I don’t think I have lost any but I only have 29 patrons and I can’t seem to get that number to grow. As a comic artist I am not doing any conventions right now so patreon income has been a huge help. I would like to improve it though.
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I just came back to say that I’ve continued doing a weekly Monday email, with my best ideas for stuff that can be done without leaving the sofa, and in April, I picked up four more patrons.
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I’m doing more live sessions with my Patrons, I’m using Zoom and YouTube, and I’m giving non patrons loads of freebies too - and then they come and join me as a subscriber 
I do think that giving things for free really helps people see what you do so they feel more confident in joining. The Zoom calls have been amazing - just a chat, a Q&A, being able to talk to each other, especially if you’re isolated on your own, can be a real boost to morale
I am so grateful for this thread.
I was already experiencing a decline in patrons, slowly, because my output had dropped off before the pandemic hit, then it took me a solid month to sort of regroup, and just last week I started creating again. This all has been super hard on me as I’m sure it has been for everyone.
I lost maybe five patrons that I think are due to COVID-19. That brought about a needed shift in my mindset about my work. Maybe it has to do with an overarching change in how I perceive my work, I dunno. The sudden feeling of having the rug pulled out from under me with the virus, and then losing patrons, somehow is making me care less about how my work is perceived and if I keep patrons and more about genuinely creating authentically. Last week I started a series of “quarantine self-portraits” that I do almost every day along with a short post about what went on that day.
What I have noticed is a slow increase in interaction on my Patreon posts, which have always been a ghost town even when I had close to 200 patrons (I have about 98 now). So, I guess what I’d like to offer here is my discovery that while I have fewer patrons, I am experiencing more engagement with them by sharing imperfect and stream of consciousness reflections about what is happening in the world.
Not sure if this helps at all, but I think what i am trying to say here is that I am getting a lot out of engaging with my patrons rather than worrying about getting new ones right now. I’m excited to see how this strengthens the community, and perhaps will encourage them to stay when things are tough.
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I have lost some patrons since the C-19 crisis began, but I expected it might happen. Many folks are tightening their belts given the economic downturn, which I totally get. Unfortunately, my Patreon page is relatively new. I just launched it in late January and was counting on growing it during the spring. So, I simply regrouped and turned it all into “how can I help support our community?” I’ll still do some soft promotion here and there, but not the big promotional campaign I’d planned. That feels better to me right now.
I set up a live community on MightyNetworks for my patrons when I started the Firefly Guild and have been investing a LOT of time in supporting our members and posting lots of fun prompts about things to chat about. I just made our monthly patron-only podcast public (with the blessings of my community) so those who don’t have the money to join can still listen in to the monthly theme and ideas I share. I added some “mini quests,” to the normal flow of videos this month (5-min video and audios) - little creative projects that don’t take long to communicate or do, and they’re loving them. I also added another live get-together (a live pop-up Coffee Chat on Zoom) for all tiers so that community hang-out time isn’t just limited to the upper tiers. And yes, I’m addressing C-19 directly and have re-geared my content to provide support and inspiration during these dark days.
I picked up a couple of new patrons this month too, which was a surprise. But I’m so grateful.
I’m loving this thread and look forward to hearing more creative strategies you all are taking during these tough times.
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Good topic! I haven’t lost Patrons and have actually gained a couple.
I used a crowdcast recently to cut a video explaining how we use Patreon money to pay our writers fairly and asked people to help support our writers during COVID-19 with at least a latte-sized subscription if they could spare it.
I’m also trying to create a lot of content related to Japan’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, which seems really appreciated by our subscribers who live in Japan.
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We’re an online niche music magazine. We lost one $5/month patron and gained patrons worth $130/month. It’s actually been shocking. I do expect that we will lose more as this drags on, but here’s why I think we’ve attract who we’ve attracted.
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We don’t do traditional “advertorial” on our site. Instead, we ask record labels, publicists, etc., to pledge $25-$100 a month for posting privileges. So if they want guaranteed access for their artists, regardless of whether or not they can persuade a writer to cover them, the only way they can do it is by becoming a patron. Because artists can’t tour right now, there is more interest in having access to other promotional tools so more people are willing to pay for access to our site.
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We have been taking initiatives to help artists during COVID-19 - ie: by setting up a system to host tickets streaming concerts and mobilizing our audience to help us get a YouTube channel with mobile streaming (so artists can use it). I think people have seen us helping and then turn around and support us. I’ve observed this trend with businesses in my area too. The ones that are putting helping first and money second (ie: the pizza place that has pledged to deliver a pizza to anyone who can’t afford to eat) are actually generating a lot of revenue from goodwill.
So I guess those would be the two takeaways from our experience: Offering promotional value for patronage and generating goodwill by doing good deeds. Hopefully that is in some way helpful to others.
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I’n in comics but have been online for ages. Gaining patrons because they’re at home and I have the $1 option. Those ADD UP.
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I’m reading here & there something I kinda felt before: it seems like the LIVE sessions help a lot, getting a better bond with the patrons. I’ve always felt shy about it, but because of the crisis, I recently had to do some of these live conferences for my day job.
Now I feel I gotta push myself in this direction for my patrons too, that could be the way.
Thanks a lot to you guys for sharing!
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I lost a couple of patrons citing changed financial circumstances. I addressed it directly on my podcast. I told my listeners that I completely understood that in these difficult times, any of my donors should not feel the least big guilty about leaving. Quite the contrary, I was very thankful for the time that they could give.
Doing this sent the message to my entire audience. Several other listeners picked up on the fact that I was losing some financial support and stepped up to become first time patrons.
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This is exactly what I did as well and I had the same experience. =)
Hi - this is a great inquiry… This is my first day on this community platform, so I’m not sure that this reply will be in the right place… But: no - I’ve found my number of patrons rising since our lock-down in Italy began; I’ve felt a stronger shift into a simpler, more focussed sharing relationship with my beautiful patrons.
My Patreon is relatively intimate, and it has always been a vibrant two-way dialogue, rather than an audience and performer kind of dynamic. I have outside-of-Patreon relationships with many of my patrons, and we have agreements e.g. for me gifting them art in return for their gifting me, e.g. homeopathic consultation.
Above all, my sense of confidence in speaking more fully about living in gift, and about how we transition into flourishing with far fewer resources than before… it feels pertinent and much needed in the world right now.
So I feel that as creators, we’re ultimately doing a powerful service to humanity; helping support non-artists to think more positively about where we all go from here, and giving practical tips on how to navigate these times creatively. I think that as liberated humans with perhaps a greater sense of sovereignty, inspiring our audience, who might be struggling with world events, is a profound means of stabilising our presence on Patreon.
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Great post! I was really worried about this myself. I got my first message today about someone cancelling due to being impacted by COVID-19. I ran a Thank You Card promotion a month or two ago which helped (I hope) but I’ve been having the same concerns. I’m considering doing more Live content to engage, but I’m also exhausted with how the world is presently.
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OMG, talk about the EXHAUSTION!
@Brandon_McGill I wrote a post on Instagram about connection fatigue and it got quite a reaction. As an introvert who’s also a highly sensitive person, I’m finding that the need for so many to connect over Zoom, Whatsapp, Facetime, Skype, etc., etc., has left me feeling overstimulated.
So, I’ve started to manage others access to me by limiting virtual face-to-face connections to 30mins and only doing no more than 2 a day. Then adding a day of no meetings in between. Because I just cannot.
I understand that some may not have that choice due to work meetings, etc. But I have to add buffers and limits to my attention because I was getting frazzled.
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Hey guys, there are some great ideas on here and I’d like to pitch in.
I’m a singer-songwriter and music performer here on Patreon.
So far, and I say this with soooo much gratitude, I haven’t lost any patrons yet.
In fact, I’ve gained 30 NEW Patrons!. Yes, for real, thirty new Patreons patrons since quarantine began!
Here’s what i’ve been doing. As soon as c-19 hit and my gigs started cancelling I started streaming my shows live via Facebook Live. I had been doing a once a month show called Friday Night Facebook Live to test the waters but I’ve been doing it every weekend and I’ve added a midday show called, “Tea with Robb” with airs on FB Live weekdays at 3 pm CST.
I went out and bought $25 gift cards to local businesses who I knew needed revenue to keep them afloat and gave them away at my live shows for people shared my shows online with their friends. I’d put their name in a hat and give it away at the end of the show. That way, I was supporting and advertising for local businesses and giving back and growing to my community of people.
I also gave them Digital Downloads and access to unreleased songs, all the time leading them toward Patreon.
Here’s what I’m noticing.
First, I told them the truth. I had literally thousands of dollars worth of gigs cancel on me on the first day that quarantined was announced. to months of show just disappeared. Some folks had heard about Patreon but needed a push. This was their push. Now they weren’t just giving me money to pay for new music and videos, now they were literally paying my bills. I didn’t beg, i just made sure and mentioned it and explained what it was and how it worked.
Second, I started showing ups in their feed all the time.Live Facebook shows and tea time weekly. Maybe normally, that might be annoying, but people are at home and they are constantly searching for new content right now. And they’re sick of all the politics. So I gave them love, laughter and good music, mostly originals, because that’s what I wanted to steer them toward. Since I started so many people reached out to me and said how comforting it was and how they looked forward to tea time Because it’s something to take them away from the terrible scroll of their day to day social media life.
Here are some (hopefully) helpful hints.
Be positive. Be uplifting. they’re getting enough negativity.
BE consistent. Folks like to have something to look forward to!
Be honest. Let them know when you’re struggling too. BUT, don’t complain.
Just be grateful. Don’t shame anyone if they have to stop, but always make a personal note to thanks them and welcome them back when they can.
Point them toward Patreon. Let them know how much it helps you out, especially in this uncertain time.
Point them toward your venmo tip jar.
Point them toward a specific page on your website where your merch is!
Give them a special discount just because they might be going through a rough time too.
The way I see it if we react in fear, they will follow us in fear. In this day, the poets are the prophets.
But if we react in Faith, believing everything is going to be alright, they will believe that with us.
And one day, it will be all right.
That’s my two cents. Embrace this change and you will be stronger at the outcome.
Keep creating, keep sharing, especially with the patrons who have to drop out for a while. Send them a note and let them know you’re thinking of them and grateful for what they’ve done in the past.
Gratitude is reciprocal. Give it, it always comes back in different ways. <3
Thank you for coming. This has been my Ted Talk. . 
Robb McCormick / Some Guy Named Robb
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What a great idea, thank you. I am going to spend some time looking through suggestions. I have lost 1 Patron but gained 3 new patrons, I think some value the work I am doing at the moment as its linked with domestic abuse.
Thank you for the thread.
JenLGilmour
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