In the March newsletter I featured an article titled 5 Ways to Simplify School Fundraising And Raise More Funds in the Process.

One of the programs that I recommended as an integrated fundraiser is Picateers. With this program your school, sports team or other group will get 50% of the sale of portrait packages. It includes professional photo processing, online ordering and photos are mailed to your home.

I discovered Picateers earlier this year when I met Larry Jacobs, CEO of Picateers at a fundraising conference. The idea for Picateers all began with his children’s preschool. They needed funds and he and his wife had always enjoyed art and photography. They created a quilt with photos from the children’s preschool for the school’s live auction.

While they knew it was something unique, they were surprised by all of the compliments from parents and especially by the bidding war that ensued over the quilt. Parents love capturing memories of their children, and Jacobs saw the potential for raising funds to support schools at the same time.

Picateers offers several fundraisers that schools can do including photo gifts and art books. Plus members can utilize the online photo sharing and order prints of their favorite photos. All online purchases support the member’s chosen charity.

Their premier program is the portrait fundraiser. This can be used by schools, sports teams, clubs or a variety of other groups. Picateers first offered this program to a few schools last fall and it was a great success. Now they are ramping up to serve many more groups.

How it Works:

1. Talented parents or a professional photographer snaps digital portraits
2. Upload portraits to Picateers
3. Picateers takes care of parent orders via automated emails and flyers
4. Picateers delivers portrait packages directly to parents by mail
5. Your organization receives 50% of all portrait revenue

I asked Larry about how using Picateers compares to other photography programs. “With the popularity of digital photography there are many great amateur photographers out there. The quality of photos that we’ve seen from parents or other volunteers has been high. We also give our volunteers recommendations and guidance to make sure that they get the best photos possible. For example, we recommend that pictures are taken outside in natural light.”

Prices for Picateers photo packages are comparable to other school portrait programs. With great prices, great quality and 50% going back to the school is a winning situation all the way around.

Check out Picateers portrait fundraiser