Advice on Art Donations

Since I am fairly new to this field and have enjoyed reading the forums, I thought I would ask for opinions on a situation. I have the opportunity to donate a photo work to a well known charity for their gallery. They might sell it or they might hang it in their offices or gallery. Either way, if I did this, I would not be permitted to ever sell the work again or display it on my website. Since I am interested in the charity's work, I've been giving it some thought. I would want to give them one of my best photos. But I am not sure I want to give up the right to ever sell it again. Any thoughts? Thanks

That really is a tough one. You would think that a donation to a charity wouldn't have such stipulations. If you had two similar shots of a subject (happens a lot to me at least) you could always give one of them. It's may feel like bad karma but if your relying on the income to live you need to think about that. OR you could just decide that it's just one photo and take the loss. A single shot shouldn't break you. I'm sure you will get a lot of interesting posts to this one! Good luck

That is an easy one - if you aren't interested in the charity, don't do it. Its not like you are going to get some great tax deduction - you can only deduct your actual costs. I wouldn't give up all rights to an image for $10,000. For free, it is a no brainer.

The restrictions on your subsequent usage are REALLY weird. You're doing them a favor, so where do they get off telling you what you can do with your photos? Write them a check if you support their cause and tell their art director to take a long walk on a short pier. Loudly tell him/her!

I would not give up all the rights to the photo, that is too much for a non-profit to ask for.

With that said, I would consider it if:
1. they plan to sell products using your image and are willing to give you a small % in exchange for the full rights to the image.

2. they are going to use the image in a huge national ad that would be seen by thousands and your name was right with it, then the publicity would be worth losing the rights to the photo.

Sorry to sound so cold hearted I have worked with many non-profits and have never been asked to give them full rights to an image. Have a look at "Working With Non-Profits" NPN article, it might help you a bit.

Hose that!!!

Do you think they'd accept a donation if you added the stipulation, I'll give you this $xxx, but your charity needs to promise to spend 5x (times) $xxx on something (Y), even if (Y) isn't in the charities best interest? They'd tell you & your $$$$, "Thanks, but No Thanks."

You can donate a print, fine. They keep, hang, or sell. BTW - You can only write off the cost in actual material needed to make the print, not your retail cost, and you can't include the cost of travel that it took you to actually make the image.

Anything over and above that, they pay. (reduced rate if you wish)

Remember. They are a charity. You're not. And there's a difference between being charitable, and being taken advantage of.

And fwif, I personally disagree w Carl on both points. You should license an image to a non-profit for a reduced rate (or gratis if you want), but you should AWAYS retain full rights. That way, if they want to make more use of your image, you can determine whether a license fee should be applied on a case by case basis. For instance, one NPO I work with gets a blanket license to use image(s) via material produced by their regional office only. Anything picked up or used by the national office, or national distributed, gets negotiated separately. As for number 2 "exposure" via a credit line is minimal in real value, and never worth losing full rights to an image. "Exposure" is something you get when standing naked on a windswept glacier. A "blank stare" is what you get from the cashier when you try to use a credit line to buy groceries, instead of the more traditional credit card.

my 3 cents.

My wife and I work for two large non-profit groups in Denver, our companies have the budget to pay for photography as well as have part-time staff photographers. Our companies would never think of asking this of a donor.

Don't give up your rights.

Donating a print for their use, or even donating the licensing of the image, is one thing. Especially if you believe in the organization, this can be a nice way of supporting them while costing you nothing or very little. I am fine with that.

BUT I absolutely would not be donating full image rights. Effectively, that is what you are doing. They may never use the print or reproduce it and it may just sit on a wall for the next twenty years, but you will be giving up all rights to the image. Either negotiate with them AND get the agreement in writing before handing over the print or simply walk away. If you choose the latter, explain why. Unfortunately, there are a few people/corporations/organizations who are basically clueless about this type of thing.

We have donated to various charities and we have never had any stipulations like that placesd on the photo. YOU are helping THEM, so it is up to you to stipulate the details of the photo. We all feel good that we have a talent that we can give something back to others, whether it be via donating a photo to a charity, giving time to an organization like Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep or photographing foster or special needs kids. But they should not take advantage of your talent or your generosity. Donate the photograph on YOUR terms or find another needy charity to work with.

Hi Allen,
Well :)
I would not give up the copyrights. If it's one of my best especially so..
But that's entirely up to you. I would question why they need the copyrights in the first place.
They can make all the framed prints they want for sale with your permission.
Howard