"1BLINK=YES"

When his ALS was diagnosed in 2010, David Anderson of Fridley thought he'd have to kiss his DJ-ing days goodbye. Instead, this week he'll play a set of electronic music for a New Year's Eve dance party at Old Arizona Studio in Minneapolis. Anderson, now in the later stages of the degenerative disease, can only move his eyes. That's all he'll have to do to burn down the house Monday night, because one of the most heartwarming campaigns of the year, launched by friends, raised money to buy him equipment that allows him to choose tracks by merely blinking. Rock on, David. His gig will be livestreamed at 9:30 p.m. at www.1blinkequalsyes.org

207% funded, $31,150 pledged

PUBLIC FUNCTIONARY

Curator Tricia Khutoretsky gets four stars for ambition, optimism and faith, asking for $30K in this economy to build a new northeast Minneapolis gallery and gathering space. Arts lovers rallied, including Sarah Wirth, who gave a whopping $1,500 because "these people are visionaries with incredible focus, flexibility and passion. I wanted to be part of that, building and connecting community."

103% funded, $31,010 pledged

SOUTHSIDE DESIRE

So many musicians ask for help putting out recordings on Kickstarter that it can be daunting to pick which to support. But when conducting a random listening sample leads to a discovery like "Song to Live and Die to" by this quirkily soulful Minneapolis group of pals, it feels like you're the one who got paid.

178% funded, $1,428 pledged

"HAPPY MINNESOTA"

Idealistic artists + a civic-minded cause = crowdfunding at its best. With the motto "bringing laughter, people and money to University Avenue," Dangerous Productions put on several performances in vacant storefronts and working businesses to attract more shoppers to a retail district hurt by construction on the Central Corridor light-rail line.

101% funded, $5,040 pledged

"ANOMALISA"

Charlie Kaufman's stop-action animated film about a man who is "crippled by the mundanity of his life," due out next year, isn't exactly local, but Kaufman's a brilliant Minnesota native, so we're claiming it. His 5,770 backers apparently loved his solution for keeping those pesky studios from messin' with his vision -- crowdfund instead.

203% funded, $406,237 pledged

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046