Mapping Your Dream: How I Raised $35,000 in 8 Weeks With a Crowdfunding Campaign—and How You Can, Too!

In this interactive workshop, Iquo B. Essien will guide you through the same steps she took to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign that raised $35,000 for her creative business. Learn how to tell your story, package it into a pitch video and campaign page, and get the word out to potential backers. Plus, get practical tips to launch quickly and sustain your momentum so you can turn a crowd into an engine funding your dream project or business.

Event Breakdown

What: Mapping Your Dream: How I Raised $35,000 in 8 Weeks With a Crowdfunding Campaign—and How You Can, Too!

When: March 09, 2023 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM ET

Where: Online via Zoom Webinar

Audience: All disciplines

Cost: $15 for NYFA-affiliated artists (Fiscally Sponsored, NYC Women's Fund, NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program artists) and $20 for the general public.

Register: Click here to register. You will receive an email with information about how to access this webinar before the event. You may attend the session(s) using either a Mac or PC computer (with speakers), standard phone, smartphone, or tablet device. This webinar takes place on Zoom. Strong wifi or hard-wired Internet connection is preferred. 

Questions: Email sponsorship@nyfa.org

Recording: This webinar will be recorded and shared with all previously-registered participants after the session concludes. The recording will be available for viewing up to 30 days after the scheduled date and will not be available for download. A recording of this event will not be available for purchase after the event registration closes. 

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Presenter Bio

With a B.S. degree in biology from Stanford University, Iquo B. Essienbegan her career at a communications firm helping influential global health clients like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) raise public awareness of critical issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and child mortality. Driven to combine her passion for social change and the arts, she earned her MFA degree in film from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts where she launched her first fundraising campaign that raised $15,000 in 4 weeks for her short film, AISSA'S STORY. The experience unlocked a passion to help people raise money and, since then, she has served a range of artist, nonprofit, and corporate clients. Essien created Crowdfund Your Dream, an online course and fundraising consultancy, to help women and BIPOC founders raise up to $500,000 to fund their businesses, leaning in to their culture factor and the communities they serve. Essien formerly served as Communications & Marketing Manager of Hook Arts Media, Communications and Marketing Director of Culture Project, Content & Marketing Director of Opportunity Lab, and Strategy Consultant for Public Equity Group. Her films have screened in 14 countries around the globe and her production company, Editi Films, is fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas. She was a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow Finalist in Screenwriting.

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By registering for this event, you acknowledge that your email address will be added to the NYFA mailing list to receive NYFA's free bi-weekly e-newsletter, NYFA News. The newsletter features news about programs and events that are free and open to the public and professional development and awards opportunities for artists. You can unsubscribe from this list at any time. 

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) was established in 1971 to empower artists at critical stages in their creative lives. Today, the nonprofit organization’s programs and services are far-reaching and are rooted in a wealth of physical and online resources. This program is part of NYFA Fiscal Sponsorship, which increases funding opportunities for individual artists and emerging arts organizations in all disciplines by allowing them to raise funds using NYFA's tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3)-classified organization.

Image: Yeju Choi and Chat Travieso (Fellows in Architecture/Environmental Structures/Design '19); "On a Fence;" 2014; lumber, reclaimed scaffolding planks, exterior latex paint, sand, steel; Photo Credit: Yeju Choi

Headshot photo credit: Stephen Kang