Great Stock Photography for Nonprofits: Where to Find Images That Tell Your Story
In the case of nonprofit organizations, good photography can be one of the most effective ways of conveying a mission. From fundraising for your organization to advertising your event, an impact story to your social media, the right image can help people understand your work and get it on an emotional level.
Nonprofits typically have a small marketing budget, so it is important to make every dollar count, including when hiring a professional photographer. Fortunately, there are many stock photo sites with photos for use in websites, newsletters, presentations, fundraising campaigns and social media.
Why Photography Matters for Nonprofits
Nonprofits regularly must communicate challenging matters to the public in a way that they can grasp. Photographs can help to bring those things into focus.
A picture of volunteers engaged in the community, for instance, can impart the meaning of the organization's mission much more rapidly than a paragraph of text. Photos can also be used to illustrate the impact of giving and fundraising.
Photography can be a powerful tool that can assist nonprofits:
Create websites that are more interactive.Develop interactive websites.
Strengthen fundraising campaigns
Enhance social media posts
Create better newsletters
Enhance annual reports
Promote events
Communicate impact
Promote education with greater accessibility.
The important aspect is finding photographs that are genuine and relevant to the work of the organization.
Vecteezy
For nonprofits, Vecteezy is a good place to begin their search for cheap visual content. This library has more than just conventional photos and vectors; it also offers videos, templates, and other creative tools for organizations, providing access to a diverse range of resources.
If you're an organization creating content on a regular basis, it can be helpful to have access to a variety of these visual resources. For a single campaign, photos may be needed for a blog post, graphics for social media, illustrations for an infographic and video for a fundraising campaign. Recently, they’ve added editorial photos, too, which are excellent for news and sports articles.
Vecteezy has also got several free resources, and for those who have more specific needs, there are paid resources as well.
Shutterstock
Another good stock photo site is Shutterstock, where you'll find a huge library of photos on almost any subject.
Nonprofits can find pictures of communities, education, healthcare, the environment, volunteering, fundraising, business and much more.
For any company that requires photography for multiple campaigns all year long, its vast library can be of great assistance. The downside is it could be expensive, and nonprofits need to be mindful of subscription and licensing costs.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock offers stock photos, illustration and vectors, videos, templates and more, all written by experts.
It's great for nonprofits with their own designer or frequently produce high-quality marketing content. It may also be beneficial for organizations that already have Adobe Creative Cloud membership as well, since Adobe's design applications are also integrated into the platform.
It is a diverse collection, enabling the user to locate general conceptual images as well as more specific photographs.
Unsplash
Unsplash is a great free photography resource for nonprofits with shoestring budgets.
It has an especially strong collection of people, communities, nature, travel and work and lifestyle imagery. The photographs are quite natural and contemporary, suitable for websites and social media posting.
But, nonprofits should always check the existing permissions and ensure that a specific picture would be suitable for the use they plan to make of it.
Pexels
Pexels is another well-known free stock photos and video website.
It's also recommended for nonprofits that don't have a robust photography budget as it contains a vast array of photos. Imagery for common causes like volunteers, communities, education, business, nature, and social issues are available for use at an organization.
For smaller nonprofits and those that don't have access to a professional photographer, Pexels might be the perfect source for their content.
Getty Images
Getty Images offers premium commercial and editorial photography for organisations on major campaigns or high profile publications.
The editorial collection can be especially useful when a nonprofit is reporting on current events, current public issues or well known people and organizations.
If you are using the photo for a big fundraiser, publication in the national media or a report that will be of significant importance, then premium photography may be the better option.
Alamy
Another good idea is Alamy, where they can find documentary or editorial photos for nonprofits.
It has pictures of all kinds from all over the world, news, culture, history, communities and social issues. This makes it a handy option for companies that are dealing with a topic that may not be well-served by generic stock photography.
For instance, a non-profit that is putting out a publication on a specific area might want to use location-specific photos more than the stock photo that is typical of that subject matter.
What to do with Stock Photography for nonprofits
Once you've located a good photo, you need to find a good teacher to help you with it.This is to say that this only gets you a good photo – it doesn't get you a good teacher. Another consideration is that the image must be relevant to the organization and to the audience.
Prioritize Authenticity
If possible, select images that appear spontaneous as opposed to posed.
Photography of real people and real situations will likely resonate with nonprofit audiences better. Images reminiscent of traditional corporate advertising sometimes can become disconnected with the organization's mission.
See Diversity of Representation
Many nonprofits may have a diverse population, and photography should reflect those people that an organization deals with.
Take into account age, background, location, ability and other representations when choosing images. The aim is not just to gather a range of pictures – it's about selecting pictures that represent the organization's audience and mission.
Match Pictures to the Story Text
The picture should complement the message and not just occupy space.
When it comes to food insecurity, a photo of a food bank or community distribution program might be more effective for your story than a generic food photo.
Likewise, a photo of an actual landscape, conservation action, wildlife or volunteers in the field will support an environmental organization.
Check Licensing
Licensing is important especially for nonprofits.
Just because an image is found online does not give an organization the right to use it in marketing, fundraising, advertisements or other commercial use.
When posting a photo, verify the current license of the platform and ensure that it is applicable to the purpose of the posting. One additional restriction to look out for is restrictions that feature recognisable persons, trademarks, property, and editorial-only imagery.
Create a Uniform Visual Style
Nonprofits will also gain from an approach to picture-taking that is uniform and regular.
Repeating images that have similar compositions, lighting, colors, or content can help give a website, newsletter, and social media presence a sense of unity.
Having a consistent visual identity can aid recognition of an organization through various channels.
Use stock photos sparingly, but have them on file for use as needed
Stock photography is very handy but when possible, nonprofits should use it in conjunction with original photography.
Photos can be collected during real events, volunteer service, fundraisers, community projects, or organizational activities, and can be more authentic than stock photos.
Original and stock photography can thus work together to create an effective combination. When the organisation has something to tell and the concept or visual is challenging to capture, original photos can be used.Original photographs can be used to tell the organisation's own story or to fill in gaps when the concept or visual is more difficult to photograph.
Use Photography to Demonstrate the impact
One of the greatest values that a nonprofit can have from photography may be its evidence of impact.
Donors and supporters want to know what the organization does. Photography can help spread awareness of the people, communities, animals, environments or other causes that are being supported by the photography work.
Rather than stating that a program is successful, a good photo can help prove it.
That can take the form of more than a design for nonprofits. It becomes a part of the organisation's storytelling strategy.
Nonprofit organizations can use great photography to tell their stories, engage their audiences, enhance fundraising efforts and produce interesting and engaging content. It is not always the case that big hardware investments are necessary to enable this.
There are options to choose from, depending on budget, licensing requirements and the kind of photography needed, such as platforms like Vecteezy, Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Unsplash, Pexels, Getty Images and Alamy.
The best way to do this is by selecting images that are authentic, relevant, inclusive and strongly related to the story. Photography can be one of the most significant elements of a nonprofit's content strategy, when it is a tool to aid the message, not merely fill a page.
