“400 to 1” (2012-14)

Phase 4 of the “Make an Artist a Millionaire” project was called “400 to 1.” It entailed writing a letter to each of the people on the Forbes 400 list (i.e. the wealthiest individuals in the US) and asking them to donate to MAAAM. My stepmom, who has a lot of experience and success in university development, collaborated on this project. It was she, in fact, who planted the seed for “400 to 1”: after listening to me describe MAAAM, she made the offhand comment “Honey, it would be easier for you to get one person to write you a check for a million dollars than to get a million people to each give you a dollar.”

What at first seemed simply like a euphemism for “your project will never succeed” grew into, if not a more effective approach to getting the million, at least a challenge. More interesting than asking people over and over for a dollar, which in the end possibly just reinforced the idea of the artist as an undeserving beggar, someone who steps out of line when they expect a reward for their gifts. Rather than sending a form letter to each member of the Forbes 400, I intended to research each person and craft a personalized plea. The project was more about sussing out human nature and understanding how to get through to the kind of person who, on the surface, couldn’t be more different from the average artist: the business person. The same challenge of asking for something in return for nothing that exists on the lower end of the scale of quantity–$1–was amplified many times in approaching millionaires and billionaires.

Read a sample letter here.

Phase 4 of “Make an Artist a Millionaire” is called “400 to 1.” It entails writing a letter to each of the people on the Forbes 400 list to solicit a donation. My stepmom, who has a lot of experience and success in university development, collaborated on this project. It was she, in fact, who planted the seed for “400 to 1”. After listening to me describe MAAAM, she made the offhand comment “Honey, it would be easier for you to get one person to write you a check for a million dollars than to get a million people to each give you a dollar.”