We need your support at the end of our fiscal year.
It’s the end of our fiscal year.
We need your support at the end of our fiscal year.
Let’s break this email headline down.
Need:
Support:
End of the fiscal year:
Donate:
First, Your longtime supporters and fans — those who have been with you for a while — will most likely send you something in your time of need.
For almost everyone else, like fans who’ve been to a couple of your performances, you will need something different.
People who have heard of you, and maybe they’d seen you online, or over social media, also need something different.
But before we talk about what that “something else” is, let’s talk about the words you use in your message to contributors and future contributors.
Need: There is some debate over this word. Some believe it implies desperation…neediness, a “cry for help.” For others, the word and message is considered direct.
Either way, there is no wrong answer. It’s a matter of your intuition, what’s worked in the past, and your philosophy.
Support: What is “support”?
It’s money.
It’s direct, specific, and clear what you are asking for. Ask for the money that ensures you can continue doing the important work you do.
End of the fiscal year: Besides your longtime supporters and fans, who cares?
That’s harsh I know, but the work you do must answer the question, “why should they care.”
Donate This one is subtle. It’s a small thing, perhaps, but sometimes it’s the small things that quietly make a loud difference.
You donate to your favorite charity, your religious institution, nonprofit, or political candidate or party.
You contribute to a chamber music ensemble, orchestra, Kickstarter, GoFundMe, and Patreon so they can be entity you wish to encourage to keep going. It’s exciting to contribute because you get to go along for the ride.
“When I contribute, I become a “part-owner.” I listen much more actively, much more often, and with even greater intention to experience the music’s full capabilities” I’m invested.”
(Kent U. - a long-time listener to his public radio station in Texas. He regularly sends them money.)
The creative work you are doing is not a charity.
The arts are not a charity. They are a necessity. They are essential to the well-being of your community. That’s why the work you’re doing is important, and people will miss it if you don’t create it.
My solution (first drafts):
Showing them beauty. Chamber music for Detroit’s prisons facilities.
“New Voices” — Commissions and opportunities for talented composers under 30.
Venezuelan composers whose music has been hiding in plain sight.