Why this artist is running a crowdfunder and a prize draw at the same time
When Ella Starling launched her fundraising campaign for Ceasefire, a large-scale oil painting reinterpreting Picasso’s Guernica in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza — she didn’t choose between a crowdfunder and a prize draw. She ran both, simultaneously, for two different reasons.
It’s a smart approach that more creative projects should know about.
The project
Ella Starling is a figurative painter, mother and activist from Pembrokeshire, Wales. Her previous project, Raising Her Voice: A Collective Portrait of Motherhood, was funded by Arts Council Wales and culminated in two solo exhibitions in Spring 2026.
Ceasefire is her most ambitious work yet: a large-scale oil painting filling her studio wall, reinterpreting Picasso’s Guernica as a painted response to events in Gaza. The project began with a study trip to Madrid, supported by a bursary from a-n The Artists Information Company, to study Guernica in person. Nine months of making, documenting and sharing the process publicly will follow, with completion and a public exhibition planned for Spring 2027.
To fund it, she needs £5,500 — covering materials, studio costs, documentation and the time to make something at this scale properly.
Two campaigns, two different jobs
Ella has two live projects on Crowdfunder running alongside each other.
The crowdfunding campaign — Ceasefire: A painted response to genocide in Gaza — is her main fundraiser. Supporters can donate and choose from a range of rewards: prints, original studies, studio visits, and a chance to have their name in the exhibition. The rewards give people a meaningful way to connect with the work itself, not just the cause behind it. At £5,500 target, with 33 days left, the campaign is at 28%.
The prize draw — Win ‘That Feeling’ — offers something different. For £5, anyone can enter to win That Feeling, an original oil painting from her previous Raising Her Voice project, professionally framed and ready to hang. It’s a one-of-a-kind work, not a print. The prize draw exists to reach people who might not back a crowdfunding campaign but will enter a draw for an original painting — widening the audience beyond Ella’s existing supporters.
The two campaigns can’t be combined on a single page — prize draws and crowdfunding are separate products on Crowdfunder. But running them simultaneously is entirely possible, and in this case it’s a deliberate strategy.
Why it works
The crowdfunder converts committed supporters. People who care about Ella’s work, who want to follow the process of making Ceasefire, who want a print or a study or their name in the exhibition — they back the campaign. The rewards give them something specific to connect to.
The prize draw broadens the crowd. A £5 entry point is accessible to people who’ve never heard of Ella Starling and might not be ready to back an arts crowdfunder. But an original oil painting as a prize? That travels. It reaches art collectors, people who follow prize draws, people who share it because the prize is genuinely desirable.
Together, they build two different supporter relationships. The crowdfunder backers become part of the project — they’re invested in seeing it completed. The prize draw entrants become part of Ella’s audience. Some of them will follow her work long after the draw closes.
The broader point
Most people assume crowdfunding is an either/or decision. Either you run a donation campaign, or a rewards campaign, or a prize draw. Either you go all-in on one approach or you split your attention and dilute the impact.
Ella’s approach shows that’s not the case. The two products do different things, reach different people, and sit alongside each other without competing. One deepens relationships with existing supporters. The other opens the door to new ones.
On Crowdfunder, you can run a prize draw and a crowdfunding campaign at the same time. You can have rewards on your crowdfunder and a separate draw for something special. You can design a fundraising approach that fits the project, rather than fitting the project into a single fundraising format.
Ceasefire is still live. If you’d like to back the campaign or enter the draw, both pages are open now.