What to charge community organisation for promotional video?

Bill Davis · June 4th, 2009, 11:04 PM

This is me, not necessarily suggested for anybody else.

I hold two "production slots" open each year for "pro bono" projects. For those a client will only pay real hard costs (tape stock, dubs, etc) and any necessary labor that they can't get donated. My business makes NOTHING on those two projects. I hold veto power over the projects. Most years we fill at least one of the slots, in many years both.

It's simply my formal way to give of my skills to benefit the community where I live.

AFTER those slots are filled than any other not-for-profit has to work under this plan.

The project gets budgeted and billed at RULL rates for everything. Then, at the time of payment, and at my sole discretion I will write a check for a CASH donation to the charity or not-for-profit. Honestly, out of dozens of "we're a charity, do this for us cheap" requests over the years, only twice has anyone agreed. Both were legit charities I wanted to support so I wrote pretty BIG checks to them when the project was complete. Many of the others were various other community organizations and a few not-for-profits that loved the IDEA of getting a video, but had NO CLUE of the work or effort involved. The formal budgeting sessions made those clients perfectly clear about the scope of the work, so that on the projects that didn't fall away, the clients came to the set with a clear understanding of the necessity of working professionally and efficiently with us. Which is a very, very good thing.

In the end, the writing of those checks to a registered 501-c-3 also made the tax implications indisputable.

That's how I've handled requests like this for about 15 years now.

YMMV.

June 4th, 2009, 11:04 PM	#16
Bill Davis Trustee Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Scottsdale, AZ 85260 Posts: 1,538	This is me, not necessarily suggested for anybody else. I hold two "production slots" open each year for "pro bono" projects. For those a client will only pay real hard costs (tape stock, dubs, etc) and any necessary labor that they can't get donated. My business makes NOTHING on those two projects. I hold veto power over the projects. Most years we fill at least one of the slots, in many years both. It's simply my formal way to give of my skills to benefit the community where I live. AFTER those slots are filled than any other not-for-profit has to work under this plan. The project gets budgeted and billed at RULL rates for everything. Then, at the time of payment, and at my sole discretion I will write a check for a CASH donation to the charity or not-for-profit. Honestly, out of dozens of "we're a charity, do this for us cheap" requests over the years, only twice has anyone agreed. Both were legit charities I wanted to support so I wrote pretty BIG checks to them when the project was complete. Many of the others were various other community organizations and a few not-for-profits that loved the IDEA of getting a video, but had NO CLUE of the work or effort involved. The formal budgeting sessions made those clients perfectly clear about the scope of the work, so that on the projects that didn't fall away, the clients came to the set with a clear understanding of the necessity of working professionally and efficiently with us. Which is a very, very good thing. In the end, the writing of those checks to a registered 501-c-3 also made the tax implications indisputable. That's how I've handled requests like this for about 15 years now. YMMV.