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Looking at The Big Picture |
If one of the keys to successful fundraising is providing the donor with "emotional return on investment"*, then photography is a terrific shortcut to delivering that emotional reward. This is not news to anyone, but the impact that The Big Picture has had on me is a reminder that, at its best, photography can tell your story in a visceral, immediate way.
The Big Picture is a new online feature from The Boston Globe designed to "highlight high-quality, amazing imagery - with a focus on current events, lesser-known stories and, well, just about anything that comes across the wire that looks really interesting."
The tagline is "News stories in photographs", but I would amend that to just "Stories in photographs" - and that's where the connection to nonprofit work can be seen.The recent photo essays on the effects of Extreme Drug-Resistant TB (warning: very disturbing images) and promoting Childhood Cancer Awareness Month (warning: heartbreaking, if not disturbing, images) stopped me in my tracks...they popped up in my RSS reader during a very busy day, but 15 minutes later I was still looking at them. In these jaded, media-saturated times, landing that kind of emotional punch is not very easy.
While those images may prompt folks into action, the real emotional reward comes in seeing the results of your investment in the org...the kids who are now cancer-free, the TB sufferers whose pain has been eased in some way. Don't skimp on celebrating the victories...after all, at some level, your donors are giving to you so that they can feel good about themselves, so making them aware of the good they've done is in your best interest.
Certainly great photography can do a lot for your website, but I would argue that including it in your email newsletters, action alerts, etc. is a way to continue reinforcing the emotional connection that prompted the constituent to give you their name in the first place.
Some options for acquiring excellent photography inexpensively:
- soliciting photos from constituents
- utilize photography licensed under the Creative Commons umbrella (I believe there is still discussion about whether NPOs are considered to be NonCommercial users -can others clarify?). Flickr makes it easy to find these, plus CC has its own web search engine
- license them from AP, Getty, Reuters or contact the image owners directly (here's The Big Picture's FAQ about how they get hold of these incredible images)
Any other thoughts about effective use of photography in your online programs?
* there I was thinking I'd come up with that phrase myself, but a quick Google reveals Katya A is right there with me
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