So yeah, Itínera Theater, the international theater group I am involved with, is having a crowdfunding campaign going on. This should be old news, as I barely post about anything else any more. So if you didn't know about it, I urge you to please take a look at it, enjoy the campaign video, and even if you can't donate any money, please tell all your friends about it! For all others, but even anyone new on the scene, I would like to talk about our campaign perks we have prepared to express our appreciation.
Everyone Gets Mentioned, Even for the Smallest Donations
Since perks are really gifts of appreciation, we wanted to make sure to thank every single one of our donors, no matter how small their donation might seem. It's all important! Though we have set the minimum amount at one Euro, this is in fact quite symbolic, as I believe it is possible to donate even smaller amounts. However, because the transaction fees, rigged exchange rates, and other surcharges that come with using credit cards and fiat money, I believe donating one Euro may not even be worth it, as you'd have to pay more than that to the banksters. But that is not even the point here.
What we would like to emphasize, is how everyone will get several forms of Thank Yous. One such thing will be a mention on their social media sites. To balance this out in the realm of IRL, we have decided to include every donor's name in a mural we are planing to have painted on the wall at the western edge of our property. The idea is to have a tree painted with many branches, representing volunteers, local friends and neighbors, ... and one branch will be set aside for our campaign donors. On this mural tree we want to dedicate one leaf for each person. So even the smallest donors will be made eternal on that wall.
Digital Postcards for at Least Ten Euros
Our next gift we have in store is available for all those who want to help us out with €10 or more. While in theory this is ten times the smallest amount, in practice this will also be available for most donors, for the aforementioned reasons: sending minuscule amounts is just not worth it. But a reasonable amount of ten Euros will get our supporter a bit more than mere recognition.
Don't you love this impressive raging bull? It was painted by Mexican illustrator Juan Carlos Silva, who offered his support by designing a digital postcard for our campaign. Since working together with many other arts of all directions is what Itínera is all about, we feel specially privileged to help him as much as he is helping us. The image for the postcard is not going to be this bull, but instead something more closely related to our project. So you can stay excited to be surprised! Additionally you will also get your Name on the Wall, just as all other donors.
Real Postcards for €25, €50, and €100
For donations of more substantial amounts, we want have a thank-you perk of a more substantial nature. Still working together with illustrators, this time we are sending out actual real postcards, of course created by other talented artists that we collaborate with. They are Greg Konopski from Poland, and David Luis Cáceres from Colombia. Once again, the images you can see here, and on the list of perks on our Indiegogo page, are not what we want to send out. Instead, each of these two artists is going to have three distinct images, created specifically for our campaign. For a donation of €25 you can pick one of the six. Donors of €50 can have the whole set of three by the illustrator of their choice. And those who want to support us with €100 will get the entire set of both artists. And since we are mailing you a shipment anyway, we'll include a nice surprise, which I won't tell you about, because then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it? The Name on the Wall and the Digital Postcard are also part of the package.
... and bring me back a T-Shirt!
Are T-shirts the most common ways of making a statement, or what? For this reason we have a small selection of cool printed shirts, featuring the stars of our campaign video: the three puppets, representing Julia, Stef, and Manu from Itínera Theater. And to really not leave any chance for a doubt, the shirt is going to have the unmistakable lettering on it: I BUILT A THEATER, since our donors are just as involved as any of our volunteers, helpful neighbors, or hired professionals in building our dream into reality. The T-shirts come in colors black, and white, sizes S, M, L, and XL, and for the lettering the options are English and Spanish. We are happy to send them to reward any donors of €250. No matter which one you go for, the same Surprise as in the previous perk is also included here, as well as the Name on the Wall and the Digital Postcard.
Bringing Illustrations to Their Heights ... in Form of a Huge Poster
The gift of appreciation we have planned for our donors of €500 we have prepared something big: a large poster, designed by Ecuadorian illustrator Adrián Bueno. Once again, the image here is just supposed to give you an idea of his style. The actual image is going to be more about ... well, an international theater group building a sustainable theater on the beach... or something like that. Of course, you will also get the Name on the Wall, the Digital Postcard, and the Surprise.
For Serious Donors With Serious Interest in the Theater
Finally, the perk we have planned for donors with the highest amounts, is an online theater / arts workshop, conducted by Itínera, most likely on our premises in Mazunte, and transmitted to anywhere in the world. The idea once again is to bring the arts and the theater to those place in the world where there is none. So if you don't have a theater in your community, but would like to have one, we can make it possible and bring the theater there. As far as the details go, of how many people want to do exactly what, is completely up to you. We are happy to help you with precisely what you need. After all, a donation of €1,000 wants to be rewarded properly. Additionally, the donor is going to get all the basic perks, meaning the Digital Postcard, the Name on the Wall, and the Surprise.
That's All For Now, But Stay Tuned For More!
You could say that these are enough perks for a successful campaign, but then we wouldn't go overboard, would we? So without giving away any spoilers, all I can say is, keep your eyes peeled for more perks. For example, we had a specially made wildlife video from the mangroves of La Ventanilla, right next to Mazunte, for anyone who donated us during the first 24 hours of the campaign. Obviously this perk is not up any more. Is it going to come back up? I can't say. But I am willing to say that there some other things are bound to come up. Oh, we just love to keep our (potential) donors on the edge, don't we? But if that's what keeps them coming back, we'll gladly do it. So why don't you venture over to our campaign page and see for yourself? Here is a QR code just for that:
