Seed donors are people who give at the very start of your campaign.

Running a successful crowdfunding campaign requires many skills. But you don’t have to do it all by yourself. In fact, you’re more likely to succeed if you don’t fly solo, because team driven campaigns raise 38% more than solo campaigns.

Crowdfunding is not about you. It’s about the community around what you do. Your crowd.
And there’s a difference between your audience and your crowd. Your crowd are the people personally, financially, and emotionally invested in you successfully completing your art project. They’re with you for the journey. They’re with you for your career.