A Cincinnati-based print company is taking the term “creative fundraising” literally.
BenePhoto – a mix of the words benefit and photograph - is the brainchild of Brian Frank, one of the owners of the Cincinnati-based family business Print Management. Having purchased his share of school fundraising products over the years, Frank wondered if people would rather support their chosen non-profit organization while buying products they actually wanted or were planning to purchase anyway.
Given the popularity of creative photo products like greeting cards, photo books and calendars, Print Management created BenePhoto. Instead of uploading photographs, customers download one, easy-to-use software program from Benephoto and then work off of their own computer’s photo files. At check-out, customers designate which non-profit they would like to support and BenePhoto donates 10 percent of the product sales to that organization.
With its “Making Everlasting Memories” book, Print Management had already established a niche photograph book product within the funeral industry and a graphics department to support it and, now, BenePhoto’s products, too.
“There’s no cost to the non-profit,” says Alexia Workman, account relationship manager at BenePhoto. The company provides a marketing toolkit for nonprofits to use while explaining the photo service to supporters and donors. That way, the nonprofit helps BenePhoto market its services and products.
Since BenePhoto was launched mid-summer, seven nonprofits have signed up and more are in the works.
“The company’s owners and the people who work here are already involved in the community, keeping people employed here, helping nonprofits, and giving people a product that they already wanted. We’re only asking folks to switch vendors," Workman says. “It’s a win-win.”
Do Good:
Learn: More about BenePhoto, its products and services and the nonprofits it is supporting.
Contact: Alexia Workman if a nonprofit is interested in learning more about this kind of fundraising.
Look: At your own photo files to see if you need to organize them with the help of BenePhoto!
By Becky Johnson