How many of us get phone calls asking us to participate in a fundraiser or similar charity event. It goes something like this – “Hi, I’m with ‘Best Charity Events’ and we would like you to participate by doing the photography for us at cost – we will give you a free ad in the program guide – can we count you in?”
Now I know all the calls are being made by well meaning volunteers for very deserving causes. Many of us jump on the chance to cover the event and settle for the ad.
How can we get more mileage out of our efforts? Well, first of all, offer to do it at no cost to the organization. Yes, take your complimentary ad in the program, but here is the key point. Ask for a level of sponsorship consistent with the product and services you will be performing for the organization. For instance, if you will making several hundred images of the event and special images of the board of directors, creating an album for their archives, providing them with a CD of the high-res images for unlimited use, etc. – the value of your services ads up quite quickly. These services may be in the “thousands of dollars” category, which should trade quite nicely for a significant sponsorship level.
Once you have negotiated a fair sponsorship level for your business involvement, be sure that your company name appears wherever they list the sponsors – newsprint, radio, TV, program guide, etc. Now you have some real “bragging rights” to include in your studio promotions. It’s a “win-win” situation – great PR for you because of your community involvement and great photography for your charity client. Good Luck!
