Crowdfunding Martial Arts

by | Dec 20, 2016

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Crowdfunding for Martial Arts: can community fund your dream?

Why use crowdfunding?

Lets nail it on the head : at the start your career in martial arts you may not have much money. You have to hold other jobs in order to fund your career: it could be coaching, if you are good enough; modelling, if you are blessed with good genes like ONE FC fighter Peter Davis or Monarchy MMA founder Samir Flexible Mrabet; pizza delivering and so on. The reality is that training costs a lot, fight camps even more, it is hard to break into the scene your first pay cheques are small. When you advance in your career, you might face more hard choices: to pay your rent, to pay for your child or to have a fight camp and go to an international competition. Since competing is essential to a martial artists progress, making these choices is hard. This is where crowdfunding can help. You will have to choose the right crowdfunding site, set up a profile describing your goal, set a timeline and let everyone know about your project. Now you have just allowed people donate to your cause! Watch your dream becoming a reality day by day, one dollar at a time!

Is it embarrassing to ask for money?

Are you too shy to ask for money? There are people who would think, that using crowdfunding websites is like going on welfare. We are not here to argue. But here is another thought: when you are big and famous, you can make hundreds of thousands of dollars for a fight, you can get sponsorship deals, get paid for public appearances, autograph signing sessions and so on. Until then, you will be getting a thousand dollars here and there. The critics need to understand, that in order to even get that a fighter has to train full time. If music prodigies get scholarships, why martial artists with a talent cannot have the same? Crowdfunding allows your fans and friends become your official sponsors. Imagine one day you are as famous as GSP or Anderson Silva: the blagging rights this crowd is going to have will keep buying them beers until they die!

What can I use Crowdfunding for?

Thats a very good question! In theory, you can use it for pretty much anything, but be honest. If you have money and martial arts are a little hobby, setting up a profile in order to get some new gear is a bit cheeky: use your Christmas list for that, Santa is real. But if you need money to fund a training camp or a trip to a competition, crowdfunding is just the tool for you! For example, our Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach Bruno Barbosa ran a successful campaign on Make a Champ website to fund his trip to. His profile included a video demo, a detailed breakdown of costs, rewards to his supporters for various levels of donations, links to social media and clear reasons for his campaign. Bruno is a black belt in bjj and an accomplished coach, but with his wife and two children joining him in Kuala Lumpur this summer, he found that the budget was not what it used to be. So, crowdfunding allowed him continue his life and training as usual, dedicate time to his family and students, and still go to a prestigious competition. Everybody is a winner!

Why is crowdfunding successful in martial arts?

Martial arts community shares the same spirit and people are supportive of each other (for most part), they understand your struggle. There are many people out there who are in regular decent jobs and have martial arts as a hobby. They often support full-time martial artists on their way to the top and they do it with great enthusiasm. Crowdfunding gives you another way of interacting with your fans ( yes, you might have fans and have no money): let them help you, after all they enjoy watching what you do.

What Crowdfunding sites are good for martial arts?

MAKE A CHAMP – www.makeachamp.com

About:

You need to be at least 13 y.o, have a PayPal account and be able to produce a video for your profile. You have to give your supporters some rewards.

Fees: 15% admin fee on your collected fund and 3% on PayPal payment will be charged at the end of your campaign

FUND A FIGHTER –www.fundafighter.com

About:

big names like Brian Ebersole use this site, too. Fans directly contribute to fundraising campaigns that fighters set up before their fights. In exchange, the fighters provide their fans with rewards from a recognition on social media, to an autograph or shorts worn on a fight night.

FEE: 15 % admin fee deducted on your fund

Go Fund ME – www.gofundme.com

Supporters can donate for your personal campaign, whatever it is. Fee: 5% from each donation. You can use WePay or PayPal .

Indie GO GO –www.indiegogo.com

About:

This platform is designed to give independent projects that go-gogo kickstart. There is a dedicated sports category, which you and your team can use. Rewards scheme is called perks on IndieGoGo. You can receive funding even if you dont reach your goal, but the site charges you a higher fee for that.

Fees: 4% from every fund, 3% for credit card processing, $25 wire fee for non-U.S. campaigns. Flexible Funding plan users are charged 9% of the fund.

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