Why Your Non-profit Organization Needs Professional Photography
When you’re starting a non-profit, there are so many things to consider that photography might be at the bottom of your non-profit business plan.
Even worse, you could completely overlook it. Your non-profit is nothing without its supporters, though, and photography is a key way to bring in more donations.
Now that everyone has a good camera, it’s easy to think that anybody can take the photographs you need.
Maybe that intern you hired or your colleague who takes lovely vacation photos can handle it?
It might save precious budget funds, but it won’t help your cause.
Professional photography is more than the quality of the camera. Great photography that connects with the audience requires years of experience and talent.
Your images need to convey a message and capture the attention of a diverse audience. It would help if you had a photographer who understands how to do it.
Keep reading to find out why professional photography is essential to the success of your non-profit and why it should have a secure place in your business plan.
The Power of Visuals
We process visuals more quickly than any other type of data and 60,000 times quicker than words.
That’s essential information for every business, especially non-profits that might want to keep spending to a minimum.
If you’re prioritizing your copy to the detriment of your photographs, your audience might scroll past it.
Us homo sapiens also judge images for quality and meaning.
If your photographs don’t make an instant, eye-catching impression, the viewer won’t receive your message.
Photographs aren’t just lovely to look at; they invoke emotion.
This is crucial if you want people to learn more about your non-profit and to take action for your cause.
How Professional Photography Can Help Your Cause
Using a professional photographer is essential for non-profits because professionals understand how to capture more than an image. They can capture emotions, meaning, and stories.
Photography might look like it only involves pressing the shutter button, but it’s a lot more than that.
Emotions
Your non-profit will rely on people donating their time and money to your cause. People don’t give these things away randomly, though.
They need to feel emotions that cause them to want to help.
A professional photographer can use emotion to great effect.
They will both capture the emotions of the people or animals in their photographs and produce images that generate feelings in the viewer.
Images that bring out our compassion can push us to want to help the cause. These emotions are vital to getting support and creating change for the betterment of society.
Connection
Emotions are powerful, but only targeting them might cause you to lose your audience. Instead, you can use professional photographs to create a relationship with your audience.
This connection might be a shared theme or location that people can relate to. We all have unique and diverse lives, but it is universal issues that keep us connected.
From childhood disease and animal cruelty to environmental disasters and water shortages, we all have some experience with many non-profit causes.
Finding these areas of shared experience allows you to curate photographs that form a deep connection with your audience and show the world how they can help you make a difference.
Storytelling
Storytelling has huge importance for how we live our lives. It helps us remember things, connect with others, and find meaning all around us.
Storytelling is also an essential factor in successful marketing. It allows you to show others why they should support your non-profit.
Professional photography helps you tell the story of your cause and how you’re doing good in the world. You can use it at the start of your non-profit business and throughout your projects to form a greater connection with your supporters and audience.
They say images speak a thousand words, and it’s true. Using photography to tell stories is a powerful way to show your audience how they can help your cause.
Authenticity
Stock imagery is the enemy of authenticity, even in a world where there are fantastic stock images available.
By using a professional photographer, you can make sure each photograph is personal to your non-profit and its cause.
When you use photographs specific to your non-profit and your cause, your business will come across as authentic and create a bond with your supporters.
Sharing Culture
Word-of-mouth marketing is the most powerful way to spread the news about your non-profit.
Today, word of mouth means that you need a social media presence. Twitter posts, for instance, see a significant increase in retweets if an image accompanies them.
With engaging images that capture imaginations, users are more likely to share your social media posts, increasing audience exposure.
Your social following can do a lot of marketing on your behalf, as long as you provide high-quality content like professional photographs.
By choosing a professional photographer with experience in non-profit photography, you’ll get shareable photographs for use across all platforms.
PR Images
Unlike advertising, PR can help build brand reputation in a less sales-based way.
By sharing your goals and messages in print and online, you can begin building brand awareness and stick in readers’ minds.
Many publications will search for print-quality images to help them tell the story of your non-profit. Having these on hand is essential, as low-quality photographs might dissuade journalists from writing about your business.
Outstanding photographs will help you draw more attention to your cause and assist in PR efforts.
Make Professional Photography a Key Part of Your Non-Profit Business Plan
When you’re creating your non-profit business plan, marketing will be a top priority.
Professional photography is a vital part of marketing. It allows you to build authenticity, tell your story, and capture your audience’s emotions.
Amateur photography is easy to spot and can do more harm to your non-profit than good. Professionally taken photographs go further than being beautiful to look at.
Instead, they tell stories and convey a much deeper meaning.
To make your non-profit stand out with professional photography, get in touch with us today.
At our studio, we go beyond great photographs. We create powerful images unique to your cause.