Make it rain 💸
How to crowdfund for audio
Welcome to The Audio Storyteller: tips and ideas for audio producers. Subscribe to get the full list of jobs, courses and other fun stuff straight to your inbox.
Hey there audio storytellers,
I’m writing to you from UnionDocs in Brooklyn, where I’m doing a podcast residency with five brilliant audio makers who I’m grateful to be learning so much from … more on that in a future newsletter.
Today I wanted to focus on alternative funding for our work as producers. Patreon is one way to do it, sure, but what if you don’t have the time to commit to building a presence there? Crowdfunding might be a good option for shorter or one-off projects.
Audio producer Katie Semro used Kickstarter for her newest work, a participatory audio art project called Mother Mine. Across 75 episodes, it will collect and tell stories from around the world about our mothers and how they’ve shaped us. Katie spoke to me about the opportunities of crowdfunding audio…
Why did you choose to crowdfund for Mother Mine?
Because I wanted to get paid for my work and I wanted to retain full editorial control at the same time. I thought of pitching to networks, but I don’t like the idea of my IP being taken (possibly) or giving up editorial control (possibly). And to be fair, the idea for my show doesn’t really seem like a network thing.
Also, Mother Mine is a project that is open to anyone to participate in — it’s kind of like a crowdsourced podcast — so crowdfunding seemed a good fit with the ethos.
I also knew it would be a short run, not a forever show, and so I didn’t think a Patreon or donations would work. Those seem to need a long time to build up and this show is only going to run for six months or so.
What was the most challenging part?
It was hard to ask for money. But I had an amazing pep-talk from Martina [Abrahams Ilunga] at Natal and You Had Me at Black; she told me that you have to see it as asking people to support your work. You are making something and they are paying for it — you aren’t begging. That really helped me to shift my attitude and kept me going when I felt like dragging my heels and not sending a reminder email, for instance.
I think the most challenging part was when I ran out of ideas of who to contact. I got to the end of the second week and was like, “Well, that’s everyone I know!" Luckily, I had reached out to some people I didn’t know. One of whom was Katie Hafner, who makes the podcast Our Mothers Ourselves. I had just asked her if she would share the Mother Mine project because it is also about mothers. She came back to me and said, “What about collaborating?”
After a week of discussions, we had a contract where she funded the rest of the Kickstarter and I’m putting Mother Mine out as a mini-series on the Our Mothers Ourselves feed and doing some of her episodes to free her up for her newest project. It was a win-win situation and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t just sucked it up and emailed her. And to be totally honest, I had dragged my feet for a few days before emailing her! But it was the best thing I did — sometimes you just have to force yourself to do the thing, and it pays off.
What else have you learned from crowdfunding Mother Mine?
This has confirmed my belief that we make luck ourselves — it doesn’t just happen. We do the things that need doing, and believe that it’s going to work, and then by that combination of work and belief we can make things happen as we want them to.
How did you decide on the Kickstarter rewards?
This was tricky! I was cautioned not to do anything that required too much work or postage because that can be a huge time suck. I wanted to keep things very audio-focused so I ended up doing things like offering a playlist of music that’s inspired the show, and the option to dedicate an episode, stuff like that. But I will also say so many people just pledged without the reward — they opted not to have one. So while I was stressing about them somewhat, it turned out not to be a huge deal.
Do you feel differently about your project in any way because it’s crowdfunded rather than supported by sponsors or a network?
I really wanted to have full control of the project and this way I do. That’s partly why this funding model appealed to me, and is definitely something I love about it. I feel very grateful to all of my backers and definitely have a sense of wanting to make sure this project is as good as I said it would be because they believed in me and I want to deliver on my promises.
Would you recommend that other audio producers / podcasters use crowdfunding?
Yes, I do think that a single, one-off kind of audio project is a great fit for crowdfunding. You don’t have time to build up a Patreon base if you’re doing a short run series. There are tons of indie films on Kickstarter and I was surprised how few audio things. I think it’s a great option and would love to see more audio on there. Having done it myself, I’m also a lot more keen to help other people out too. I know how much that $10 pledge is worth to the person running the project, and it’s a lot more than $10.
So if you’re thinking about doing a Kickstarter for audio, go for it! And I highly recommend using AirTable, or some other database, to make a database of your contacts and to keep details of who you’ve reached out to, and if they have donated or not.
Have you used crowdfunding for an audio project or podcast? Leave a comment with your thoughts…
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What I’m listening to
🎧 Unfinished: Short Creek - made by one of the folks on my residency.
🎧 Divesting from People Pleasing - a Heart mini-series from last year.
🎧 Plus the new seasons of Poetry Unbound and Invisibilia.
Thanks for reading, audio storytellers! If you enjoyed the newsletter, I’d so appreciate you sharing with a friend or co-worker; word of mouth is how I get this resource out there. (They can sign up here.) As always, hit me up on Twitter, email or the comments with what you’re making or listening to.