Throughout August and September we have been running a crowdfunding campaign at Indiegogo and today is the very last day.

With the generosity and faith of our supporters, we have raised an amazing £8,130 towards the deposit for a business premises, which offers its visitors a change of pace, and the space to create.

Studio Faire will allow us the opportunity to combine our extensive experience to offer a supportive environment for the development of ideas and the production of new work through residencies for national and international contemporary artists, designers, performers, writers, musicians, makers and other creative professionals, in the beautiful surroundings of the Lot-et-Garonne (47), France.

We aimed to raise £20,000, which is almost half of the cash required for the deposit and fees (we are saving monthly for the rest). What we hoped would happen initially was that we could reach significant numbers with our campaign and that it would appeal enough to around 1,000 of these people that they would contribute £20 and we’d reach our goal.

What actually happened?

We did manage to reach significant numbers – 7,032 visitors to be exact
Only 0.06% of these visitors chose to support us by purchasing a perk – 113 backers
They did not contribute an average of £20… they contributed an average of £73!

Another thing we noticed was that, not only were the visitors all much more generous than we had expected, but they were also all friends and family. We soon realised that, asking someone to support this business at this very early stage was a HUGE ask. You clearly have to know us well to have 100% faith in us and our ability to pull this off. This is absolutely fair enough of course!

Are we disappointed with the result?

Absolutely NOT! We are extremely delighted as we are now eight months closer to realising our dream business!

Knowing now what we did not know before (mainly that you need to know us to believe in us at this early stage), we realise that this campaign has been extremely successful and the support of our contacts overwhelming!

We intend to help some people raise funds for their creative residency at Studio Faire once we have the premises. Now we have gained knowledge in how best to go about a crowdfunding campaign and what to expect from it, we are better prepared to help someone else do their own campaign. We will be happy to share our knowledge to assist creative people on a low income raise cash to come and visit.

So, what have we gained?

 

Knowledge, encouragement and a huge financial boost towards our goal!

 

Thanks again to all our funders, to all those who made testimonial videos and to Robbie Bushe PVAS, Colin Greenslade Director RSA and Gayle Nelson PSSA for your support.

The plan now is to make more and spend less and save, save, save…

We’ve made a great start with your help. Now hard work and determination will get us the rest of the way!