How do you support your (creative) community?
A couple of days ago, I cooked dinner for some friends and eventually, we talked about giving to charity.
In Austria, the culture of giving to charity is not as widely spread, as is the case in the UK, for example. Our tax system is rather high, and the government is considered to be devotedly social to such a degree that we often take a rain check when it comes to giving to charitable organizations.
However, something I’ve been thinking about since I graduated is what’s the right way to give back to your community if you struggle with the idea of donating money to global organizations whose operations you don’t fully understand?
Ever since I started using Kickstarter to finance my personal projects, and also since taking Kickstarter on as a client to help creators in Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands set up their campaigns (if you’re planning a project or know of someone who is, please send them my way!), I’ve realized how important it is to give to the people who aren’t eligible for governmental funding.
Considering myself part of the creative community, I try to support others as much as they support me. I’ve began supporting people who I might not know, but whose personal efforts I admire. But then, sure, I also support friends whenever they grow moustaches and take selfies during Movember or have some other kind of creative work they pursue.
Spending so much time on Kickstarter, it’s become hard for me not to get excited about other people’s work, so I just keep supporting projects! Often, it’s with just one or two euros and maybe a tweet or Facebook share.
Right now, I’m supporting Amy Buchanan, who is running a Kickstarter project for the Michael Show, a piece about her brother who has Down syndrome. When I saw the early version last year, I laughed and cried simultaneously, so even though I won’t be able to see the show live in New York in April, she deserves all the change we can spare. I’m also a long-term supporter of Wait But Why, the most amazing blog on the planet, as well as In a nutshell - kurzgesagt; those great Youtube video makers who help us understand complex matters. Thank me later for these incredible recommendations.
So, now I'm curious to know, what are the (type of) projects or charities that you support? What’s your view on being part of a community and supporting one another? And what projects should we all know about? I’ll recommend them in a blog post, so please share them with me!
