What's the best way for a designer/artist to raise money for charity?

September 20, 2014 8:34 PM

To be honest, I don't want to do any family/friends crowd-funding. I'm more interested in offering a design/art service--like "your name written in calligraphy" or "an ink drawing of your face"-- for a price that will be donated to charity. But how does one go about such a campaign and what are the best venues for such an endeavor?

I'm thinking of posting something like this on reddit or something similar, but I'd like to hear some advice on how to tackle such an issue. Do I need to say who I'm giving the money to? I don't want random people (or even friends and family for that matter) to know who the person in need is, but I will include a link to my own portfolio for all people to know the type of work they will be getting. Do I need to offer my design/artistic services for a reduced fee to attract people? Are there other kinds of ways to deal with this kind of thing? Success stories?

posted by omar.a to Society & Culture (3 answers total)

If you don't want anyone to know who the person in need is then don't say it is for charity. Offer the service and quietly donate the money. The only reason to advertise that it is for charity would be to generate more money for the charity, something that won't happen without giving information.

If your area has any fall festivals coming up, ask for a space to offer your work directly to the public. It is difficult to give specific suggestions without seeing the type of work offered or the amount of time required for each piece.
posted by myselfasme at 9:12 PM on September 20, 2014

Don't handle any transactions yourself. Talk to the charity and set up an account number for your beneficiary and have all funds directed toward that account.

Charities are a popular tax dodge and, at least here in the US they are heavily scrutinized.
posted by vapidave at 12:59 AM on September 21, 2014

Many nonprofit orgs do silent auctions of such items as fund raiders. Find one you like.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 11:14 PM on September 21, 2014