Fundraising for COVID-19 Relief
Originally published on Medium on AUG 30, 2021
In May, Anjali Chandrashekar and I worked on an art fundraiser campaign to collect funds for India while raising awareness about the COVID catastrophe. Here’s an excerpt from one of the interviews that we were approached to do. Through this initiative, we collected and donated ~$4000 to Mission Oxygen.
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What made you take up this fundraiser? Do you have any friends and family in India right now, with whom you are in regular touch?
Both of us have family back home — Anjali and Nidhi moved to the United States 10 and 4 years ago, respectively.
“We’ve been continued to stay in touch with our friends and family, and as the situations worsened, we both felt it’s imperative to take action to support our homeland. We both come from a social innovation and activism background and have been a part of campaigns that raised funds and spread awareness of varied environmental, health, and humanitarian causes. With the rising COVID-19 cases, we felt compelled to take action.”
Anjali reached out to Nidhi to collaborate on an art sale, and they both conferred that a broader range of artists — since strength is in unity.
With both organizers who believe in communal discourse, they started reaching out to artists who wanted to participate. They strongly felt about curating a collection that represented what they were missing — the small moments of joy, calm, and strength of their motherland, India. Fortunately, we also found artists who supported our vision and had work that reflects it.
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Once you decided to do the fundraiser, did you reach out to other artists, or did they reach out to you to join in it? How did you curate the list of artists?
We met each other digitally two years back through a professional community for South Asian creatives called Third Eye Collective; and fostered a relationship over telecommunication. Thanks to our virtual relationship, we were able to seamlessly tag-team and move the fundraiser forward.
With many artists coming together, we didn’t want to impose production and shipping on the artists. Hence, we started looking for partners who could support us meet the supply of requested pieces. Once Darkroom was on board, we started reaching out to artists and friends, browsing websites, and proposing the concept to various individuals. The theme helped us ground the work while nudging artists to evoke the same sentiment through very different styles and work. The most challenging part of this curation was making sure that the work is a visual ode to India collectively.
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Have you done such fundraisers before? How challenging was the experience, and how rewarding? Were you expecting the kind of response you received?
Anjali: I have lent my work to be a part of fundraisers before but never organized or partnered with a print shop for sale in this capacity. It’s been challenging in that it’s a time where we are all emotionally overwhelmed by everything happening in the world, and it was just the two of us trying to set it up in a short period. It’s been a lot running it amidst our work commitments, but it’s been a good learning experience for us and worth it at the end of the day.
Nidhi: I’m involved, frequently, in local and broader fundraising and organizing opportunities. Starting from organizing beach clean-ups in Bombay, with friends, to co-convening events as part of an antiracist student organization, I recently organized a t-shirt fundraiser where all proceeds will go to Hemkunt Foundation. I genuinely enjoy organizing and spreading awareness about humanitarian and environmental crises. Although, the most challenging part has been continuing to work on these dire issues — and finding the strength to persevere. While the process is rewarding and educational, it is tiresome.
We both are cautiously optimistic about our fundraiser! If nothing, we know from past experiences that every small amount counts when going towards a good deed. We believe it can only go up from here!
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Any word of advice you would have for people looking to donate and for other artists who want to start their fundraisers?
Be Intentional. Though we are all tired, and just donating to your friend or someone you know feels like an easier and faster thing to do, we need to be intentional about who they are contributing to and why. India doesn’t have a lack of monetary support. Still, it’s the fact that much of the financial backing has either gone missing or lacks accountability that puts more responsibility on the donor. We need to ask if our goals align with the partner early in the process, find the right collaborators, and establish expectations!
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Are you planning to do any more such fundraisers in the future?
The collective trauma that the world is living through the acts of violent injustice requires everyone’s attention. Both of us believe the world needs us as advocates — while we are continually thinking about how to use our work, we also realize that we both need to give ourselves the time and space to heal and continue the good fight. We recognize that bringing others together on this journey will help us care for ourselves while caring for others. So, yes. There will be more fundraisers. For what exactly, we don’t know yet.