Need Advice

A friend asked me to take pictures at a fund raising dance. Not the type of shooting I do so I said yes for the cause. Just kinda covering the event and may sell some pictures so I waived the shooting fee.

Today the woman in charge of the dance stated that my wife must pay the $100 ticket price to enter the dance to assist me.

I know what I want to do, but before I say something that I can't take back, what would you do?

Ha ha - absolutely hillarious.

Tell your friend that paying for entry for your wife is a non-starter as she is not "attending " the dance but is working with you.

Either they stop being stupid or you will not be able to do the job for them.

Alternately you could re-instate your shooting fee of $300.

The answer is easy. Either your wife doesn't pay or you tell your friend you have no choice but to charge your normal shooting rate.

I agree with the others. You can either both get in free to WORK or you can charge your fee which would cover the 100 and then some . I have never been told that my wife needed to pay to get in when we were both shooting.

Crazy! Definitely pass on this one if they insist on charging your wife.

Tell them to find another photographer.

IMHO this is irretrievable. You offered to do a job for charity and they're trying to bang you besides.

Show them the back of your head.

tickerguy wrote in post #16713088
Tell them to find another photographer.

IMHO this is irretrievable. You offered to do a job for charity and they're trying to bang you besides.

Show them the back of your head.

Be careful though because the person that said she must pay may be not involved in the planning process so they may not have an idea who gets in and who doesn't. Ask your friend or someone that has the power to waive the fee and then decide from there. If the answer is she still must pay run the other way.

You are donating your time, but tell them they have to pay your expenses. Turns out your expenses are $100 to get your assistant into the dance.

If the proceeds from any images you sell are going to the fundraising effort, it's obviously unreasonable to ask your wife to pay. In these circumstances, if they insist on charging for her ticket, you might want to walk away. I would.

However, if you're waiving the shooting fee but selling the images for your own profit (it's not clear from your original post), then it's not unreasonable or unusual for the organizers to provide only one free ticket. At most of the fundraisers I've done, even the organizers pay for their tickets.

I'll shortly be doing a photo booth for a fundraiser "spring fair", and will have a separate table as an exhibitor as well. I'm paying the going rate for my exhibitor's table, because I'll be selling my own products for profit. Just because I'm donating all the photo booth proceeds to the charity, it doesn't mean they owe me a free table for my business activity.

Doing work on fundraising requires a certain amount of generosity. However, the ticket price for the dance you're covering is fairly high. If it were me, if I were donating the images to the cause, and if I absolutely needed an assistant to provide the coverage they'd asked for, I'd probably (and politely) withdraw my services, explaining that, while I was happy to give my time and images, I hadn't figured on donating a sizeable cash sum as well.

Personally, when I agree to do fundraisers, I always donate both my time and the proceeds from any sales. It's kind of an unspoken rule, at least in my circle of activity, that contributors don't profit from charity events. However, in the hypothetical case that I was selling the images for profit and the organizers asked me to pay for my assistant, I'd either cover the event alone, without an assistant, or withdraw on the basis that the cost of my assistant's ticket would wipe out any profit I could make from the event.

Either way, I hope you don't fall out with your friend over this. Life's too short.

If they agree to waive the entrance fee for your wife, don't let them catch her dancing.

ceegee wrote in post #16713279
If the proceeds from any images you sell are going to the fundraising effort, it's obviously unreasonable to ask your wife to pay. In these circumstances, if they insist on charging for her ticket, you might want to walk away. I would.

However, if you're waiving the shooting fee but selling the images for your own profit (it's not clear from your original post), then it's not unreasonable or unusual for the organizers to provide only one free ticket. At most of the fundraisers I've done, even the organizers pay for their tickets.

I'll shortly be doing a photo booth for a fundraiser "spring fair", and will have a separate table as an exhibitor as well. I'm paying the going rate for my exhibitor's table, because I'll be selling my own products for profit. Just because I'm donating all the photo booth proceeds to the charity, it doesn't mean they owe me a free table for my business activity.

Doing work on fundraising requires a certain amount of generosity. However, the ticket price for the dance you're covering is fairly high. If it were me, if I were donating the images to the cause, and if I absolutely needed an assistant to provide the coverage they'd asked for, I'd probably (and politely) withdraw my services, explaining that, while I was happy to give my time and images, I hadn't figured on donating a sizeable cash sum as well.

Personally, when I agree to do fundraisers, I always donate both my time and the proceeds from any sales. It's kind of an unspoken rule, at least in my circle of activity, that contributors don't profit from charity events. However, in the hypothetical case that I was selling the images for profit and the organizers asked me to pay for my assistant, I'd either cover the event alone, without an assistant, or withdraw on the basis that the cost of my assistant's ticket would wipe out any profit I could make from the event.

Either way, I hope you don't fall out with your friend over this. Life's too short.

Thanks for the detailed response.

Almost everything that you said is what I was thinking. I have worked out the details and my wife will not be attending, I will just be downsizing my efforts. As much as I wanted to walk away, I always felt that I made a commitment to donate my time and wanted to follow through. This event can and should lead to much better opportunities and that is where my efforts lie.

As for selling images, this was requested by the event as this is a black tie event and it was thought that many attending would want a picture. I had discussed some of the sales going to the cause, but we never finalized.

There was never any issues with my friend. He had tried to keep me away from the crazy woman that thinks that she knows what she is doing. This woman has micro managed everything to the extent that she has upset everyone around her.

Thanks to everyone that responded.

FA_Productions wrote in post #16714186
I have worked out the details and my wife will not be attending, I will just be downsizing my efforts. As much as I wanted to walk away, I always felt that I made a commitment to donate my time and wanted to follow through. This event can and should lead to much better opportunities and that is where my efforts lie.

That's a great outcome.

For every charity event I've done, I've had people contact me afterwards, with paid work. It's always been worth the time invested: first and foremost because we live in a very selfish society, and there's a certain amount of satisfaction in being able to help a good cause, and second, because events like this are a great way to get out, meet people and, indirectly, promote your business. And, incidentally, a lot of fun too.

Enjoy!

How did the words "No f*cking way. You want me to pay to help your event?" not immediately come out of your lips.

sspellman wrote in post #16714395
How did the words "No f*cking way. You want me to pay to help your event?" not immediately come out of your lips.

Because some people don't like to burn bridges? What if there is a billionaire philanthropist sponsoring the event and the person putting on the event mentions that the photography is doing this pro bono?

There are a million reasons to be polite and not a single one to not be.

sspellman wrote in post #16714395
How did the words "No f*cking way. You want me to pay to help your event?" not immediately come out of your lips.

Those are the words that I held back. I offered to help out and that is what I will do.