A quick update and a question.

The quick update part:
- I am still alive. I am still writing; unfortunately, I seem to be amassing a small graveyard of blog drafts.
-I've acquired a different job, one that isn't physically abusive.
-I've been doing exercises for my arms/shoulders for a month now, and have experienced significant improvement. Neither I nor my doctor remembered that I had a history of shoulder weakness related to scoliosis, but when my chiropractor suggested the exercises, it reminded me, and my problems began to make sense. I had been extremely inactive prior to starting my old job, and the weakness just put even more strain on my hands/wrists. Overall, I'm feeling significantly better now and not nearly as worried about long term damage.

The question part:
I'm currently planning a recital for this fall. I'm extremely excited, I love the repertoire, and I can't wait to get some solid recordings for grad school applications and online self-promotion. However, it's going to be rather expensive. Hiring a collaborative pianist, renting the space, and getting someone to record the whole thing are my main expenses. The question: have any of you had an experience getting sponsorships for personal recitals? I'm considering asking my current employer, as they seem to care at least a bit about the arts, if they would help me out in exchange for advertising space in the program/at the event. Basically, I'm curious about anyone's experiencing soliciting funding for their musical event from local businesses, successful or not.

Any replies, advice, thoughts, and general feedback is greatly appreciated, either via comment or email- alyssa.eichen@gmail.com. Thanks!

Edit:
Does anyone have any experience using Kickstarter for a project like this? I was just thinking about it, and offering program advertising(not unlike musicals, orchestra concerts, etc.) as part of Kickstarter rewards seems really convenient, in addition to the usual performance CDs/DVDs and whatnot. Even something like your name/a shoutout in the program for the smallest possible donation seems like it could work. Looking at it this way: I have 500+ twitter followers. If half of them pitched in $1, I'd be well on my way to defraying my performance costs.

Thoughts?