Volunteering with a non-profit

I’m a big believer in giving back to one’s community and I also know that there are different times in our lives where it is more doable. Volunteering has been a regular part of my life over the last 25 years. In the past decade alone, I have been a co-founder of one local non-profit, and as I’ve mentioned in my “About” page, I’m a co-founder of another program that was adopted by another non-profit.

Since my blog focuses a lot on photography and following one’s passions, I wanted to share one of the ways I’ve volunteered is by giving of my time, in the form of photography. I recognize the value of what I can provide by capturing moments, and how helpful that can be to a program or non-profit, whether they use the photos for marketing, documenting a grant that they received (as is the case for one of the programs I have helped), or for general Facebook posts such as the one below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since photography is one of my passions, it is easy for me to show up to an event with my camera gear and take photos. Often people don’t think of the time involved afterwards with processing to upload, cull images, edit and then share. My tips for anyone offering pro bono work is to agree to an amount of time you’d like to give to an organization, and if you want anything in return, ask. One suggestion is to be really clear about photo credit.

See above for my photo credit (lower right corner). Giving photo credit is something that people in organizations often overlook or might not consider, however it is important to be recognized, especially as you are donating your time and expertise. Some of my photos have been used in publications and magazines and I haven’t always received photo credit.

One solution around this is to use a Watermark. After I’ve taken hundreds and hundreds of images for one non-profit, it was recently suggested to me to use a Watermark in the lower right corner to make it easier to credit me for future reproduction use. Many artists may not like the visual distraction of a watermark, but if you are volunteering your time, and are wanting to build up a portfolio, this can often be a good solution.