An international arts project spanning Ethopia and Huntly has launched Arts & Business Scotland’s (A&BS) brand new crowdfunding website for the cultural and creative sectors.  Angel Shares Scotland offers a new way for organisations and individuals to raise valuable funds for their arts projects.  Founded by Sarah Gee, a professional fundraiser and marketer for nearly 20 years, it aims to help the arts build stronger relationships with donors. Gee claims that it is “the only arts and cultural crowdfunding site that collects Gift Aid on donations”.

Angel Shares Scotland will help diversify income streams for the arts, offer new ways for individual supporters to engage with arts projects and raise awareness of inspiring Scottish arts projects across the world.  It is the latest in a series of A&BS initiatives to develop extra funding for the arts from private donations, so maximising the amount of philanthropic support for the arts in Scotland.

Supported by Creative Scotland the site is part of the Year of Creative Scotland, offering a route for the wider public to support the creative ambitions of Scotland’s artists.

Anyone interested in the latest arts and creative projects can visit Angel Shares Scotland to see what is going on Scotland and what projects Scottish organisations are delivering across the world and choose to support any project they like the look of.

Those running creative projects submit their information to the site and have their projects advertised across the site.  Participating organisations promote it through their own marketing channels and the site generates more and more visitors the more projects it features.

The first project on the site, Walk Sans Frontières, is an innovative project from Deveron Arts.  Ethiopian artist Mihret Kebede will create a Slow Marathon involving 225 people jointly walking the distance of 5850 miles from Addis Ababa to Huntly, Aberdeenshire on March 17th 2012.  The project is now open for donations, with rewards to donors ranging from a copy of the accompanying publication to a pair of Ethopian shoelaces!

Barclay Price said ‘Such sites as Facebook show the power of the internet to engage people, and to offer innovative ways to create communities of interest.  Crowdfunding offers cultural organisations and artists an innovative way of encouraging their audiences to fund their creative work, and enables everyone with an interest in Scotland’s cultural scene to support the country’s creativity.  I am particularly pleased to be launching this initiative so soon after Arts & Business Scotland became independent as it evidences our ambition to champion new fund-raising tools to help sustain and grow the arts in Scotland.’

Iain Munro, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland, said;

‘We are delighted to be working with Arts and Business Scotland and other partners on a range of measures to develop the long term organisational and financial sustainability of the arts and cultural sector in Scotland.  AngelShares Scotland is a fantastic new opportunity for organisations to develop new income streams by connecting Scottish-based arts and cultural organisations with potential investors and maximise philanthropic support.”

Throughout 2012 A&BS will deliver a series of seminars in different locations across Scotland to raise awareness of AngelShares Scotland and further digital fundraising opportunities for the arts.

Source: Arts and Business Scotland