Call to Action: Kickstart the Fringe

Click here to sponsor the Fringe.

Greetings, Fringers-

As we enter the fray of a new year’s festival, I write today to ask for your help.

These are tough times for new artistic projects: city, county, state, and federal coffers are dry, and local and national businesses who once sponsored ambitious artistic projects like ours struggle to pay their own bills.

Last year we managed to do the impossible: Stage what was to become the largest open access arts festival West of the Mississippi with little to no funding. Almost 200 shows, near 1000 performances, over 30 venues rose to the call on the idea that an international celebration of the arts was needed in Los Angeles. It went very well, better than any of us could have conceived when we started this endeavor.

We have many bright ideas for the future: Conveyance shuttles, broader music and visual art programs, new initiatives into the digital frontier and so much more. There is no shortage of ideas to continue the evolution of this annual celebration.

Sometimes our ambitions are greater than our bank balance: This is where we need your help.

We are a nonprofit which means that we seek a percentage of our operating money from good people like you; those that understand that access to culture is critically important to our society and our community.

Today we announce our partnership with Kickstarter.com to raise funds for this year’s festival. For those of you unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it is a platform where you can pledge a certain amount of money towards a specified goal; ours is a modest $10,000. If we reach that goal, the funds are released. If we don’t reach it, we get nothing and you pay nothing.

In return for your contribution to the cause, you receive perks that vary depending on the level of your generosity ranging from free drinks at Fringe Central to tickets to t-shirts to fun video thank yous from our beloved mascots.

Click here to sponsor the Fringe.

Your generous contribution goes far towards our mission of providing a voice for the emerging arts and an event for its devotees. The amount doesn’t matter, any contribution demonstrates you stand with us and the arts.

I know times are tight and there are many wonderful and deserving projects seeking your hard-earned dollar. I ask you today to reach into your pockets for a cause that matters to all of us, as a world without art is a cold place. For a few weeks a year, the Fringe warms us up.

Thanks so much for your time and your consideration.

Kindest Regards,

Ben

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Ben Hill, Festival Director
The Hollywood Fringe Festival
www.HollywoodFringe.org