Offbeat crowdfunding ideas help keep venues in business
MUSIC venues, pubs and cafes left crippled by the coronavirus outbreak have reacted by offering customers creative incentives to support them during the nationwide lockdown.
The Boileroom in Guildford, Surrey, which has hosted shows by artists who went on to achieve worldwide acclaim, including Ed Sheeran, has used the website Crowdfunder to raise around £20,000 from supportive patrons.
For £10, supporters will have their name on a “wall of fame” set to be commissioned after the crisis passes, while for £500 their likeness will be painted on the door of one of the lavatories. Owner Dom Frazer said she had dubbed the scheme “rage against the latrine” in homage to the American rock band Rage Against the Machine.
Paper Dress Vintage, a bar and yoga studio in Hackney, East London, saw a 100 per cent drop off in weekly trade after coronavirus hit. Also operating via Crowdfunder, it is offering discounts on future gigs and venue hire if purchased now.
Co-owner Steve Dix said the scheme has eased financial tensions and its success is testament to the “goodwill” the bar has built up over the years.
Tom Mason, the owner of Four Boroughs Cafe in Crystal Palace, is offering a deal for eight coffees for £15 – alongside other incentives. “We’ve sold enough to pay for more than a month’s rent,” he said.
Crowdfunder has waived fees for businesses that want to use its service to sell vouchers and rewards. The scheme has helped 320 businesses make more than £380,000.