Recently my friend and I held an art
fundraiser. We prepared an event involving 6 artists teaching various projects throughout the day with part of the
proceeds benefiting a local charity.
Well, that was the plan at least.
The plan didn’t exactly work out that way.
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Our event was almost cancelled
about a week before the date. Very few people had signed up, so it became cost prohibitive to even hold
the event. I felt that the universe
was telling us to cancel the fundraiser, but my partner said we had come too
far. She convinced me that we
should forge ahead and take a risk.
She was right! During the
last week before the event our attendance doubled. We shortened the day and reduced the number of artists
resulting in a much smaller event.
Ultimately, we were able to cover our expenses and raise $500 for the
charity.
Which brings me to the subject of success and failure. In a way, our event was a failure
because it was so much smaller than what we had originally planned (about 80%
smaller). However, we were able to
donate money to the charity and all of the attendees had a lovely time. It was clearly a success when measured
by the participant and artist feedback.
Success is defined as
accomplishing a goal, having a “favorable or prosperous termination of attempts
or endeavors.” What was the goal
of our art fundraiser? The goals were to bring a community of women together to
explore creativity and to raise money for a local charity. My friend and I accomplished both. It
would have felt like failure to cancel the event, so I am very glad my friend
convinced me to continue with our endeavor.
I find it difficult to feel successful
when creating art, so the fundraiser was a good opportunity to have clear goals
that resulted in definite accomplishments. We hope to hold 2 more similar
events this year, bigger and better each time. I am confident now that each one will be a success.
- christina
