Cause marketing can be as simple as offering a sponsorship to a local charity event, or as involved and complex as you care to make it. Below are some examples of actual cause marketing campaigns I’ve seen photographers in my market employ”¦

• A local portrait/wedding studio holds quarterly workshops for photographers on various business practice issues. They host at their studio and usually bring in a guest speaker. They don’t charge attendees directly but ask that they make a donation to a specific charity ($40 to the local food bank or so.)
• A commercial photographer sponsors a hole-in-one contest at a charity golf outing. If a participant scores a hole in one, they win $10,000. He gets a bond each year to cover it for about $100. He’s at the tee of that hole, shoots a photo of the foursome and mails each of them a print (with his logo and web address of course.)
• A fine art photographer gives 25% of sales of a series of images of the Chesapeake Bay to a local environmental charity.
• In lieu of holiday gifts for his corporate clients, an industrial photographer makes a donation to the USO (many of his clients are in the defense industry and are veterans). He then sends the clients a note thanking them for their business and letting the client know that he’s made that donation.

Please understand I’m not talking about charity. Cause marketing doesn’t get you off the hook for being a good person outside of work. You don’t send a press release every time you put two bucks in for the Salvation Army. Nor am I talking solely about pro bono work, although pro bono can be a part of your cause marketing strategy.

The opportunities for cause marketing concepts are, like traditional marketing, only limited by our imagination. Each of us has our specialty, target audience, and personal values that are important to us.   These factors will determine what cause marketing opportunities exist for each of our businesses. Find a charity you care about, come up with a concept and approach them with it. The best cause marketing concepts and clients will…

• Be a plus for both organizations financially
• Be a boon for your creativity
• Increase awareness in the community for both groups
• Lead to opportunities for new clients
• Lead to opportunities for new employees
• Keep current employees interested and engaged
• Be great fun

Cause marketing should be one of many parts of your overall marketing strategy along with traditional marketing, public relations and good old-fashioned selling. Too often we photographers work alone at our desks or behind the lens. We don’t easily bring other people and groups into the fold, (to drive the point home, I’m sitting alone at my desk as I write this.) Any opportunity that compels us to get out and work with others on a larger project can be a good thing.

Taking on pro bono, or charity projects is an important part of being a strong part of your community. It’s also good for your business and your creativity. Working on pro bono projects can offer the opportunity to work with people you might not have access to otherwise. You might work with an ad agency that you wouldn’t ordinarily get in with. You might meet some very influential members of your community. You’ll almost certainly meet other people who are passionate about the same causes you are. And, if you’ve planned it properly, you’ll have great fun.

Pro bono projects can also offer an opportunity to flex your creative muscle. Many charities and organizations are willing to let you have a more active roll in shaping how things play out. Sure, you’ll probably shoot your share of grip and grins and headshots–but once you’ve got a good relationship with a group you’ve got the cred to pitch ideas.

Be sure to check with your CPA about tax issues involved with donating services and materials. Last time I checked you could deduct actual expenses associated with pro bono work, but not time or services. For example, if you spent $50 on ink and paper for those prints you can deduct it, but you can’t deduct the fee you would have charged a corporate client.

Also be sure to understand the difference between a non-profit and a charity. Many organizations and associations are officially non-profit entities (501-c) but exist solely to further the aims of their corporate members. I live and work near Washington DC, home of the trade association. I’m certainly not going to give my talents to a trade group who’s mission is to make the world safe for (insert insulting corporate practice here). Use your best judgment about whether a non-profit is worthy of your donated services. Many are, many more probably are not.

Finally, realize that even great charities still sometimes pay for work. My rule of thumb is that if a charity initiates contact I’m not going to work for free. I might give them a discount if it’s a charity I like but I’m not going to be the only one on a multi-million dollar project not getting paid.   If the models, the make up artist, the caterer, the magazine running the ad and the art director are getting paid, it’s insulting to think the photographer wouldn’t.

Pro bono projects offer the opportunity to provide support to organizations that need it. Maybe you don’t have the ability to write a big check to the cause, but you can lend your talents. Find a cause you can get behind and call their communications department. I had an instructor in college say to us “Face it, you’re a whore. You’re taking a God given talent and selling it to the highest bidder, if that’s not the definition of a whore, I don’t know what is.”

He was right. I love my job, I take it seriously and I think I’m good at it, but no one is going to live or die based on my work. I’d like to make a contribution to the well-being of my community and not just its tax base.