For Community Arts Facilitators to sustain the power of the work that they do in vulnerable communities digital marketing is important and assists the process of fundraising efforts.
“The Community Arts Facilitator teaches theory, practice and performance in music, drama, dance, visual or other forms of arts. He/She engages communities to build a culture of artistic appreciation and develops future practitioners in the field of arts and culture. Organising of resources and conducting of arts activities form part of this role. Responsibilities include monitoring arts and cultural development in the community and adjusting of engagement strategy and areas of focus when needed.”
Mural Painting led with a group of children by Community Arts Facilitator Saba Zahara HoneyBush at Primrose Park Primary School based in Manenberg on the Cape Flats in Cape Town.
” The use of photography and audio visual documentation first through observation externally and then to switching, zooming back into faciliatory mode – the practical and sensitive process by mentoring children to bring to life their own ideas and potential with guidance in the art-making process itself feels like dancing via complementary so essentially different roles.
To further add to this – when editing content acquired and planning how to decimate it via digital platforms adds another layer with it’s own codes, extra time and a completely different world of considerations. Sometimes we wish to protect the process, but for fundraising and remote inspiration – digital marketing is often the only way to create meaningful sustainability ”
– Saba Zahara HoneyBush
” Only art penetrates what pride, passion, intelligence and habit erect on all sides – the seeming realities of this world. There is another reality, the genuine one, which we lose sight of. This other reality is always sending us hints, which without art, we can’t receive. Proust calls these hints our “true impressions.” The true impressions, our persistent intuitions, will, without art, be hidden from us and we will be left with nothing but a ‘terminology for practical ends’ which we falsely call life. “
— Saul Bellow, on science and art from his Nobel lecture in 1976.
Tasks of a ‘Community Arts Facilitator
According to the Singapore Government Agency Website: Tasks of a ‘Community Arts Facilitator’ may include the following:
- Design and deliver arts and cultural programmes and activities such as classes, workshops and roadshows to engage the community.
- Develop and implement community engagement strategies.
- Evaluate the strategic impact of projects against the long-term objectives of community needs.
- Identify and liaise with potential sponsors to raise funds for the artwork projects.
- Identify the arts and entertainment needs of a community.
- Maintain documentation of all the projects for the community.
- Manage major arts and entertainment projects in the community.
- Mentor and support groups in the community to develop their own artwork.
- Provide guidance for community groups on the types of art forms to use for presentation.
- Teach arts and culture related subjects.
How can community arts facilitators use the digital space to market their work for fundraising purposes?
Corporate Social Responsibility
Community based work is universally under-funded and largely frowned upon as unnecessary by some of the Corporate world; however more and more corporates are innovating by supporting projects such as this under CSR Initiative approved budgets.
Corporate Social Responsibility & the Arts brings into relief the current
landscape of corporate support for arts and culture—one in which
more corporations are focusing strategically on issues that align with
their business interests and have a positive social impact on their
employees, their consumers, or the communities in which they do
business.
Resources like the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook can give South Africans interested in observing where opportunity spaces are opening up within Corporations fresh perspective, but should not be viewed as a dead-end for possibilities.
The Butterfly Art Project trains and mentors Community Art Facilitators (CAFs) to offer psycho-social support through art to traumatised children and youth from disadvantaged communities.
The Butterfly Art Project’s Website, Social Media, Shopify and Crowd Funding Platforms
Social Media
The Butterfly Art Project currently has four social media platforms: Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Their Instagram, Youtube and Facebook pages are currently the most active. There is a Facebook Shopify page which markets and sells items like their ‘Fantasy Animal Postcards‘ range showcasing designs spearheaded by children. A pop-up store via their Instagram feed also allows for small businesses using tools like sewing, craft and 2nd hand clothing to advertise within their network.
Website
Their website is colourful, precise pockets of information are neatly and intricately organised; moving images via a mobile slider on their home page gives the viewer a captivating bird’s eye view into the powerful impact their work is activating in both the lives of children and adults.
Creative use of film
A narrated video entitled ‘ Trauma in childhood and the Butterfly Art Project’ uses illustrations by children to educate people on the challenges faced by children in historically disadvantaged communities and how art is used to heal and transform. Bite-size short videos on their Youtube channel also introduce various art-making exercises in an array of mediums in an intimate way.
Virtual exhibition
Another fascinating take with regards to digitization during Covid lockdown challenges involved a massive exhibition combined with virtual tour on Youtube in collaboration with the Zeitz Mocca – Museum of Contemporary African Art: A 7 month long project that included training to Community Art facilitators, 8 weeks of implementation with children, guiding them in an artistic process where they recreated pre-loved Artworks from artists across Cape Town.
E-commerce fundraising
There is page for donations via their website which allows for various methods for remote public contributions and also an emerging crowdfunding platform which will soon compromise of an array of Community Arts Facilitators as co-fundraising ambassadors.
Wish List
A wish list page details materials and services required apart from solely financial contributions.
How can digital marketing tools boost online fundraising efforts and greater visibility?
A 7 piece indigenous Madhubani Design painted mural by 7 women in Bihar India.
The project was initiated by Saba Zahara HoneyBush together with Apne Aap Women Worldwide. It started out as a small project and eventually went on to be adopted by the National Railways of India and other countries subsequent to this.
A few Tips and Tools in the digital plateau which can assist in the Arts
Social Media Goals and KPIs
For your social media strategy to be successful define the key performance indicators you will be focusing on and optimizing for. Experiment using S.M.A.R.T. goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time -bound). They make it easy to tell if you’re on the right track.
Social Networks
There are over a dozen social networks that have 100+ million active users. Unless you have a massive team, you simply won’t be able to use all of them effectively.
Choose which networks to prioritize (and which to ignore). Here’s how:
Find where your social traffic is already coming from
In Google Analytics, go to Acquisition ➡ All Traffic ➡ Channels, then click the “Social” channel grouping link in the report table below the chart. This will show you which social networks are already driving traffic to your website.
Competitive research
List your competitors’ top social networks. Look at the social traffic estimates shown in SimilarWeb for your competitors’ websites. Alternatively look in the footer of your competitors’ homepages. There will usually be links to the social networks they’re most active on. And you can click through to see how much engagement they’re getting on each one.
Additional social networks
List additional social networks that you think your customers/potential investors hang out on. Here is a list of the world’s most popular social networks. Research some recent social media usage trends and statistics to stay on top of your game.
Just because your business has potential customers/investors on every social network it doesn’t mean people will be willing to engage with your brand on all of them.
Engagement Plan & Social Listening
An engagement plan outlines how you will use social media to reach and respond to your target audience.
While social media is a great content distribution channel, it can also be important for customer service, retention, and even sales.
The key here is responding quickly. Having this social listening action plan filled out ahead of time can help you do just that.
What will we listen for, and how will we respond?
Environmental Artivism Workshop with Youth hosted at Community House in Salt River, Cape Town by Saba Zahara Honeybush and partners.
Promotion
You can improve your reach quickly with some promotion.
There are paid and unpaid types of promotion, explore options with careful research.
Tools
There are multiple tools that can help you manage and optimize your social media activity, including Hootsuite, Buffer and Buzzsumo.
The International Institute for Digital Marketing also offers social media automation services for those with a small budget to maneuver.
As work picks up it can free up your time if you automate posts in advance in between organic tweaking methods.
Conclusion
Digital Marketing has so many avenues to explore and these are just a few tips and tricks to consider if you have not done so already. Especially for grassroots startup collectives which are not ready yet for organisational leaps.
The role of a Community Arts Facilitator is often voluntary but this doesn’t mean that you can’t use digital marketing tools to help attract/retain following or even funding with a fresh brushstroke differently every day.
Saba Zahara HoneyBush is a Cultural Leader | Community Arts Facilitator | Comms Specialist | Greenie | Digital Marketer | Data Analyst | CSR Initiative Advisor | Project Manager | Cloud Archivist | Writer | Social Futurist| Filmmaker | Stakeholder Liaison Expert| Healer who is passionate about the healing power of the Arts in historically disadvantaged communities and creative and cultural sector innovation.
She has also just recently completed her Master of Digital Marketing through the International Institute of Digital Marketing as a Data Analyst, Cloud Engineering through Google Africa and Brand Design through Geneza School of Design and Ingressive For Good. She further pursues UX Design including ideas around Eco friendly-Crypto Social Currency Innovation for Artists and Heritage practitioners and is super interested in the interface between creativity, social responsibility, culture and technology.