For many schools, community halls, and churches, it can be harder now to fund a new stage when the old one has suffered too much wear and tear – or, worse, been damaged. But, if the stage needs to be replaced, the funding still needs to be pulled together – so how?

Turn to Your Community

One answer we’d like to suggest is to try crowdfunding. Once you have a good idea what stage you want and what it’ll cost – something our demo visits can help with, among other options – you can turn to your community and interested benefactors!

Sites like Gofundme, Indiegogo, JustGiving, and potentially even Kickstarter allow you an easy way to put your case out, promote your needs on social media and receive donations from your local community – and from anonymous benefactors around the world!

There’s a minor online subculture of charitable givers who browse these sites looking for a cause that appeals to them that day and donate some of their spare income to the project, knowing they’ve just made a difference to a stranger and revelling in imagining the joy that comes with it.

Top Tips

Make sure you’ve read the guidelines and know what the site’s fees are so that you can adjust the total needed for them, and don’t be afraid to spell out the difference for your community. Kickstarter backers in particular tend to expect something in return, but the site also offers ‘stretch goals’ – rewards that backers can unlock by reaching a certain donation value over the minimum target.

Working with local am-dram groups, choirs, classical musicians and more to promise performances on the new stage can be the reward you offer – and they’ll promote the goal, too, giving your social media outreach even more power.