Crowd funding image from darren Coleman @ Puttyfoot
Show me your money Would your audience like to customise their own festival experience? Would you like your audience to develop the event that you own and, at the same time, raise revenue? Crowd funding is the latest trend to hit the event market and it’s predicted to be big news in 2013. But there are pros and cons, as Stand Out discovered
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ust two months ago, Stand Out brought you an interview with Felix Guttmann, creator of the inaugural Amsterdam Light Festival, who stated that corporate crowd funding was a revenue model of the future – the practice involves a series of local businesses donating a proportion of the extra income that they generate or expect to generate throughout an event. The money is given to the event
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organisers to fund vital infrastructure and marketing, and it’s given because the businesses recognise the financial benefits that will be achieved as a result of the event taking place. Some argue that the practice is a sign of confidence towards an organiser, an insurance policy that the event will go ahead, and an investment to guarantee that a local community will profit. Take this notion one step further and ask yourself how would you feel about your
audience crowd funding your event? It’s what a number of UK festival organisers are now beginning to do in a bid to raise vital funds to develop a specific event or business project. The format has worked for some but it’s not without its lessons either. Graeme Merifield, managing director of Wychwood Festival, commented: “Two years ago, we had a change of board and we looked at our future. All festivals are risky and it’s an expensive business to put on, but we knew that we wanted to develop the business further. The problem was that we are only a small team and had no time. We wanted to see what we could do to generate income, which resulted in us building a new business model to raise cash to fund other businesses opportunities such as private parties and corporate events.” Merifield’s experience of Wychwood Festival had given him the idea to roll out