FAQs

Boosted is an all-or-nothing arts crowdfunding platform dedicated to making art happen in Aotearoa. You’d come to us if your art needs money, or you’re passionate about giving to the arts. Artists and donors, a love story. 

Any arts project can be listed on Boosted, as long as it benefits New Zealand or New Zealanders in some way. You don't have to be an artist to fundraise on Boosted.

Boosted can also be used to raise funds for arts-based research, education, and infrastructure. If you're not sure if Boosted is the right fit for your project, get in touch and we can have a chat.

We refer to Boosted’s crowdfunding model as ‘all or nothing’. If you don’t hit 100% of your funding goal by your closing date, all funds that have been received are automatically returned to your donors. There are no fees attached to this for you OR the people who have donated to your campaign. Phew! 

We don’t expect you to create your art without the resources you need. It’s also a compelling proposition to rally your crowd into action. Plus – it works!  

Some crowdfunding websites require projects to offer "rewards" to people that contribute to their projects. For example, a T-shirt or postcard in return for different levels of donations. This is not an option on Boosted, we’re a donation-based crowdfunding platform.

Rewards can be a real distraction for artists and there are numerous examples of artists underestimating the cost of rewards and the time to send them. Imagine dealing with 200= donors! Think of the cost, time and admin, as well as postage and handling.

Boosted is run by the Arts Foundation, which is a charitable trust. When a donor makes a donation to a project, they are legally making this donation to the Arts Foundation for us to grant to you when you are successful. As a result of this, all donations qualify for a 33% tax credit.

E.g. A $100 donation from Joe qualifies for a $33 (33%) tax credit that Joe can claim from Inland Revenue.

It is a legal requirement that donations are given with no entitlement expectation of or goods or services in return. If "rewards" are offered as incentives, then it is no longer a donation.

Your crowd donates because they love, support and connect with you. We have one of the highest success rates in the world at 85%, so we know rewards are not a deal-breaker for your crowd. Love runs deep.

Email or Facebook message us. There are real people, ready and willing to help. It's far better having the conversation early to nut things out, so you can get all your ducks in a row and plan for a great campaign.

Sure is. Boosted NEVER see and NEVER store your credit card details. 

Windcave, our payment gateway provider, have a dedicated and purpose-built development and data centre, specially designed for processing payments. They have invested and continue to re-invest in state of the art, bank-grade security and infrastructure, and are fully certified as Visa AIS and are MasterCard SDP (PCI DSS) compliant at the processor level. All sensitive information is encrypted with the 3DES protocol, using financial Hardware Security Modules.

Check out our Privacy Policy for more details.

Some other crowdfunding platforms only deduct the amount when a project is complete and successful. We take the money at the time of donation, so we do not have to store and protect your credit card details. This also means that the dollar amount shown on the campaign is always a true reflection of the exact, full transaction amount available to the project owner at the time.

When other crowdfunding platforms wait until the end of the project to transact your donation there is a 3-7% fail to transact rate for expired, cancelled or maxed out credit cards. But not us, not on our watch. 

To send you a receipt we need your email address.

All donations to Boosted qualify for a 33% tax credit from the NZ tax man. To claim a tax credit, donors need a receipt. To send you a receipt we need your email address.

It is our promise to you that we will not use your email to bug and spam you. You are generous and wonderful, and we like you. There is no further correspondence from us or the project unless you choose to opt-in to receive updates. Your information is never shared with third parties. You are in the driving seat.

Sure can. All amounts shown on the site are in NZ dollars, but you can donate with international credit cards. Remember, the donation is taken from the credit card at the time of the transaction. If the project doesn't pass 100% the donation is returned to your credit card in NZ dollars again. There may be some difference due to currency fluctuation, but there is no extra charge from Boosted for donating in a currency other than NZ dollars.

After a successful project is closed all donors will be receipted via email.

Your donation will be returned with NO fees or transaction costs charged to you. We return donations within 8-10 working days of the project closing.

Yes, you can surprise your donors with gifts, like tickets to the show or a download link to the album. However, there can be no expectation created of a thank you gift when donating (see 'Why doesn't Boosted have rewards?' above).

They can, and often do. But here’s the deal, any extra dollars raised must go toward the project and what your donors think they are funding. Best practice? Once you’ve reached your target, publish an update on your project page telling your crowd exactly what any extra funds raised will go toward. 

It is good to note that the 10% fee on successful projects is taken from the total funds raised and not the target set. E.g., If your project target was $6,000 and you exceeded that, reaching $9,000, your fee to Boosted would be $900.

When you reach your goal there is a flat 10% commission fee on the total money raised. There are no extra credit card handling fees nor hidden charges to your crowd. 

We’re a not-for-profit. That 10% helps us cover all credit card transaction costs, handling fees, the cost of running our platform, the time we spend one-on-one with you, and our Boosted workshops. It’s all pumped back into Boosted. 

Once you have submitted your project invoice, payment will be made within 10 working days (although we’re pretty on to it and it can be as quick as 2). Because the Arts Foundation is a charity, payments are a manual two-signature process that gets scheduled in advance.

If you are GST registered, you must pay GST on your Boosted grant. Great news! You can add GST on top of your grant amount. If your project raised $1,000, we grant you $900 then add a GST of 15%. So, the total amount you receive is $1,035.

This means that you have the full purchasing power of the $900 raised. This GST payment is unique to Boosted. If you are GST registered and are considering using another crowdfunding website, please check the GST implications first. See the IRD website for details

Not at all. We're just a crowdfunding, transactional platform. You own your intellectual property (IP).

We help you bring your crowd to your project. Thanks to the knowledge and experience that we have picked up through our work at/with the Arts Foundation, we can help you connect with supporters and give you tips to help engage them and grow your own community.

Sure is. The original website became so old and fragile the poor thing couldn’t hold out any longer. But, thanks to the game-changing generosity of the Parkin Gift, we were able to bring this new one to fruition.