Opinion: Crowdfunding platform Boosted takes 10% of every artist’s donations, sits on $7.7m equity and gives little back to artists. Here are ten ways Boosted could do way better
Boosted is part of the NZ Arts Foundation, which sits on over $7m of money, yet it takes $140,000 from crowdfunding campaigns each year and gives little back.
In my opinion, here are 10 ways Boosted could do better.
By Michael Botur
In October 2024, I ran a crowdfunding campaign on Boosted.
I raised $5000 – plenty from friends, supporters and a few kind anonymous people.
Several donations were from me, to me, because Boosted is an all-or-nothing campaign, meaning that if the total amount set at the start isn’t raised, all money returns to donors, and no one gets anything – so it’s a smart thing to top up one’s own crowdfunding campaign if it looks like it might not hit its target. Most of the money will come back to you… minus a hefty “success fee.”
Yes, I – like every other Boosted user – had to forego 10% of the money raised to the so-called success fee.
That success fee is twice the fee asked by crowdfunding platforms GiveALittle and PledgeMe.
The money I gave to Boosted might have been justifiable if Boosted had promoted my crowdfunding campaign, got an article into the news, shared it, donated to it, but Boosted didn’t raise awareness of the campaign, promote the campaign in any media, shoulder-tap any of their artistic contacts, or highlight the campaign on social media. Boosted didn’t contribute so much as a single dollar and didn’t alert any so-called partners that my campaign – or any other campaign – was happening – kinda weird considering at the bottom of every Boosted and NZ Arts Foundation page, it says that NZ newspaper empire Stuff is a partner.
The money I ‘lost’ to Boosted was $500 – which is a lot to an artist. How so? Consider this: Most people who donated to my campaign gave around $50. That means the donations of perhaps ten people – intended to support my novel being published – instead went into the coffers of the NZ Arts Foundation, an organisation which has around $8m of assets and $7.7m of equity according to its last two annual reports.
Of those millions, just $2.5m was direct expenditure on the arts in the year to 2024 – only 56% of its revenue.
The NZ Arts Foundation website is full of pictures of awards being given to already-wealthy artists, as well as lavish dinners. To me, that looks like money poorly spent.
Boosted doesn’t really need to charge for admin, web hosting or a domain (its platform is paid for by the Parkin family gift), especially considering Boosted’s parent company The Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi sits on millions of dollars each year – AFTER artists have received payments.
In January, I asked Arts Foundation GM Jessica Palalagi to provide examples of its “partners” (Stuff, One NZ, Aotea Arts Quarter, The Symphony Centre, Chartwell, The Lion Foundation, Aotearoa Art Fair, Alberts, QT Hotels, Craggy Range, The Observatory Hotel, Corner Store, Batch and Go Media) providing partnership – or help or any sort – to Boosted campaigns, both recent campaigns and historic.
Palalagi provided zero examples.
In my opinion, here are ten ways Boosted – and the NZ Arts Foundation – could do better.
- If you’re going to claim you have 23 partner organisations, why not invite these partners to help artists who could use support?
Currently, Boosted’s 2.5 staff, who work under the Arts Foundation’s GM Jessica Palalagi, don’t ask the so called Boosted partners Rātā Foundation, Dunedin City Council or Loading Docs to help campaigns on boosted.
The only exception, recently, was Creative NZ in mid-2024 gave $5000 match funding to eleven Christchurch creative organisations using Boosted. That was a one-off. Boosted generally doesn’t help campaigns – instead, Boosted simply sits back, does little to no work, and reaps 10% of the money donors intend to go towards artistic projects.
- Boosted needs to stop misusing companies’ names to misleadingly make it appear they’re ready and willing to help crowdfunding campaigns.
Boosted lists Aotearoa Art Fair, QI, Craggy Range, Gin Drinkers Line, Sawmill, Antipodes, The Observatory Hotel and others as ‘product partner’ on the bottom of every single Boosted campaign page.
These companies don’t assist Boosted campaigns. They are not ready, willing and able to help – in fact, Boosted doesn’t even invite them to consider helping. The use of their logos appears misleading.
- Invite Stuff and One NZ (formerly Vodafone) to help, rather than spending their money on lavish ceremonies
Stuff entered a partnership three years ago with the Arts Foundation, sponsoring its laureate awards – which aren’t relevant to Boosted.
Stuff, meanwhile, publishes almost zero news about Boosted campaigns (on the contrary, Give A Little campaigns are profiled in Stuff articles every month).
One NZ entered a partnership three years ago with the Arts Foundation, sponsoring its laureate awards – which also aren’t relevant to Boosted.
Gin Drinkers Line published a line of gin bottles with Bill Manhire’s poetry on them, of which some money goes to the Arts Foundation – which, again, isn’t Boosted.
- Be honest about who funds you
The Arts Foundation’s About page claims “We are the only national arts organisation that is 100% powered by generous people from every corner of Aotearoa.” Considering NZ On Air, the New Zealand Film Commission, Te Māngai Pāho and Creative New Zealand, Dunedin, Auckland and Christchurch City Councils all put money into the Arts Foundation, the 100% claim isn’t true.
The Arts Foundation and Loading Docs receive government funding from several sources, including the above.
- $1000 cash matching “top ups” were given to a few selected Boosted projects a couple of years ago – why has this not continued, considering the Arts Foundation is sitting on millions?
One NZ topped up Arts Foundation laureate cash gifts on top of the tens of thousands each laureate was given. Boosted users have received nothing from One NZ.
- Only 56-64% of Arts Foundation revenue each year goes directly to artists.
Don’t believe it?
Check out their latest annual reports.
- Work harder on your match grants.
Jessica Palalagi and the Boosted team have only matched 294 projects (out of 2028 total projects) with match donors (the city councils of Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, CNZ and The Rātā Foundation). That means out of all the successful projects over the last ten years, only 11% have received match funding.
In preparing this piece, I was told by Palalagi “We support artists to successfully manage their own projects, with the emphasis on the agency and autonomy staying with artists, we are here to support and guide – with no obligation to personally support any projects that are on the platform, although it is very common for us to do – anonymously.”
I asked Palalagi for examples of the supposedly very common anonymous donations given by Boosted/TAFTTT staff. None were provided.
- Reach into your own pocket and donate as little as a dollar
I have had two Boosted mentors – Dominic Hoey, and Poe Tiare Tararo. Neither donated so much as a single dollar to the Boosted projects I ran in 2017 and 2024. Not ten bucks, not five bucks – not a single dollar.
- Tell your large mailing list that you have crowdfunding campaigns that need their help – and don’t lie about communicating with 18,000 people.
The Boosted website says “When you crowdfund with Boosted, you get in front of a community of 18,000+ arts lovers from Kaitaia to Bluff.”.
This is not true. Boosted does not talk to artistic communities across Northland or Southland, with a few exceptions – specific foci on Christchurch and Dunedin.
In my most recent campaign, I asked for my project to be shared on Boosted’s newsletter, Facebook and other media. Boosted failed to do this.
Boosted does not celebrate or advertise 95% of projects in its newsletter, or communicate projects to its mailing list. Its Facebook page is full of crypto spam with fake positive reviews making it appear Boosted is more popular with users than it really is.
Positive reviews appear to have ended in 2017.
- Stop claiming you have support which you don’t
From the misleading claims about partners and sponsors (none of who are invited to look at helping Boosted campaigns) to the misleading claim about having a reach of 18,000 in its audience, Boosted appears to make artists feel their 10% fee connects them with support – which it simply doesn’t.
One of the worst example of all is Boosted and the NZ Arts Foundation claim the Symphony Centre is a “Major partner” [https://www.thearts.co.nz/explore/symphony-centre-partnership]
The Symphony Centre hasn’t even been built yet. It won’t be built until 2028.
The big picture: The Arts Foundation sits on top of millions – with spare money left over every year- but doesn’t give anything to Boosted projects. In fact, it asks 10% of all donations. So, for example, anyone raising $10,000 to make a short film gets $1000 of that money taken away.
Meanwhile, only around half of TAFTTT’s revenue goes to artists, while Boosted claims to offer support that it simply does not.
Why not ask these supposed partners to help on Boosted projects, which tend to lose $300-$700 on “success fees,” costing donors.
My opinion?
Run your crowdfunding campaign somewhere more accountable, with lower fees and more support.
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