Ratafire puts a new spin on patronage

Patronage has long been associated with royalty and other wealthy individuals who use their fortunes to support painters, composers, poets, and explorers. Today, artists and inventors can use crowdfunding sites like Kickstarter or IndieGogo to finance their projects.

A new site called Ratafire takes a similar approach to funding creativity, but with a more long-term view. Instead of a month-long campaign to raise a specified amount of money for a specific project, Ratafire lets people make continuous contributions to support an individual’s ongoing work.

At he Ratafire website, you’ll find postings and profiles by musicians, artists, writers, filmmakers and researchers in science, math and the humanities. In some cases, the individuals use the site to share their current work. In other,s they are seeking financial support from backers who can sign up to contribute as little as $2 a month.

You can browse the profiles at the Ratafire website and join the conversation on the Ratafire blog.

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Written by Ric Manning

Follow me on Twitter @ricmanning and read my technology columns at My Well Being.