Perks Preferences?

[pinepig]

What kinds of perks get your attention and encourage you to dig into your hard-earned cash? I'm trying to figure out how to adapt crowdfunding to my photography and am interested in knowing what people like, what is The Shiny that encourages them to dig in. And what are realistic levels to ask for when you're a budding artist?

You don't have to actively support crowdfunding or photography or crowdfunded photography if you want to answer.

I figure prints are always a possibility. The 2 biggest issues with that right now are cost of postage & getting time to ship (I live in New Zealand) & our printer, while a good photo printer, sometimes puts marks on the back of the paper and I'm afraid this might turn people off.

I like ysabetwordsmith's use of posting a few pictures in her journal and then offering to post others if she gets donations. I usually upload my picts to Webshots for people to see/download as screensavers/send as e-cards. I could hold a few prize ones back when I do this and offer to upload them if I get donations. When I upload my Webshots I'll usually upload a few of the better ones to my Weblogimages account and post them in my journal.

I could also see if there's a way create a special album at Webshots and lock it to only certain people. I don't know if it's possible and this would require my audience getting a Webshots account.

Or I could make a special Donor filter and post the picts on that on my DW/LJ.

What are your thoughts?

And come to think of it, how do you make a Paypal donation button?

(ETA: Sorry ysabetwordsmith, not sure what tag would fit best for this so I've put networking but feel free to tell me what to change it to!)

Comments

Re: There are alternatives to PayPal out there :)

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>I don't think it should be about what people think of good verses bad art at all, <<

Nevertheless, people argue vigorously about that, either over whether funding should be tied to quality or not, or what's worth funding or not, or some other variation.

>>and money from public education, at least by the time I left high school, goes in to art classes. <<

I think this aspect is a great idea. Sadly, it has become quite unpopular. Class sizes are rising as schools fire teachers and consolidate classes; most things outside core academics and sports have been cut widely. Arts and music are usually among the first to go.

Re: There are alternatives to PayPal out there :)

[thejeopardymaze]

Very true sadly. My favorite classes were the art ones.

Re: There are alternatives to PayPal out there :)

[ysabetwordsmith]

I enjoyed art class, though I was never much good at it. The only bits of my artistic talent that came through intact in this life are my eye for color and my eye for composition. Eventually I started playing around with art forms that rely on those rather than on stuff I suck at: photography and scrapbooking. But kids really need a chance to explore and discover where their talents lie -- without being condemned or penalized for the inevitable disasters as they discover what they suck at.