Art Donation Request

I get a lot of requests to donate my art for auctions or other fundraising activities. I almost always decline for many reasons, but the two biggest are because most organizations don't give the artist a percent of the sale, and/or their audience isn't appropriate for my work.

I was recently invited to donate a piece of my art to help raise money for an independent art movie. The purpose of the organization (and movie) is very good so it passed the first test. But, they had listed on their blog that they were going to pay the film crew, and at the same time, stated that artists were being asked to donate 100% of the sales price of their work. I asked the contact person if we could discuss my possible donation on the phone.

I received a call from the person who wrote to me and we had a great conversation. I mentioned that I had a problem with the artists not getting any payment for their donation/time, and a few other concerns. We had a great back and forth and I really enjoyed it.

The next day I was informed that after our conversation, the person who called me spoke the head of the organization and they decided to split the winning bid with the contributing artist 50/50, and let the artists to set the starting bid, so they will feel comfortable with the entire process. There are also some other perks. How refreshing!

Because of all of this, I have agreed to donate, and will be shipping my piece to them hopefully today. I will post info about the art auction and the movie as soon as I have more info to share.