Boost Your Photography Business With A Charity Portrait Event

Writen by Cindy Bracken

Want a creative way to boost your photography business while helping out the community? Organize a charity portrait event!

What is it?
A charity portrait event is where you schedule portrait sessions and donate a portion of the proceeds to the charity of your choice.

How to do it
1. Choose your charity.

2. Contact the charity and describe your proposal.

3. If the charity accepts your offer, ask them to send you a letter stating that your portrait event is official.

4. Set the dates for the portrait event (as little as one day to a month or more – you decide!)

5. Decide on pricing and what will be included. An example would be a half hour session and one 8x10 for $100. You can decide on what will work best for you. You also need to decide on how much the charity will receive (25%, 50% or more). You could even donate the entire $100, since most of your money will be made with print reorders. Keep good records on how many sessions you did for the charity so that you will know how much of the proceeds you need to send them.

6. Advertise your event. A great way to do this is to submit a press release to your local television stations and newspapers. Hopefully you will receive free press coverage by doing this. If you don't want to write the press release yourself, consider hiring someone to do it for you. There are many online companies who offer this service. You might also consider doing a postcard mailing or placing an ad in local publications.

7. When your event officially ends, send a check to the charity. Make sure to get a receipt for accounting and tax purposes (and also to prove you sent the funds to the charity as promised). 8. Send another press release after the event stating how much you raised for your charity. Mention any upcoming charity portrait events, too.

Cindy Bracken is the founder of http://www.shuttermom.com, an online community for photographers of all levels. Stop by to create a free blog, enter the photo contest, join in the discussion forums and more! Find out how to start your own photography business at http://www.shuttermom.com/shop.htm