My current minimal fundraising goal looks like this:
- Supplement my own income by $2000.00 per month or 24000.00 per year.
- Hire the services of non-profit fundraising consultants at $200.00 per month or $2400.00 per year
- Hire the services of a private equity firm at $5000.00
Total minimum fundraising goal is $31, 400.00 – Further details below
$24000 annually to pay for my own services
When my sister died my household income also suffered a loss and so I am looking to increase it by about 2000.00 a month so that I can concentrate on the projects that I have presented on The Field.
$2400 annually for non-profit fundraising consulting services
In the 1980’s most western ceramic companies moved their production to low-cost labor markets but Andersen Design bucked the trend because living a life involved in the process was the purpose of the enterprise. In short, we loved the process.
However, this meant that Andersen Design would receive little local support in a state that has been run as a centralized economy with a targeted sector that does not include the ceramic industry. Over the years I contacted municipal governments and economic development organizations to receive little to no response.
Through persistence, I attracted an invitation to be fiscally sponsored by The Field in NYC so that I can seek non-profit contributions.
Mackenzie Andersen is a sponsored artist with The Performance Zone Inc (dba The Field), a not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization serving the performing arts community. Contributions to The Field earmarked for Mackenzie Andersen are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. For more information about The Field, or for our national charities registration, contact: The Field, 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 906 New York, NY 10038, phone: 212-691-6969. A copy of our latest financial report may be obtained from The Field or from the Office of Attorney General, Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
Mackenzie’s Profile on the Field
However, I had no background or connections in non-profit fundraising and found that most support involves already having foundational funding in place so that one can pay for services.
I have recently been learning that my support is found in people and places that are actively involved in the ceramic process. I received several invitations from Network for Good from sales agents but once it was established that I did not have the funds to pay for a monthly consulting fee, the sales person advised me to use the free pages and moved on.
When I started receiving emails from a new salesperson, I paid little attention expecting more of the same but one day I spontaneously decided to respond. The man on the phone had a background in industrial ceramic technology and recognized that ceramic glaze and body making research that is motivated by the decorative arts can produce results that can apply to all sorts of industry applications. This salesperson took time to get to know my situation. When I explained that I do not have the funding to pay for consulting services but that the reason I need funding is to pay other people just like him, he said that he would check back in a month, which he did just when I was deciding to embark upon the independent fundraising project in which I am currently engaged, He said he will check back in the beginning of September and also indicated that he may be able to help with getting through this current phase of establishing a first foothold in the fundraising process
While most agents drop my project as soon as they realize I have no money this agent is actively pursuing my account. I feel that this agent is someone who I should work with. I believe that his background in ceramic industrial technology gives him special insight that I need.
$5000.00 for equity investment support.
Andersen Design was not only about creating beautiful hand-crafted products, it was also an economic development philosophy that humanized the production process through the handmaking process. The original establishment of Andersen Design was a part of its times, participating in the human dialogue that continues on after many transformative events in contemporary times.
Since losing our productive capacity, I have been advancing the social and political issues that influenced Andersen Design through my newsletter, The Individual vs the Empire, which has proven to be my best vehicle for making meaningful connections. My newsletter caught the attention of a knowledge sharing platform based in India called TealFeed which features my newsletter as a blog on the platform.
Tealfeed invited me to set up as a consultant and I asked if they had any mentors for guidance. Their response was instead, to set me up with a meeting with their financial people, a small equity investment company called Marquee Equity that offers to help write my pitch documents and to publish them in a stream of potential investors whom they identify as having an interest in the ceramic industry. The firm is not suggesting that Andersen Design relocate in India, as is Ihe conclusion some have taken, the company can seek investors for the production in this country, provided there is an interest.
I found the manner of dealing with this company respectful. One can only go by own’s own character judgement, which can always be flawed but it can also be right. So I would like to take my chances with Marquee Equity and see how it goes.
Thank You for your tax-deductible donation to my cause of setting Andersen Design’s assets up in support of a historical trajectory that connects the origins to the future!