’s monetary or experiential) will entice funders to spend more money, making your job easier. Bring your funders along for the ride and offer them a piece of the action.

Venue Capacity: Think about capacity of the venue you are using when offering tickets and limit your rewards to ensure you don’t over commit.

Double-Up: People usually like to go to shows in pairs or groups. Why not offer a reward that offers two of everything? You could even make it better value to buy more, meaning you reach your target quicker.

Strike a Deal: Speak to the festival representatives to see what collaboration they can offer. Whether it’s tickets, merchandise or just support, they’ll be much more receptive if you’re the first person to ask.

Reward Delivery: Make sure you have enough time after your project finishes on the site to deliver your rewards. You don’t want to be sorting through this kind of admin three days before showtime! Get in early and give yourself plenty of time. You and your funders will be very glad you did.

Art and AV: You don’t have to wait until your promotional pics are taken and you have show footage to put in your video. The best images and videos are ones that are specific to your Fund it campaign. They catch the eye, make people know you’ve really thought about your funders, and engage the viewer with simple information and a sense of why this project matters.

Remember, you should ideally submit your project at least 3 months before your show/event date, so plan your submission now, what with early birds catching the worms and all that!

– Written by: Claire FitzGerald.

A new year, new ideas, and you can’t help but get excited by the possibilities the year ahead holds. Having used crowdfunding in the past to get your creative dreams moving you are now in full flight towards your next project. So if you want to use Fund it for your second, third, fourth (you get it!) project, here’s some vital things to keep in mind:

(Newbies, listen up too!)

Get Organised
When preparing for your Fund it campaign, the most important thing is to get organised. Just because you’ve done it before, don’t get lazy with this stage and think it’ll all just fall into place. Having a clear plan in mind before the project goes live on the site will help ensure the campaign runs smoothly and will minimise the amount of time spent on promotion when that all-important clock is ticking! See here for top tips.

Keep in touch with friends
Your connections, particularly previous funders, are the most important thing you have when running a crowdfunding campaign. You can’t underestimate the power of the following you have generated from your previous project so don’t lose sight of your social media and email contacts when you’re busy working on your creative project. People love to hear about what you’re up to… no need for trade secrets, but regular updates will keep your friends and fans engaged in your work.

Be more creative
When describing your project, use your creative flair and present it in the most unique way you can. Your work is unique, so why follow a template to describe it? Don’t just rehash the description from your previous campaign, people fund projects that feel like thought has been put into them and that stand out from the crowd.

Give more
Reward your funders. It is absolutely vital that the rewards from your previous project have all been delivered in a timely fashion. There’s no incentive to fund another project if people feel the previous one isn’t complete, or didn’t live up to expectations. Take the time to really think about what your funders would love. If something worked really well last time, try it again, but don’t trot out the same rewards that people already have. A really thoughtful gesture that has your personality stamped on it is worth its weight in gold. Just try it!

Do something that scares you
The wonderful world of acting aside, no one likes being on camera. But do something that scares you and connect with your funders on video, and it’s amazing what can happen. In just 30 seconds you can capture hearts and delight the masses by showing them the passion you have for your project. Who could resist wanting to be a part of the magic?

Express yourself
In everything you do, express yourself. From the title of your project to the wording of rewards, be yourself and you’re bound to stand out. Let loose your enthusiasm and it will be infectious.

For independent artists, and those wanting to step outside the box, crowdfunding is a great way to connect with fans and bring projects to the people who really want them.

– Images above: ‘PB5 and Grimoir‘, the third Fund it campaign for The Poetry Bus; ‘Cycling in Dublin Summer 2013‘, Cian Ginty’s second campaign; ‘The Scarlet Letter‘, the second campaign from Conflicted Theatre.

– Written by: Claire FitzGerald.

2013 has been another great year here at Fund it with 209 projects successful on the site. Like any proud parent, we love all of our babies equally… but to finish the year, we thought we’d recap on the top 5 projects, which had 1,914 amazing funders from all over the globe and had over €93,000 pledged to them.

Drum roll please….

No. 5 – ‘Our Union Only in Truth’ by Garrett Phelan & Temple Bar Gallery & Studios

In April, 114 people pledged €15,895 to create Garrett Phelan’s rooftop artwork ‘Our Union Only in Truth’ at Temple Bar Gallery & Studios. The work has become a landmark here in our neighbourhood of Temple Bar.  templebargallery.com

No. 4 – Pat Coldrick’s Second Album ‘CityJam’

Earlier in December, 202 people pledged €16,590 to help classical guitarist Pat Coldrick create his second album. Having the support he needs, Pat plans to go into the studio in January and stay there until the album is released next summer! A treat we are sure will be worth waiting for. patcoldrick.com

No. 3 – The Joinery

In March, 520 people pledged €18,740 to support The Joinery and the delivery of its 2013 programme. After a wonderful year, the Joinery, their funders and audience are looking forward to an exciting year in 2014. The team are busy working on rewards, including the highlights of 2013 which should be with funders in a few months time. thejoinery.org

No. 2 – Fight Like Apes

In May, 501 people pledged €20,687.39 to get Fight Like Apes next album out in 2014. With the album now recorded, mixed and mastered, excited fans can expect the release very soon. If you can’t wait for it, you can get a little taste of what to expect here. fightlikeapesmusic.com

No. 1 – ‘Granby Park’ by Upstart

In July, 577 people pledged €21,926.00 to Upstart to transform ‘Granby Park’ into a city centre haven of creativity. Although the park was temporary, the creativity involved and its benefits have continued. The Upstart team continue to work on the toolkit, creating a template for others to build similar community parks in the future, so watch out for great spaces near you in 2014. upstart.ie

We can’t wait to see what 2014 has in store and from all of us here at Fund it, Happy New Year!

The rush of a Fund it campaign can seem like a whirlwind of activity, and once that bar moves up to 100% and the clock stops ticking, project creators breathe a sigh of relief. But that’s just the beginning… as funders hold their breath in anticipation of the magic that is to come, the artists begin the real work of creating. At the end of a (sometimes) long road, a creative gem is born into the world. We’ve rounded up just a few of those great successes from 2013 which wouldn’t have happened without you:

2ha – An Archizine for the Suburbs

Now four issues into their six issue monthly publication, 2ha, archizine for the suburbs is enjoying continued success. Despite its niche subject matter, the successful Fund it campaign ensured a large number of subscribers to the archizine, and that following has piqued the interest of some media heavyweights. The Irish Times picked up on the Fund it campaign, Totally Dublin invited the zine’s editor to write their ‘Entry Level’ piece on Suburbia and Le Cool invited them to speak about the future of Dublin in their tent at Body and Soul. Having submitted the second edition of 2ha for consideration, it is now touring with the International Archizines Exhibition World Tour.

As the focus of the archizine has developed from the local Dundrum suburbs to Irish suburbs in general, 2ha continues to receive subscriptions and sales from around the country and even around the world.

How to be Happy

The feature film How to be Happy has been enjoying unprecedented success at film festivals during the year. Completing their Fund it campaign in February, the film sold out two screenings at the prestigious Galway Film Fleadh – the only film to be screened twice. Tickets for the first screening sold out in only two days, but reviews spread fast and the second screening sold out in just twelve hours. A similar performance was seen at the Cork Film Festival, which featured a still from the film on the cover of their programme. The balcony had to be opened to try and accommodate demand – again, a unique privilege for a rapidly sold out screening.

So how did this student film generate such excitement? The stellar cast is an obvious advantage, with Brian Gleeson in the starring role. But there was more to it; the enthusiastic and dedicated team involved in this film is its driving force. Their coordinated effort allowed them to raise €11,135, 111% of their target, in just four weeks. With almost 270 funders, they had a ready made audience of people eager to see this film. If you weren’t one of the lucky few, you might have another chance to catch this film in the near future. Keep an eye on theirfacebook page for some announcements this week.

Chequerboard: The Unfolding

Some things are worth waiting for, and the new album from Chequerboard is definitely one of them. Almost a year ago John Lambert, a.k.a. Chequerboard, asked the Fund it community to put ‘wind in his sails’ and not just fund, but inspire and encourage his third album, The Unfolding. The funders were crucial for John’s creativity, as it gave him the push he needed knowing so many people believed in him enough to buy this album in advance. He spent nine months carefully constructing his newest creation.

Funders’ patience was duly rewarded when, at the end of September this year, the album was released to critical acclaim. With numerous interviews and reviews in the Irish Times and across other media such as entertainment.ie, The Irish Mirror and The Irish Independant, this group of fans and friends helped create one of the greatest albums of the year.

These Halcyon Days

Deirdre Kinahan’s latest play has travelled to the four corners of Ireland, New York and the Edinburgh Fringe festival and has been winning hearts and awards everywhere it goes. This play is about hope and how the connection to another person can give us new life, and it seems apt that These Halcyon Dayswas made possible by the support of the community.

These Halcyon Days is a beautiful new Irish play which is going from strength to strength thanks to the always superb performances from Anita Reeves and Stephen Brennan. It received numerous glowing reviews in New York and picked up the Fringe First Award in Edinburgh Fringe.

These great cultural experiences and additions to our lives couldn’t have happened without the belief and support the Fund it community continue to give. Why not check out the next best thing, currently in the tender stages of development, over on the site now.

For Dublin Fringe Festival projects, getting into the programme is not the final challenge. Funding means the show can go on! This year 16 fringe projects raised over €49,500 on Fund it, which is up from €48,300 raised by fringe projects in 2012. We spoke to three project creators to find out why they chose crowdfunding as a means of funding and to try and get an insight into their campaigns.

For Oisin McKenna of PETTYCASH, project creator for ‘GRINDR/ a love story’, crowdfunding just made sense. For small, up-and-coming or lower profile artists and organisations, crowdfunding can be the most accessible funding option.  Digital marketing is a big part of the PETTYCASH ethos, so crowdfunding seemed a very compatible match. Another advantage, although not a deciding factor, was the publicity it brought in advance of the show, getting people talking about it and creating visibility.

Out of the crowdfunding platforms available, several people in the PETTYCASH network had run projects on Fund it before, so it was the platform with the most visibility and recognition within their peer group. Oisin felt it was also more likely to attract ‘browsers’ – people perusing Fund it would be more likely to be interested, than those browsing a huge international site.

Most important element of project: It was vital when submitting the project that the whole thing was high quality, nothing was just thrown together. The project represented a strong product indicator for the show.  The video was really important. It had to be a fun, creative work in itself, while being representative of the piece it was describing. The rewards were important too.

What worked: Making sure social media posts were about activities, and not just asking people for support. When fatigue set in in the middle of the campaign they started being less creative with the posts and the decline in shares and retweets was noticeable. By talking about what they were up to, the pledges started rolling in again.

Would you do it the same again? The campaign was really successful, so Oisin reckons they would just tailor any future campaign to the project at hand, without changing tack.  They would use crowdfunding again if it was appropriate for the project, but having run a campaign, would explore other options before returning to the crowd too soon.

Aonghus Óg McAnally, project creator for ‘The Games People Play‘, has always been a great advocate of supporting Irish theatre. Although Rise Productions are an award-winning company, they have been turned down for Arts Council funding a number of times. Due to the theatre podcasts they created in 2011, they have a very engaged network, which lends itself to crowdfunding.

Aonghus never went abroad to train, and believes that the Irish don’t have to go outside our own country to achieve what we want. Fund it, as a domestic site, was the obvious choice for him.

Most important element of project: As a regular funder on the site, Aonghus was fully aware of the importance of rewards. While the promise of a hug is great, he feels the more tangible rewards are really what a funder’s looking for. ‘The Games People Play’ offered a wide range or rewards, from a copy of Gavin Kostick’s script to a performance of the award winning show ‘Fight Night’ in your house (which someone did go for… in London!).

What worked: Utilising the ‘other half’ of his network. The members of the theatre community, while very engaged, are frequently bombarded with crowdfunding requests, and may even have a crowdfunding project of their own to concentrate on. So thinking about ‘other networks’ was key. Aonghus has a really strong connection to the GAA, many of whose members would come to his shows. The support from the GAA was enormous, and made all of the difference.

Would you do it the same again? This project received such generous support, that to do it again, it would have to be quite different. There are only so many times a person can tap the well, so future crowdfunded projects would be smaller, more suited to concentrating on ticket pre-sales.

Rosie O’Reilly from We Are Islanders is creating a unique art installation, ‘4/704’, as part of this year’s Dublin Fringe Festival. This is Rosie’s first large scale installation, so State or corporate funding would be difficult to get. We Are Islanders have always relied on funding from individuals and supporters so crowdfunding online is just a different platform for something they’re already used to.

Rosie was involved in the ‘Re-dress’ Better Fashion Week’ project, which was successful on Fund it in 2011. Given the connection between We Are Islanders and Re-dress, their network were already familiar with the Fund it site and the crowdfunding process.

Most important element of project: The story. The installation tells the story of a bigger issue which Rosie was well aware would be the most interesting thing for the We Are Islanders’ network, so getting that story across well was vital. The image by Des Moriarty was also important for their publicity campaign.

What Worked? Strategy; An initial e-mail was sent to 30 key people who Rosie knew would not only support the project, but would act as ambassadors for the campaign. Getting a GIF in LeCool on the day the project went live was key, as the readership is huge and very relevant. The name written in sand was a really popular reward and has generated great excitement as it is unique, special and makes funders feel like they’re a part of the project.

Would you do it the same again? The project was a great success so future strategies wouldn’t change. This project was presented in a different incarnation from the Re-dress project – even though they are related, Rosie thinks crowdfunding works best when presented as a one-off. She would use it again herself in another context, for a project that needed public support and involvement.

Thanks to you, twelve theatre pieces, two dance performances, an art installation and a series of events will take place as part of Dublin Fringe Festival this year. Here’s where you can catch them:

Decision Problem; Figure It Out; Kitschcock; The Games People Play; The Churching of Happy Cullen; 4/704; The Far Side; Fit/Misfit; Pondling; Exit Strategy; Grindr / A Love Story; The King’s Feet; The Secret Art of Murder; Cuomo; Animus; Rites of Passage Evolving Our Past; Rites of Passage State of The Nation; Rites of Passage Tour Guides to the Future.

PS – Its not just Dublin you know, there were another 5 projects successful on Fund it for Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year too!

Morning and Afternoon; Brace – Fionnuala and Skeffy; Solpadeine Is My Boyfriend; The Paper Princess; These Halcyon Days.

– Written by: Claire FitzGerald

Images and videos are two of the most useful and engaging tools you can use on the internet. Now that Fund it is on Pinterest, it’s more important than ever to make your image stand out. But, we know not everyone spends their time honing their skills by touching up photos for the perfect Facebook profile; so for the less tech-minded creator, we have put together this very basic tutorial to help you get the most out of your image on Fund it.

The Tools:
Like anything, first you have to have the right tools. Never use Microsoft Office Word for images. Although it can do some image editing, it is made for documents not images, and will be more difficult in the long run (the clue is in the name: Word). The Microsoft Office Suite comes with Picture Manager. This is a very basic image editing tool and is very easy to use. We will use this tool for our tutorial as most computers will have it.

Open your image in Picture Manager and click Edit Pictures in the toolbar. A selection of edit options will appear on the right-hand side.

Size Guide:
All images on Fund it must be square. If your image is rectangular, it will show squashed, which looks really bad. But how to make it square?

Crop vs. Resize:
Take this image

To make this image square, we will need to cut away the edges, or crop it. If we were to resize it, the edge pixels from the image would not be removed, they would just be squashed in to make them fit.

Above: Cropped Vs. Resized

Pixel Size:
Ideally your image should be 500 x 500 pixels to look its best on Fund it. Choose an image where the smallest side is at least 500 pixels. When you choose ‘Crop’ from the right-hand sidebar, the pixel size will be shown at the bottom of the sidebar. You can click and drag the ‘handles’ of the image, or you can use the number dials to get a more accurate crop.

Once your image is square, click OK and click ‘Back to Edit Pictures’.

Compressing an Image:
Compressing an image refers to the file size and not the physical or pixel size of your image. Files must be less than 1Mb to be shown on Fund it. Once your image is square, click ‘Compress Pictures’ in the sidebar. The original file size of your image will be shown at the bottom of the sidebar.

If your image is larger than 1 MB, click the Documents option. If the Compressed file size is shown as less than 1,000 KB, it will be small enough for Fund it. Click OK, then ‘Back to Edit Pictures’.

Making Your Square Image Smaller:
If your image is more than 500 x 500 pixels, you can make it smaller, but you should never try to make your image bigger as this will make the image look grainy. Choose ‘Resize’ from the edit sidebar.  Type 500 into the ‘Custom width x height’ boxes.

Click OK.

File Type:
Now that your image is the right size, it needs to by the right file type. Like most websites, Fund it can only accept .jpg or .JPEG files. To make sure your image is the correct file type, click ‘File’ on the top toolbar. Then choose ‘Export…’ from the dropdown menu. A sidebar will open on the right-hand side. In the dropdown menu labelled ‘Export with this file format’, choose the option ‘JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg)’ and click OK.

That’s It!
You now have the perfect image for your Fund it project. All of these functions are available on all basic image editors, including iPhoto.

– Written by: Claire FitzGerald

Shimmy Marcus is the multi-award winning director behind the short film RHINOS which was nominated for the Irish Film and Television Academy awards earlier this year. Shimmy has taken time out of his very busy life to give us some insight into his experiences of running a Fund it campaign.

Caption: Shimmy Marcus in action

One of the most liberating experiences I have recently had as a filmmaker has been financing my new short film through crowd funding. Unfamiliar with the process at first, the only knowledge I had was anecdotal, but with some research I quickly realised that there was huge potential and rewards, and not just for the investors!

As anyone who has ever tried to make a film knows, quite often the biggest hurdle is the first. Where do we get the money to make it? The great advantage I quickly discovered through Fund it was that not only do they provide a platform to raise funding, but through this method they also inadvertently help create a strong platform from which to launch the finished film.

Before even a single frame has been shot, through Fund it a huge sense of awareness of the film is immediately created which not only helps to grow an enthusiastic family of investors eager to track your progress, but also to spread the word and promote the film. To help drive traffic towards our funding campaign for RHINOS we launched a Facebook page and through it and other forms of social networking we regularly promoted the Fund it page through updates, news bulletins, quirky videos, blogs, and constant reminders of our progress.

Caption: Promotional video released during the Fund it campaign

By the time we finally reached our funding target we had already built up a strong database of supports eager to track our progress and support the film in a variety of ways from helping out on the shoot to assisting in various other ways. Fund it not only became an avenue for financing, they helped create a following and audience. But first, we needed to win their trust.

Early on we realised the most important part of the Fund it process is the creation of a strong and attractive promo video that would entice people to invest in the film. I watched a great many promotional videos on Fund it and other crowd funding websites and realised that these videos were how I would inevitably judge the quality of the finished films who were seeking funding.

Bland, unimaginative, and poorly shot promo videos rang alarm bells. If they can’t even make a decent promo video, why would I think they could make a decent film? Your promo video is the main clue to what your potential end product will be like and a strong quality promo speaks volumes about the imagination, style, and professionalism of the team looking for funding. If you can’t be bothered to make a good promo video, why should I bother to invest in you? Just waffling into a camera telling me how great your film is going to be is just lazy and uninspiring. So with that in mind, my strongest piece of advice is to put as much time and effort into writing, developing, shooting and polishing your promo video. You only get one big chance to grab potential funders’ attention and impress them enough to part with their hard earned cash.

I said at the start that I found crowd funding incredibly liberating. The reason is that through this method I have 100% artistic control of my work. There are no funding applications to be judged by panels, no funding bodies who want power of final cut, or who insist on telling you who to choose as your cast and crew. Every creative choice and decision is yours alone to make. This has recently been cited by Hollywood actor and director Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State) as his primary reason for financing his latest feature film through crowd funding. The only responsibility you have is to your art, to producing the best possible work you can, and in doing so, rewarding the trust and faith the funders have put in you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbyQxxTvlaQ

Caption: Zack Braff’s campaign video

It is also important to work out exactly how much money you need and what exactly you need it for. There’s no point spending all your money on the shoot if you have nothing left to finish it or even promote it afterwards. So think very carefully in advance what it is exactly you need the money for and target your pitch towards that. Be practical, not greedy. With this new indie spirit of financing, crowd funding need no longer be an afterthought, or a get out of jail Plan B. With sensible and prudent budgeting, there’s no reason why Fund it can’t be your first and last port of call to finance your film.

– Written by: Shimmy Marcus

Caption: ‘The Lonely Beast ABC’ app on iPad and iPhone

While Chris Judge was creating the gorgeous illustration for our 2nd birthday, we had a chat with him about the success of his app.

Chris Judge, author of ‘The Lonely Beast’ children’s book, teamed up with IT developer and friend James Kelleher, and brother Simon Judge, to create ‘The Lonely Beast ABC’ app. The app, which was funded right here, is a bright, fun and interactive way for children to learn the alphabet.

The Beast takes the user through the alphabet with activities and sounds that can be tapped or moved, including a drum set and a xylophone that can be fully played. The gorgeous hand-drawn illustrations are simple and witty and entertaining for kids and adults alike. It’s no wonder this app has been getting so much media coverage, probably the most exciting of which has been its feature in the Apple TV ad.

Caption: The page featured in Apple’s TV ad ‘Together’

The guys got a phone call out of the blue from an ad agency in LA to ask if they could use the app in Apple’s official ad campaign. There was a little bit of to-ing and fro-ing regarding the language of the app (they wanted the app to be developed in more languages so that it could be used in ads in more countries)… and then silence for 6 months.

Then just as suddenly as the first call, they were told that one page would feature in their TV ad and another in print advertising in English speaking countries. Chris tells me that they have seen an increase in sales in the States since the ad, but the kudos of being one of only 8 apps – out of more than 800,000 – chosen for the ad is the real reward.

Although the app was funded on Fund it, Chris was eager to point out the non-financial benefits of their Fund it campaign. The campaign presented them with a willing and engaged audience to test the app and also got advice from a wide range of parents and designers alike. He says the campaign had a ‘huge influence’ on the development of the app, and the finished product that you see today. In return for all of this invaluable advice and exposure, they ‘wanted to make the rewards really special’, to truly make it an exciting and inclusive experience for everyone.

This is certainly a success story to talk about! See Chris’s website for some fun, free Beastly make-and-do.

Fund it Tree by Chris Judge

Thanks to everyone for continuing to support great ideas. Two years on we’ve now seen 381 projects successfully funded by almost 27,000 pledges. We challenged one of our favourite illustrators, Chris Judge, (himself a veteran of Fund it) to help us visualise all these great stories which couldn’t have made their way into the world without YOU! From everyone here in Fund it towers, we’d like to say ‘THANK YOU’

Storymap is the app that takes you on a tour around Dublin’s city centre through the insight and delight of local people. Listen to the stories or watch them being recounted on HD video as you get a new perspective of the streets, places and inhabitants.

Tom Rowley, one of the Storymap team, talked to us about the importance of telling a great story through your Fund it project.

As surely one of the experts on the matter, Tom told us the key to the perfect campaign video is to make an emotional connection with the viewer within a short period of time. You have to ‘foreground the human element’, by showcasing the people behind the project. ‘Put yourself in it and be yourself’. Don’t be afraid of it being unpolished, this just proves that you’re only human. People support people, so they don’t want a press release – think of the last time you told all your friends about an ad you saw on Youtube; now think of the last time you told all your friends about a great story you heard from a mate. Which happens most often?! The same goes for your video. The internet loves videos, and take it from Tom, people love to share a great story.

But of course, preparing your project to go live is only the beginning. Throughout the campaign you need to keep people engaged. Having an event in the middle of your campaign is a great way for people who’ve already funded your project to come and meet you in person, and of course, bring their friends. During their campaign, Storymap teamed up with the 10 Days in Dublin Festival to hold an evening of poetry, music and comedy, with all proceeds going to the Fund it campaign. Although he says the funding from the event wasn’t huge, it was a great way to promote the campaign and it gave them something fresh and exciting to talk about and share photos and videos from. Another trick to keeping things fresh is to make more videos throughout your campaign that you can share.

Once the campaign is finished, and you’ve successfully gathered all that loving generosity, the story doesn’t have to end there. Although crowdfunding was successful in generating their whole budget, Storymap got further funding from Enterprise Ireland and Dublin UNESCO City of Literature on the back of their success. They were able prove they had the backing of the public, the resilience to run a fundraising campaign and a clear strategy for their project. But the best thing to come from the campaign was that before, they had a fan base, but by the end of their campaign they had a group of fully engaged and willing participants in their project. They knew that when they launched their product, they had a great resource: people interested and happy to give valuable feedback.

Storymap have just launched their new app, and are already developing and expanding. Tom is certain that they will use crowdfunding again to fund future developments, not only because it’s a great way to raise funds, but because it’s a great way to raise profile. Having learned from his experiences, a key technique he will be using in future is to talk to anyone he’s sure will support the project, and ask them to make their pledge early. Getting that bar moving at the start of the campaign makes all the difference.

We can’t wait for the next chapter of Storymap. To learn more, check out these links:

siliconrepublic.com

businessetc.thejournal.ie

rte.ie

Copies of ‘Poetry Bus 2’ fresh off the press.

The last of our January series of great projects from 2012 tells the story of the ‘Poetry Bus’ magazine, which has (so far) had three issues funded on Fund it. Peadar O’Donoghue shares some insight into his crowdfunding successes.

With each issue the magazine has evolved and so too have the Fund it campaigns. Peadar certainly keeps things exciting, fun and sometimes a bit ‘hairy’. His nerves of steel are evident from the progression of the campaigns. Starting with a target of €900 in 4 weeks, Peadar kept it brief from the beginning. The second project surpassed the target of €1,050 in a nail biting campaign of just 7 days. He upped the ante again for the third project, with a target of €1,950 in only 14 days. He enjoys the excitement and has found that with short campaigns the sense of urgency encourages people to fund it the first time they see it. But it’s not done by magic. Peadar maintains a continuous stream of contact throughout the campaigns to keep the pressure on. Humour and a bit of fun are key in keeping people interested and excited.

As the ambitions of the Fund it campaigns grow, so too does the readership and the quality of the magazine. Peadar assures us the upcoming issue will be a massive leap forward. He is confident that this issue will make ‘Poetry Bus’ the finest poetry journal in Ireland. Many of the reasons that Peadar chooses to fund the magazine through Fund it are also its strengths as a publication. It allows the magazine to be more fluid, forcing him to think on his toes. The challenges make the magazine dynamic and allow for very current content as Peadar can respond to a submission usually within 2 weeks. One of the main attractions is that he feels the Fund it team are very approachable, it feels like a collaboration and community, rather than a ‘Gladiator battle for funding’. That’s not to say it’s all fun and games. Peadar works hard at building and maintaining a network, particularly through Facebook. Although there is an obvious fan base, as it is largely the same people funding each project, this also shows the difficulty of maintaining growth in his network and potential future limitations.

The surprising pledges are always ‘brilliant’ and it’s impossible to know what a Fund it campaign can unearth. On hearing about the ‘Poetry Bus’ campaign, well-known Scottish poet Kona Mac Phee donated a prize she had won, of a Ballymaloe cookery class, to be auctioned by Peadar. Furthermore, another well-known writer (who wishes to remain anonymous) won the auction.  The global reach of any online platform allows for international exchanges such as this, which is appropriate as ‘Poetry Bus’ has a strong international element, despite being grounded in Ireland. ‘Poetry Bus’ has contributors, readers and funders from right across the world, including Europe, the US, Canada, Australia and even North Korea. As Peadar says, ‘without the internet none of this would happen’.

The latest edition, ‘Poetry Bus’ Issue 4, will be available in January 2013.

Continuing our January series of stories from last year, we caught up the team behind the short romantic comedy ‘Encounter. They explained that their project is not just a film, it is a community project which has given members of the Sligo community an opportunity to meet new people and have new experiences. It is also a project of integration and the film hopes to raise awareness of issues facing asylum seekers in Ireland. Now in the editing stages, the community group hopes to screen the film at the end of March 2013.

So how did the film project come about?

The New Sligo Film and Drama Group worked with Sinéad Dolan through the Artist in the Community Scheme, funded by Create and The Arts Council and supported by RAPID. During this project they wrote their first film script, ‘exploring themes of love, relationships, stereotypes and cultural clashes’. After writing the script, they looked to Fund it to secure funds to help with the filming costs. They were successful in exceeding their €3,000 target in just four weeks. Shooting of the film is now complete and Sinéad told us one of the highlights was the involvement of the wider community of Sligo in the making of the film and the Fund it campaign, who offered support, equipment, and of course pledges.

Caption: Painting by Joe Odiboh offered as one of the rewards for the Fund it campaign.

Although some members have moved away or gone back to college, the majority of the group are still in contact with each other. There are various levels of involvement in the editing stages of the film and there is still plenty of activity surrounding the project. The group changed its name to ‘Sabona Community Group’ (Sabona means Hello in Zulu) and were invited to join the Urban Peace Collective in Sligo, an umbrella organisation of community groups with an interest in promoting diversity, ending sectarianism and raising awareness of marginalised and minority groups.

Although Sinéad found it a little ‘stressful’ having to ask for money, she says the result was ‘brilliant’. Sabona were able to hire a professional Producer and Director of Photography who helped make it a bigger film than it would have been otherwise, and drive the group’s ambitions. Sadly the Director of Photography, Tony Kenny, passed away suddenly last May, which had a huge impact on the group and he is sorely missed by all. The film will be screened at a multi-cultural event which the group are organising and the film will be dedicated to Tony.