Fundraisers and galas
Proof of the night. The fundraiser photo wall is full before anyone goes home.
The lights go down for the video, the paddles go up, and three hundred people are on their feet. That is the photograph the spring appeal needs, and it lasts about ninety seconds. The volunteer you asked to take pictures is at the back, behind all three hundred heads.
What normally happens
- The thank-you email goes out a fortnight later with two photos in it.
- Volunteers photograph everything and nobody collects it.
- Sponsors ask for pictures of their table and there are none.
- The board wants images for the annual report and the window has closed.
- The one good photo of the paddle raise is on a phone belonging to someone nobody can name.
Why it works for a fundraiser
- A live photo wall gives the room something to watch between speeches, on the screen you have already hired for the video.
- Sponsor logos rotate between the photos, as often or as rarely as you set each one, so a presenting sponsor is seen more than a table sponsor.
- A PDF impression report afterwards counts how many times each sponsor slide was shown — a number to send the sponsor instead of a thank-you.
- Every original downloads in one zip, ready for the annual report and next year’s appeal.
- Guests upload the table photos, the paddle raise and the dance floor — three things one photographer cannot be at once.
- Unlimited guests and a price per event, so a four-hundred-seat gala costs the same as a donor dinner for forty.
- Approve-before-display, because a gala screen sits directly in front of the people who fund you.
Approve-before-display exists for exactly this room. A gala screen sits in front of the people who fund you, and nothing should reach it unseen.
Photographs of the kind of event this suits
Cost per dollar raised
“Every dollar spent on the room is a dollar that does not reach the cause. Justify $99 to my board.”
Fair, and here is the honest version. The screen and projector are usually already in the room, hired for the video, so the wall costs you the plan and nothing else. There is no per-guest fee, so three hundred people cost the same as thirty. And if $99 is still the wrong number, run the free tier at something small first — 100 photos kept for 7 days, with the same approve-before-display as the paid plans — and let the board decide from your own photos rather than from our copy.
What you get on the day
- A QR code card for every table and a sign at the registration desk.
- A slideshow between the speeches, on the screen you already hired.
- A moderator link for a volunteer, so nothing reaches the donors unseen.
- Sponsor and table-sponsor slides between the photos, with a PDF impression report to send afterwards.
- A gallery link for a thank-you email that goes out the next morning instead of a fortnight later.
- Every original at full resolution in one zip, for the annual report and the next appeal.
Questions
- Is there a nonprofit discount?
- Ask before you book rather than going without. The free tier is 100 photos kept for 7 days with the same approve-before-display as everything else, and it needs no card — enough to run a small non-profit event and judge the thing on your own photos. For a gala proper, $99 covers 1,000 photos for 30 days.
- Can we pay by invoice rather than card?
- Ask. Purchase orders and cheque runs are normal in this sector and we would rather work with yours than lose the booking to it.
- What does it cost per guest?
- Nothing. Guests are unlimited on every plan, including the free one, and the price is per event. A four-hundred-seat gala and a forty-seat donor dinner cost the same.
- Can we keep the photos longer than the plan says?
- Tell us before the event and we will set the window to suit you. The $199 plan keeps them 90 days as standard. Either way, download the zip the week after and keep your own copy — annual reports get written later than any retention window is worth trusting.
- Is there anything in it for our sponsors?
- Sponsor slides rotate between the photos on the wall, and you set how often each one appears, so a presenting sponsor comes round more often than a table sponsor. Afterwards you get a PDF impression report with a count per slide, which is a concrete number for the sponsorship report instead of “good exposure on the night”. For a lot of nonprofit galas that alone pays for the event.
- How do we make sure nothing embarrassing goes up in front of donors?
- Nothing appears until a person approves it, on every tier including the free one. Hand the moderator link to a volunteer with a phone — it does not have to be you, and on the night it should not be.