Should I charge for school ?

Last december, I volunteered to take pictures of the kindergarten class from my daughter's classroom. There were about 15 kids I took pictures of, doing the alphabet of sign language. The project was a hit. I put together their photos and their hands into alphabet and in the fundraising auction, it was the hottest class item and sold for $1500!!!

Here is the link of the picture.

http://mudpuddlephotog​raphy.smugmug.com …ASL/804750507_f​eY6D-S.jpg

When they had this printed, I put it in my webpage with original protected, so they ordered it at a base price, now I set it up more for the profit, after the fundraising is done.

Now, they asked me if they could make poster prints at the local store to be given to the parents ...

THe question is... if put about 40 hours work to put them together, for free for this school. My daughter is no longer at this school, we still love this school. We moved.
Should I get any profit from this work I made ? SHould I sell the digital file, or should I talk to them and ask for the percentage profit ? What do you think I should do ?
I planned not to get any money for the fundraising, I did it for the school, but now I think I should get some money from it. Definitely they loved my artwork...

If I should charge, how much should I charge ? Please help.

This is a difficult one.

I think you doing it once for a fundraiser for your childs school is a nice gesture.
However them asking again when your child no longer attends seems they are preying on your
generous nature.

If the fund raising was for a charity of some kind I think it would be wrong to charge.
However in this instance I think requesting a 50% profit split is more than fair after all it's your
skill and time going into it.

Unfortunately being a business man my moto is always "Whats in it for me?" so I'm probably not
the best person to answer

Good Luck

One time for the auction was a freebee...Give them the original price only for the count of one poster per participating child. Everyone else pays the new rate. I guess my MBA supersedes my photography "amatureness".

Thanks you guys!!!

I would say donate your time and expertise. The goodwill and warm feelings will be worth more to you than cold cash.

I did donate my time and my talent for the fundraising. They got $1500 from selling my art.

Hardly seems right that someone paid $1500.00 for a very unique piece - now everyone can have a copy at a "reduced price". I don't think there is anything wrong with making some money for yourself considering the time and talent you put into this but don't be surprised if the school thought you would do this for free again. (( before you do this - do you have photo releases for all the kids?))

I'd feel a little cheated if I were the one who paid $1500.00 for it and now it's avaialable to everyone at a lower price.

I'm not sure how to tactfully do this, but I think you should be paid. I think I would be inclined to allow the school to order prints through yourself and then to send them the prints with a royalty of some kind. This would mean you would make something and would retain control of your image. Your profile doesn't state what your profession is. But if you are a professional photographer, it would be even more important to maintain some control. Let us know what ends up happening please--all the best!

Tell them you can print it for them at cost.
And watch all the cute kids point at their hands and smile.

That feeling inside is much better than $20 would ever feel.