Women in Theatre and Screen ran a great crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for Festival Fatale – the organisation’s most ambitious undertaking to date. WITS’ Pozible campaign raised more than $12,000 over 60 days. 

At a glance:

• Project: Women in Theatre and Screen – Festival Fatale
• Platform: Pozible
• $ raised: $12,310
• Donors: 160

Tell us about your campaign and any unexpected results.

WITS: We launched the campaign and the video with a drinks and networking event, in conjunction with the celebration of another WITS project: the launch of a new Australian playwriting database in collaboration with Australianplays.org.au. This was another WITS initiative that highlighted works by, about and for Australian women.

We distributed a media release and achieved coverage in The Guardian, Daily Review and Broadway World. Throughout the campaign, we made regular posts and updates through social media channels, Facebook and Twitter.

Our reward options for donors included: thank you ‘shout-outs’ on social media, Festival passes, informal one-on-one mentoring sessions with the Festival organisers and WITS collective members, specialist theatre workshops in clowning, improvisation and performing Shakespeare, and – during the Festival – public acknowledgement of major donors.

The result of the Pozible campaign was $12,310 raised for the Festival plus the pledged support from Creative Partnerships MATCH for $8,000. While we expected we would exceed our original target of $8,000, the final total went well beyond our expectations.

Was there any part of the campaign that you would do differently?

The rewards that provided our supporters with a service or a workshop were very successful, with strong take-up, and feedback that the artistic and/or professional benefits were real. Most of our supporters chose the one-on-one ‘industry mentoring chat’ for $35, the servicing of which ended up being quite time-consuming for the festival team.

However, the workshops were more efficient in that they were a group experience but still very satisfying for our participating supporters. Next time, I would re-arrange some of the crowdfunding rewards so that our time and expertise was used more efficiently. Instead of the one-on-one chats, a $35 ticket to a group talk with an industry speaker would achieve the desired result more efficiently.

How do you plan on engaging with your supporters in the short-term future?

All supporters were invited to the subsequent launch of the Festival program, which featured performances from local artists, keynote addresses from the Selection Panel and exciting announcements about the program.

Our supporters are also included on the Festival’s mailing list, receiving regular updates about the Festival, ticket sales and specials, as well as other WITS events such as workshops and panel discussions. Importantly, many supporters chose tickets to the Festival as their crowdfunding reward, and we look forward to having them in the theatre to experience what they have helped to create.

Although WITS has achieved a strong public profile among its constituents and engaged well and often with our supporters thus far, we are still a fledgling organisation. This Festival is our most ambitious event to date and the first of its kind in Sydney.

As a co- founder of WITS and someone fresh to producing and directing events, to have successfully created and managed this fundraising campaign has been hugely instructive.

Coaching and mentoring

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