How do you fund an art exhibition with crowdfunding?

What goes in an exhibition budget?

Everything between the studio and the wall. Write each line in the campaign, so backers see where the money goes.

• Framing and mounting.
• Printing, for photographs or editions.
• The space: rent for the run, and insurance for the works.
• Transport and hanging: a van, a technician, fixings.
• Materials for the new works.
• The opening: invitations and drinks.
• A catalogue, or a printed sheet listing the works.

How big should the goal be?

Enough to put the show on the walls, not to pay for every work you'll ever make. Count the people who already follow your work closely, not your follower count.

For example, a show of 15 works: framing at $40 each ($600), the space for two weeks ($500), transport and hanging ($200), the opening ($150) and a small catalogue ($250). That makes $1,700, and about $2,000 with the rewards and fees.

From the other side: 80 backers at an average of $25 make $2,000. Collectors, friends and people who bought from you before are where those 80 come from. The goal planner runs both sums.

What rewards work for an art exhibition?

The art itself, in sizes for every budget. Physical rewards cost money to make and send, so price that in.

• A set of postcards of the works.
• A signed print, numbered in a small edition.
• The catalogue, signed.
• Their name on the thank you wall at the entrance.
• An invitation to the private view.
• A studio visit before the show opens.
• A small original, or a commission, for the top tier.

The reward tier planner shows what each tier leaves you after printing and postage.

When should you launch?

Two or three months before the opening, with the deadline before the framer needs paying. The money only reaches you after the deadline, and only if the goal is met.

That leaves time to frame the works, print the rewards and send the invitations once the funds are in.

How do you get people to back it?

Show the work as it gets made. People back an exhibition they can already see coming together.

• Post a work in progress each week, with the link.
• Write to everyone who has bought or commissioned from you.
• Ask the space to share it with its own list.
• Put the link on the invitation to the opening.

You can also set a share reward, from nothing up to 18.5% of each pledge, paid by the program to whoever shared the link. How to share your campaign covers the first week.

What does it cost?

Writing and previewing a campaign costs nothing. Opening it costs $5 on the free plan.

Each pledge then pays 1.5% plus a flat $0.99, and the share reward you set comes out of the pledge too. The minimum pledge is $10, so price your cheapest tier, the postcards, at or above it.

The percentage fee on a pledge follows the plan of the account making it. It's taken when the pledge is made, so it isn't returned if the campaign misses its goal. Paid plans aren't on sale today, so the published fee is the free plan's fee.

Every plan is on the pricing page.

What if the goal is missed?

If the goal isn't met by the deadline, you take your pledge back from escrow with one tap, and nobody has to approve it. What comes back is the amount held for you: your pledge minus the fees taken when you backed (the platform fee, the flat fee, any tip and any share reward the campaign pays).

The works are still yours, and so is the list of people who wanted them. Show fewer works or find a cheaper space, and launch again.

How do you start?

1. Sign up in the app with email or Google.
2. Write the show, the dates, the budget, the goal and the deadline.
3. Add your city as the location, and your reward tiers.
4. Set the share reward and publish.
5. Write to your collectors on day one.

How reward crowdfunding works, from the free course, explains the model. Everything you can fund has a guide for each kind of project, and every other question is in the answers.