Introduction – Your Relationship With Money

This course introduces the reader to financial management of collaborative community arts projects. It includes creating budgets, writing grant applications and asking for funding. It also asks the reader to think about their relationship to money and getting comfortable with asking for support. For some people, this is a non-issue. For others, some internal reflection may be necessary to get comfortable asking for and working with money.

When you are inspired to begin a collaboration between artist and community, it’s exciting! But, then one of the first roadblocks appears – how will this project get funded? If it’s the first time you have to ask for funding, that may stir up all sorts of anxiety. Money plays a big role in every aspect of our lives: how comfortably we live, if we have to work, how much we have to save, how much we have to give and how much stress it can create. Here are a few ideas to help you reflect on your relationship with money:

• What does money mean to you? How do those feelings help or hinder your ability to ask for money for this project?
• Reflect on your past. When was the first time you ever donated time, money or an gift? What made you give? How did you feel? How can you use this feeling to support your community art project?
• Have you ever asked for money for a cause? Were you successful? Why? Were you rejected? Why? What would you change about that ask?