Boosted Works For The Arts

Boosted Works For The Arts

$325,000 in new cash to arts projects by the Arts Foundation’s crowdfunding site

In a year, Boosted has raised $325,000 for New Zealand arts projects.

“Boosted has supported 54 successful projects to get funding from over 2,500 donations. We’re incredibly proud of the achievements we’ve made in our first year,” says Mark Michel, Boosted Manager. “We knew that New Zealanders wanted to be able to support local arts projects, all they needed was a simple, relevant, and effective way to do so.”

Boosted will be celebrating with a party at the Basement Theatre on 22 May. Auckland-based artists can come along to a workshop to get advice on running a campaign from 5pm; followed by drinks – and cake! – from 6pm.

There have been some wonderful successes in Boosted’s first year, with projects ranging from $180 for a music project at Kahurangi Primary School, to $25,000 for Populate! - a project to furnish Christchurch with art during Christchurch Art Gallery’s restoration.

Running a Boosted campaign can be an exciting, if slightly nail-biting, experience. Fiona Sullivan ran a successful project to get artists to Gallipoli for the First World War commemorative exhibition Your Friend the Enemy, raising an impressive $20,200 – most of it in the last week of her campaign. "I'm so happy and relieved – I think I might need a cup of tea and a lie down now!” she said. “I am very proud and pleased that all of my input had this result. Boosted delivered exactly what I wanted: professionalism, legitimacy and authenticity. Thanks so much for the support."

“When you crunch the numbers, Boosted provides the best financial offering to artists,” says Mark. All grants are made excluding GST, but registered artists and organisations can invoice with GST on top of the grant total. As all donations are taken at the time they are made (and refunded in full if the project is unsuccessful), artists are protected from the small drop-off that inevitably occurs with the credit card hold system used by most other crowdfunding websites. No rewards for donations also means no unbudgeted costs. “Boosted is charitable in all its aims. It isn’t here for profit. We’re here to give artists the tools they need to fundraise, and to help make the most of their community’s wholehearted support.”

Boosted has the highest success rate of all New Zealand crowdfunding sites, with 60% of projects reaching their target. Donor confidence is high and feedback from donors has been very positive. Our anonymous and wonderfully generous Boosted “Angel” has now contributed to ten projects. For our Angel, Boosted is a “way of being involved in the arts community by having the extended family's input throughout the year. We celebrate birthdays, good fortune and any other personal noteworthy events by logging on and choosing a project to support.”

“I think Boosted is a great initiative and I hope that more artists, musicians etc. will use it. I like Boosted’s interest in a wide range of creative projects, many of which I would not have known about otherwise. I like Boosted’s dispensing with incentives from artists in favour of a tax concession. I like Boosted because it is focused on what Aotearoa/New Zealand can do,” said Michael Hodder, another Boosted donor.

Boosted is possible because of a generous collaboration with the Lion Foundation, which has been an integral part of the Boosted story since before the website launched. “The Lion Foundation is supporting the Arts Foundation to revolutionise the way in which the arts are funded in New Zealand,” says Johnny Gritt, General Manager, Grants and Marketing at the Foundation. “We expect a significant new source of funds for the arts via Boosted.” The Lion Foundation contributes to the Arts Foundation’s infrastructure, allowing the Foundation more resources to invest in the development of the Boosted website.

Boosted First Birthday
5pm-8pm, Thursday 22 May2014
Basement Bar, Basement Theatre, Lower Greys Avenue, Auckland CBD, 1010
RSVP to admin@boosted.org.nz.

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