For the past few years I have applied for various blog writing grants, and each time never made it past the first round of applicants. What a grant would mean for the site, is more contests, a better and more professional layout, and working on advertising the get the site out there more. The Creep Machine is doing well, but of course could always be doing better. However, the site is not doing well enough to get a grant. Every year I get denied and every year after I look to see if the winners are still going, and most of the time they are not. You might have a good idea for a site, but do you have the fire and ability to keep going for years? I’m not even posting as much on this site as I would like to be. Anyway, I as talking to some other artists about the whole “arts grants” area, and after talking with Arabella Proffer she wrote a post on her blog about her experience with grants, and the whole idea of social funding, such a sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. She sent over a version of her article to share with the readers, take a look and then comment with your experiences or ideas. Take it away Arabella.
I see so many great artists, designers, creative entrepreneurs who apply for funding, and after going through the ringer, get denied. It seems that it you don’t fit into a certain stereotype—or aren’t already known—the traditional route of seeking business loans, grants from foundations and various non-profits is almost futile. This is especially true if what you are doing is something new, different, or in an industry/genre that these people aren’t familiar with.
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