Joan Shigekawa of The Rockefeller Foundation offers this advice to
makers: “I know it sounds rudimentary. Working really hard on
your work sample is key. Making sure that you've really thought about
having a work sample that speaks to your work and is a first-generation
dub, a high-quality representation of your work.” She also emphasizes
having a clear project description and articulating your passion for
the work.
Cynthia Gehrig of the Jerome Foundation recommends that you make sure
that your budget is understandable. She also advises that makers “do
really good research on the grantmakers that you're contacting. If
you're going to certain foundations that have strong arts programs
and have the ability to respond to you as an artist/maker, then you
write your proposal from that point of view. However, there are lots
and lots of foundations that would not offer the maker the opportunity
to come in through the arts program and therefore the appeal has to
be the content… and then media becomes simply a vibrant way of communicating
information that speaks to the interests of a certain foundation.”
For new media, filmmaker Toni Dove has discovered that “there
is not a large pool [of funders]. For this kind of work, it's very
important to get people to the studio for a demonstration. When people
actually see it or experience it, it seems to improve our chance of
being funded by 100 percent.” Makers should never forget that
“it's always a bit of an uphill struggle to be working in an
arena where profit is not your goal.”
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