Non-profit books? (Another "how much do I charge" thread)

[Trainboy]

Here's the email I got.

Dear Matthew,

I would kindly ask for your permission to use this splendid picture in a non-profit, scientific Danish language book on transportation history. It is meant to illustrate the fact that the railroads' market share on freight is about 3-4 times as high in North America as in Europe. Would that be possible? Of course, you will be credited as photographer and can obtain a copy of the book free of charge.

Kind regards
[name removed]
University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg

What do YOU think I should do?

[ssim]

Someone is making money on this. I'm surprised (sort of) that if they really want it free that they would have given you the name of the non profit. I've been approached by several publishers to use one of my shots and quite often they lead with this type of scenario. My answer is always the same, no but I am quite happy to sell you the use of it. More often than not they come back and take it. I think that normally they have already decided out of quite a few shots which one they want to use. Price it right and you can probably get them to buy.

[tracknut]

I would ask them where the revenue from the book is going, and if that source is something you feel deserves the money, as if you were willing to donate your photo to them, then send it along. If the answer is not what you want to hear, then pass on it.

I just finished a book very similar in idea. I asked a bunch of photographers for photos, and every one was donated. But I specified where the money was going. This generic "we're a non-profit, so everything should be donated" is somewhat of a misnomer, IMO, unless they are handing out the books for free.

Dave

[Uhland]

Keep in mind that Non profit means they dont make profit... not that you cant make profit.
The person sending you that email might even get a salary... Just because its non-profit doesnt mean everyone is a volunteer or donor.

I used to use a non-profit auto insurance company.
The price was lower than other companies as it was non-profit but I still paid them $1200 a year for one car.

There are costs and their costs get covered from the price of the book.
Of course the less overhead for them the less they need to charge.

Give or charge. Upto you. Either way you are not wrong for it.

[sfaust]

Find out the book, publisher, market, print run, etc,. If its really a non-profit and in the educational market, the fee could be as low as $10-$15 for an inside small image. If thats the case, I personally would probably just ask for a few copies of the book so I can donate them to my local schools and library and give them permission to use it. If its a large print run, and the fees would be higher, I'd ask them for the going rate less a discount (maybe 10-20%) and if they passed I wouldn't loose any sleep over it.

The non-profit card is used all the time. The only time I consider reduced rates or volunteer work is if everyone else in the organization is also volunteering their time, I agree with its cause, and have the time to help out.

If its a traditional non-profit, where everyone is on a salary, and the corporation financially structures itself such they they show no profit, I'll do the same in return. That means I'll keep my salary, but drop the profit from my fees. Thats about a 15%-25% discount, but far from giving away images or working for fee.

If the corporation is 'only' giving up their profits, and the employees aren't giving up their salaries, why should they expect anything more from us?