One of the fastest phenomena in how to raise funds for various projects is crowdfunding. The latest edition of The Wild Hunt by Jason Pitzl-Waters discusses how within the pagan and alternative faith communities crowdfunding is now successfully being used to raise funds for the projects and causes we think are important. The democratization of media that has been brought about by the digital revolution and ot is the perfect opportunity for us to get our books, films, projects and causes off the ground. It’s nice not to have to grovel to the legacy publishers and production companies just to get them to even glance at our ideas. In my view, it is a natural fit for us.
One of these projects featured in The Wild Hunt blog is that of Tamara Siuda, egyptologist and founder of the Kemetic Orthodox Faith, author of the Ancient Egyptian Prayer book. Tamara has launched a very successful Kickstarter campaign to help her publish the Ancient Egyptian Daybook. The book will be in both print and eBook form with plans for a phone aps as well. The initial goal of $3,000 was reached within two hours of the project’s launch, and the amount with approximately ten days left in the campaign is nearing the $9,000.00 mark.
In spite of the fact that Tamara is a member of my family, the godmother of my son and the founder of my Temple, this is a worthy project and really is not Kemetic Orthodox specific. It would be of benefit for all Kemetics that are out there and can be tailored to the individual needs of the group or individual. Even if folks do not want to get involved in this specific project, it will have demonstrated quite clearly that crowdfunding can work and incredibly well. It also serves as a great example for others within Paganism how to go about gaining success for their own projects.
I can tell you, successful crowdfunding takes much more than just making a video, tweeting about your project on Twitter or plastering links to it all over your Facebook wall asking for money. It is a lot of very hard work. There are books that have been written about it and it takes tenacity and organization. That we have someone who is close by, accessible and so very generous in sharing with others in the community as how she was able to do it so that they can do something similar can be nothing but a good thing for the overall community. You can check out the video here and get involved, too, if you so desire.
Fanny Fae 