The space between: what does it take for nonprofits to USE photography effectively?

And how, as a photographer, can you help a nonprofit use your images? Is it enough just to donate photographs, or do you have a responsibility to help an organization actually communicate?

Once again, there are a lot of different answers to these questions, and they depend a lot on the specifics of the organization in question. Sometimes foundations are responsible for supporting organizations effectively. A grant will make a bigger impact if it isn’t just for a set of photographs, but also for the other elements of an effective advertising or awareness campaign. Sometimes it’s up to the organization to solicit pro bono contributions from professionals with the relevant skill sets. And sometimes it might be up to an individual–perhaps the photographer!–to put in place the other elements of a successful project so that their personal contribution is meaningful.

I had a great conversation this week with Burk Jackson, who has just started an organization called Creative Cares in Portland, OR, that deals with this very issue.

The idea is to create twin databases of people with skills to donate (photographers, videographers or video editors, graphic designers, web designers/developers, writers, art directors, public relations specialists, or project managers) and organizations with projects they need staffed. If you’re a “creative” you fill out this form. If you’re an organization, you apply here. Then Creative Cares matches up people and projects.

To me, this seems like a great system. PhotoPhilanthropy has been thinking through how to go about this as well. We’d love to hear your thoughts about what the best way to do this might be. (Or what’s wrong with other systems you’ve tried.)

Burk is a commercial photographer who took some time off last summer to spend with his kids, and ended up injuring his back and taking five months off. He got to thinking about what really motivated him, and the changes he wanted to make professionally.

He had done a little bit of work photographing for nonprofits, and he found it really exciting and satisfying. “The most amazing stories are out there,” he told me. “But the best work in the world is going unnoticed because no one is telling the story.”

Meanwhile, other people just weren’t sure how to get started. “I run into creatives and they want to give back, but they don’t know how,” Burk told me.

He also heard stories of photographers who had worked with nonprofits, but not seen any real gains come out of it. Some people had taken on long-term projects, only to have the staff suddenly turnover at the organization they worked with. New staff either threw away the images, didn’t know they were there, or didn’t see a way to use them. The photographers were discouraged.

Burk recognizes the importance of accountability on the part of a photographer—if you’ve solicited contributions for a photo project, you need to report on your progress to your donors. Burk recently raised $5,200 from friends and family to do a pro-bono project for a small nonprofit organization in Tanzania. He sent his supporters updates and photos, to let them know how he was spending their money. But the same is true of nonprofits as well. “There needs to be some accountability on the NGO side,” says Burk. “I thought there had to be a better way for creatives to connect with nonprofits and find funding,” while also being able to hold nonprofits accountable for doing something with the donations they (creatives) made.

Part of the reason images sometimes fall through the cracks is that organizations don’t have the rest of the marketing resources they need to use the pictures. You need to have strategists, writers, graphic designers—it takes a lot more to make an awareness campaign than a single photograph.

So who is filling this gap? Are there organizations out there, in addition to Creative Cares, providing this kind of marketing support or consulting to nonprofits? I’ve done a little research, and what follows is a list of leads (for individuals, for organizations, and even one for grantmakers). Please add more via the comments section, or email me with suggestions at eliza@photophilanthropy.org. (I especially need help with international resources—this list is heavily lopsided toward the U.S.)

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN PHOTOGRAPHY AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Taproot Foundation is all about “doing it pro bono!” They assemble teams of professionals to assist nonprofits with their projects. And they post frequently on VolunteerMatch.

CommunicAid helps nonprofits with their branding and communications. They are currently changing their name to BrandOutLoud and launching a new website.

Lots of independent marketing or communications consultants will donate time to a project if approached.

And Encore Careers help match people with meaningful jobs to create social change.

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL MEDIA ASSISTANCE FOR NONPROFITS

TechSoup

Nonprofit Technology Network (NTEN)

BLOSON

InfoXchange Australia

STRATEGIC RESOURCES FOR NONPROFITS

Many universities have groups that are reaching out to provide services to the local community. In the Bay Area, for example, the Stanford Alumni Consulting Team provides pro bono consultants to nonprofits.

Compass Point Nonprofit Services

The Conservation Company puts out papers and writeups on capacity and does consulting for nonprofits and foundations.

GEO: Grantmakers for Effective Organizations is a network for foundations and nonprofits to make grantmaking more realistic and effective. They have a great video about themselves.

FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

CreativeCares has the potential to become an auspicing organization for photographers, much like Blue Earth Alliance, so that a photographer can apply for grants in conjunction with a 501(c)3 organization. Since many foundations don’t want to fund individuals, but do want to fund the kinds of marketing and awareness raising projects that photographers are a part of, this is an excellent funding strategy to pursue.

Another matching service for photographers and nonprofits is Photographers for Charity.

Photographers who want to donate specific images to be sold on behalf of charitable organizations can do so via Photographers for Charity (same name as above, but different org) and Collect.Give.

Focus for Humanity has a $15,000 grant for a project done with an NGO. Submissions open September 1^st and close November 1^st, 2010.

International Guild of Visual Peacemakers is getting going—I just joined their newsletter to see what they’re about. (Incidentally, their facebook page seems to be working better than their website at the moment.)

FILMMAKING

Lights Camera Help specifically has a volunteer match as well, and their film festival runs July 29^th-August 2nd in Austin, TX.

COMMUNITY BASED PHOTOGRAPHY

PhotoVoice helps people create participatory photography programs to empower communities.

“I think you should tell everyone to get in touch with each other,” says Burk. If you’d like to contact him, please do so at burk@creativecares.org.