A great way to get students to fundraise is to make the activity appealing to them. Combine a cause that excites them with a personal interest and you’ve got their attention. Add a little exposure for budding artists and this becomes a win-win situation for arts students.
Meet Anya Parker a 16 year old musician who has come up with a great list to help market both a cause and young musicians. I think she has fantastic marketing ideas for anyone looking for more publicity. Here are a few of tips she shares:
1. Write a Song for the cause. You can directly raise money to support fundraising by publishing the song as a single and selling downloads to your friends, at a local coffee shop — anywhere! Don’t forget to advertise the song along with what it is supporting. If people like the song, they will be intrigued and more likely to check out the cause. It’s all about spreading the word, right?
2. Speaking of spreading the word, sometimes that’s all it takes! If you don’t want to sell a song, post a link to it for free! The more you send it around, and encourage others to pass it on, you can increase awareness drastically just by getting people interested with a cool tune. Include a description or link to the cause with the song so people are inspired to click, read, and support.
3. Send newsletters including ways to support, as well as a link to a song pertaining to the cause. Even if it is not your song, you can still inspire people to help by capturing their attention through song.
4. Put on a show! Find a few local bands or solo acts willing to do a festival or a concert event and sell tickets to raise money. The artists get to show their skills and have the opportunity to increase their fan base, while playing a fun show that benefits a cause.
5. Create a song writing contest for students (or friends!) to compete in. Encourage people to write and submit a song for the cause. You can even take it a step further and set up a ‘talent show’ type concert where each song is performed and the winner is announced. You can sell tickets to support the cause. There can be a prize for the winner and the added benefit is increasing awareness for the cause through the mere interest and buzz about the contest.
I’d also throw in using social media pages like YouTube to the mix. It helps mention the fundraiser and puts a face to the name for the artist. Great grassroots fundraisers like this are catching on as people support new talent and worth causes.
What other tips could you musicians or artists add to this list? Add your comments, we’d like to see what you come up with. Also feel free to share this with the young artist in your life. They are probably looking for way to get noticed!
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