We’re now two weeks into lockdown. As an organisation, we’ve been heads down on our mission to understand and address the impact of this very peculiar situation (COVID-19) for the people we serve – the artists of Aotearoa.

One thing is overwhelmingly clear. Artists need help. Whether it be community connection, financial support, or the opportunity to keep making and showcasing their art to audiences.

OUR RESPONSE

As many of you will know, Boosted is Aotearoa’s only crowdfunding platform dedicated to the arts – and has always been about brokering giving to artists, who in turn give back to us.

On Friday 24 April, we’ll be launching Boosted Live, a place where you can live stream your creative mahi (be it a reading, a ‘living room’ dance, a gig in your bedroom, or a showcase of your creative process) and be fairly remunerated for it. And if creatives just want to live stream (and not raise funds) they can simply choose a low target. If there are some arts organisations or artists that don’t need to raise funds, they might live stream to raise funds for others!

AS WELL AS LIVE STREAMING, WHAT ELSE WILL BE NEW?

To launch Boosted Live we’re breaking some of the rules and upping the ante for the next three months:

• For the first time ever, we’re removing our Boosted ‘all or nothing’ structure, so crowdfunding creatives get to keep all of their donations (minus the 10% Boosted fee), whether they reach their target or not. Making now a great time to trial crowdfunding.

Instead of running standard one month campaigns for specific creative projects, artists can now:

• Run their crowdfunding campaign for any time frame (from two hours for your live stream, to four weeks).
• Have the option to showcase their work via live steam at multiple times during their campaign, while they crowdfund.
• Record their live stream for their audience to watch at a later date.

We’ll be pulling out all the stops to support artists’ campaigns and provide a great live streaming experience.

We know that for many artists, drumming up energy for a Boosted campaign isn’t a top priority. To make the process as easy as possible, we’re:

• Upping our Boosted Team support for the next three months – giving artists tips and tools to live stream (alongside our usual one-on-one fundraising coaching).
• We’re putting our marketing know-how toward a national digital marketing campaign, rallying New Zealanders to get behind Boosted and support Aotearoa’s artists.

It’s about giving to get back. It’s about getting paid to play.

MORE TO COME

We’ll be sharing more on this over the next few weeks. But for now, save the date – and if you’re an artist, kōrero with our team about setting up your crowdfunding campaign or a live stream in time for launch night Friday 24 April.

Register your interest in Boosted Live.