The Strongman at the circus is performing his act. He lifts 300 pounds above his head. He bends and straightens a metal bar. He breaks a steel chain with his bare hands! For the finale, he takes an ordinary lemon in his right hand and a glass in his left. He squeezes out all the juice from the lemon into the glass. He shows the dried up lemon skin to the audience and they are awed. He offers anybody a thousand dollars in they can get even one more drop out of the lemon.
And one man says, “I’ll try.” He walks up on the stage. He’s in his 60’s, five feet five, a little dumpy, bald, with thick glasses. He squeezes the lemon and fills the glass with juice.
The Strongman is flabbergasted. He says, “Who are you, sir? What do you do?”
The man says, “I’m a fundraiser for the UJA.”
But seriously, folks …. how do you ask friends and family for money? That’s the dilemma we encountered when considering ways to finance our web series STRONGHOLD.
Experts say if you want to raise money, make the cause personal. But it’s already personal – what’s more personal than money and dreams? The problem is, it’s their money and our dreams. Plus, it’s not a shared dream. It’s not world peace.
Additionally, this isn’t a great business move for potential investors. They aren’t buying anything with a monetary gain; they aren’t investing in their future; and they won’t get their money back.
There’s no feel good factor. It’s not a noble cause. No one died. No one’s threatening to die. No one’s even sick. There’s no karmic payoff.
Generally people don’t want to pay for other people’s kids, mistakes, or dreams. Most people have all three of their own to contend with. And, as everyone knows, kids, mistakes, and dreams tend to be costly.
So the Entity Eye team has decided to ask strangers for money. And while all the same obstacles exist, it seems somehow easier to be more aggressive about it. After all, we won’t be seeing any of them at Thanksgiving. No awkward tussle over the last spoonful of green bean casserole. No ugly suggestion that you do the dishes because you owe everyone there money.
Toward that end, we set up a page at Indiegogo.com/STRONGHOLD to raise funds for our web series Stronghold (No One Saw It Coming). The page reflects our talent and dedication. We infused it with our own particular sense of humor so it stinks of funny. And in a brilliant business move worthy of Steve Job’s envy, we don’t actually ask for contributions. We want you to “Join the Resistance”. Of course, it costs money to Join the Resistance but you’re getting cool swag and a cute story to tell at cocktail parties.
Is this going to work? I’m an optimist so I’m going with a resounding “You betcha’.” You see, yesterday I pulled up to the drive-through window at Starbucks to pay for my overpriced cup of coffee only to find the fellow in the car ahead of me had already paid for it. If a stranger is willing to do that, maybe he’d be willing to buy a Death Cards patch to support our production. Worth a shot.
So go to Indiegogo.com/STRONGHOLD. If you aren’t swayed by our talent, dedication, and passion; and if your karmic cup is full, and you don’t like the tee shirt, contribute anyway… because it’s just a really nice thing to do. And we promise we’ll work on that world peace thing as soon as we can.
By the way, if you liked that joke, check out the podcast OLD JEWS TELLING JOKES on Itunes for more cheeky Jewish humor.
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