Getting Started by Giving Back

by Juli Cialone and Sean Kelley

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Let’s just say word spread fast! And it was great free advertising! We had calls that day from small charities such as Rural Opportunities and Petpride, to large charities such as United Way. All had important assignments and just didn’t have budgets to afford to hire professionals. They all intended to give an employee a small digital camera and hope to get decent results. This was exactly the response we hoped for – they needed us bad!

How important did our imagery become to the charities? Just imagine if you were a contributor. If you saw a brochure with images that touched your heart, that were clear and beautiful and sensitive, you’d be much more likely to donate to the cause, right? Well, that is the impact we had. Our imagery moved people to give as we had. Our imagery helped those who lives might have not been documented if we didn’t do it. And in turn our imagery made us proud to do what we do. We sleep better every night knowing that we are respected for our kindness first and our talent second.

A funny thing happened…

The more we did charitable work, the more clients we had call our studio. The contributors to these charities, those that either donated money or volunteered time, began to consider us with the highest esteem. Our talent to them was worth more. We had a personal connection with them. We both cared for the same cause and both gave of ourselves. Clients were feeling that bond to us before even utilising our services. The mindset seemed to be that if they cared about a charity, and we cared about it too, then we must be the same type of people – we are elevated (in a sense) to their circle of friends. The corporate CEO’s wife, the lawyer, the doctor, etc… did not seem so distant from us in comparison. Rather, they all came to us with warmth and kind words hoping that the sensitivity we showed their cause would reflect in the images we were to do of their families. They didn’t seem worried about disappointment or concerned with cost. They knew we were good, we were worth every cent, and that we would treat them graciously.

What happened? The sessions were great and they spent! On average, charitable clients spend more than just regular ones. For example, we donated our time to a small school for children with disabilities, and then we donated a gift certificate for a portrait session to their annual fundraiser. The couple that purchased it spent $6000 more than the value of the certificate. Wow!

Another example… we just adopted two puppies from a animal rescue organisation. I was very impressed by their organisation (and of course in love with my new pups) so I offered as a “new mom” to donate sessions to everyone who adopted a pup and also offered images to the organisation that could feature some of the animals waiting for adoption. Anyone who came for the session would have special packages and part of the proceeds would go back to the organisation. They not only loved the idea, and told everyone excitedly, but they are hoping that we can help them do a calendar that could potentially be sold nationally to raise funds as well. Part of the proceeds would benefit them and part would pay us as well. We will work together to better one another, while again helping those in need.

We have applied the latter fundraising concept in other arenas. For example, if we are photographing a sport club’s teams or a dance school, we will offer portrait sessions to all the players/students with special packages and with a percentage going back to the organisation. We call it a fundraiser and the club will back us up sending mailings or emails to all of its members to encourage their participation. Similarly, around the holiday time, we will also do a charity fundraiser. Every year the charities that we worked for can have us do a fundraiser for their contributors. The charities let their contributors know that we will be offering special portrait sessions and then these families come to us for family portraits with a percentage going back to the charity of their choice. It’s a win win situation. We make sure that the charity is kept informed of the number of individuals coming in and we donate back as soon as we receive payment.

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Photo Quote: There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept. - Ansel Adams