In the search for funding for the MFA and for this project overall, a few people have suggested going the way of crowdfunding - putting up a pitch on Kickstarter or Pozible, including attendant video and interesting perks, and see the money roll in. This has become an especially popular suggestion since I am ineligible for most grants & scholarships due to my residency status (bridging visa in Australia, about to be an international student in the US).
I do not think I am at the point where crowdfunding is a strong option just yet.
There are two main factors that make a crowdfunding project successful, more so than anything else:
1. There is a sizeable crowd willing to contribute money.
2. There are tangible benefits or products - making the project more of a preorder.
Point 1: I do have a growing following, especially from those that knew me as Tiara the Merch Girl (my first burlesque iteration) and/or followed me on my relatively busy Tumblr & essays around various blogs. However, from my past experiences with crowdfunding, my crowd tends to not have a lot of money to spare. They have plenty of goodwill, and some spread the word, but for the most part they are themselves hard up on cash and would rather keep every cent.
I have also noticed that, at least in Australia, there isn't as strong a notion of personal philanthropy as there may be in the US. In Australia, people expect the Government to be the main source of funding, even if they deeply disagree with the current Government's politics. Even corporate funding was frowned on because of assumptions of loss of control. This was a major culture shock for me when I first arrived to Australia - in Malaysia (where funding options aren't that plentiful) it seemed that most artsy activist iconoclast projects would stay away from Government funding because that would mean being a puppet or mouthpiece for a ruling party with a lot of issues around bigotry, whereas private funding was often free(r) from that. In the US I notice more support for grassroots fundraising, such as the Awesome Foundation (a group of 10 trustees pool money together to fund an "Awesome" project every month in their city) - yet when I advocate for this in Australia, I have met deep resistance, including accusations of encouraging "neoliberal" ideas.
This frustrates me, because from my experience lobbying the Government on many issues (particularly immigration and bridging visas), whoever is in Government doesn't care. Some people tend to see it as one political party over another, but I've noticed that almost every party has its blind spots. I have no time to trust the Government to change its mind and consider me a viable avenue for funding, and no party will care. So I have to look for unconventional means...but there's still a lot to consider.
Point 2: People make a big deal about the perks because they want to feel like they got something for their support of Such-and-Such a project. Altruism can only go so far, and tax deductibility (which legally means you cannot provide gifts in exchange) isn't always accessible for everyone. People point to Amanda Palmer or Double Fine, both million-dollar fundraiser projects on Kickstarter (many griping that those two take away money from other projects - something I deeply disagree with but won't get into right now) as an example of altruistic generousity - forgetting that those two projects, and many others, were essentially shopfronts. You could buy music, art, games, services, miscellaneous merchandise, even personal attention - the difference here is there is a target goal, you can pay more than the perk requires, and you also get some involvement in the larger-scale project you're funding.
I'm really at the beginning stages of this project; I'm not even in California yet! I have some ideas about where I want to go with this, but so much of the course & project really depends on who my cohort members are, what they get up to, and what I explore in SF - things that can radically alter the course of my degree. I do not know what sort of resources I have up there yet, let alone work out if I can access them and have the time & money to make the items I need. My background is in performance art and writing, two fields that can be hard to create for presale and still have a concrete representation of your art. Thank you for funding my burlesque, here's a hair from the nipple tassel. In my last crowdfunding attempt I found that I couldn't really make some of the perks happen because I didn't know the resources available or just didn't have enough money/time.
By a year's time I should already have a tangible project in mind to end my MFA with, and whatever that project is likely will be much easier to crowdfund for. Tickets to a performance, recordings of music, published writing...there's something there for people to pick up and interact with. Right now, though, there's not a whole lot of money in crowdfunding for potential crowdfunding.
Once I have a following that is willing to put their money where their mouth is, and I have something to offer them, then I can think about crowdfunding in more detail. The very short deadlines do not help either; I'm just really thankful my parents are still willing to help. Right now, though, I need to concentrate on getting started.
That doesn't mean I don't appreciate support or have nothing to offer! Check out the ways to support Not Your Ex/rotic, and visit my official website to see more about me and what I do.
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