Funding a documentary can be one of the most challenging steps in making your film. However, even when the budget is desperately low, you can raise adequate funds with a few tips here to complete your project.
Let’s see some surefire ways to raise funds for your documentary – regardless of your current budget.
Friends and Family
Here’s the perfect time to reach out to the uncles and aunts who believe in your dream. Hopefully, you’ll get enough funds or ideas to stay motivated on the project. But there’s no need to worry if nothing shows up from your immediate family or circle of friends. There are tons of other cool funding ideas worth exploring for your project.
Email Campaigns
Consider sending out a series of emails to your personal network. Spreading the word about your project can get you some swift donations.
Usually, you aren’t sending one mass message requesting a one-time donation. Begin by engaging them with your project’s details to see if some information might trigger some readers’ specific interests. Keep them updated about your documentary and offer cool incentives or reasons for them to donate to your program.
Wealthy Individuals
It’s beyond finding some rich person and asking for their donations. You’re looking for someone with some pre existing natural connection with you or your film’s subject matter.
Often, they’ll care about one or both subjects. For instance, an aunt who doesn’t care about climate change might still believe in you. And that can do the job. You only want to learn the right way to approach wealthy individuals and get them behind you or your project.
Get Them Talking
Here’s an extension of the last step. If you built a connection with a wealthy and Influential public figure, you have a faster lane to funds.
Your goal here is to approach the right person. It could be a renowned activist or someone who’s familiar with your story or subject. Ultimately, if they share the word, their “people” would listen – and a few (or vast) more money comes in.
Filmmaking Grants
Foundations – large or upcoming – will fund your project if it seems the right fit. You only want to fill out the paperwork and create a compelling documentary proposal and budget.
Usually, grants are reserved for experienced teams or promising filmmakers, but if you do your homework and craft a professional pitch, you have an excellent chance. Feel free to hire someone or use AI in crafting a cool proposal. Anything to get on their good books.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding pools resources from a “crowd” to fund your project – or at least some part of it. There are great Crowdfunding platforms to try, including Kickstarter, Seed&Spark, and IndieGoGo.
Of course, you might have other cool crowdfunding platforms in your region. But you may benefit from choosing a platform that many people know or can relate to.
(Source: Unsplash)
Special Events
Concerts and fundraising house parties are exciting places to raise funds. Remember that these events can be time-consuming and even cost lots of money if you overspend on food or decorations. Only think of launching special events if you can get a sponsor to cover a majority of the expenses.
In-Kind Donations
In-kind donations could be as good as cash. Don’t hesitate to approach businesses like hotels, print shops, rental car agencies, and restaurants to request help for your project’s mission. Meanwhile, their donations not only help you; they could also make great promotion platforms for their brands too.
Social Media
Facebook, TikTok, X, and Instagram are always exceptional tools for connecting with your community of supporters to request money at the right time. That said, note that social media shouldn’t be used as a primary source.
But it can prove a cool way to keep in touch with people who are interested in your project’s timelines. And when you need funding, they can make an army of engaged and ready support for your idea.
Besides other intriguing social media promotions to make, consider hosting a “Q&A” style live event where followers can ask more questions about your story and the people behind it. You can’t possibly overestimate the power of social media and crowdfunding in pooling the right funds for your next project.
Conclusion
Regardless of our current or future budget size, money is everywhere, and there are all forms of ways to get it. Your best funding source could come from approaching individuals with whom you have a natural connection.
Otherwise, consider reaching out to foundations or your online followership via social media or crowdfunding platforms. You never could tell which options could end your documentary project’s money issues. So, you want to refuse to get discouraged if one or two methods didn’t yield the desired results.