A Simple Fundraising Concept Based on Photo Scanning

Let me tell you a little more about Scan-a-thon. I got an email asking me for a little more information about it and here's what I sent Perhaps I can answer a question you might have.

It's actually a simple fundraising concept. We know that virtually everybody has a collection of photos in their homes that represent important parts of their lives and are key to memories--photos taken prior to the digital camera age. Most are in boxes, or stored in albums and highlight some of the happiest moments and most important people in their lives.

Here is the problem. The photos are likely old and beginning to fade away. Some you can barely make out and others are not anywhere near the image quality they were when first printed. What's worse, many people put their photos in photo albums for organization or protection. What they don't realize is the chemical in the plastic of the albums will, in time, strip the photos contained in it of their color.

Take this a step further and realize that for a large percentage of people in the pre-digital age, many people in our precious photos can't be identified. Sadly, there may be no one left who can tell us who a person in the picture is.

The concern for someone's photos is capped off by the fact that they are susceptible to humidity (basement) damage, dryness (attic) damage, fire damage, water damage from leaking pipes or a flood and inadvertent loss. I wrote in this blog earlier in the year about someone who was re-doing their basement and thought a box of photos was part of the pile of trash that needed to go to the dumpster. That box was thrown out.

So...the reasons for scanning photos and slides are many.

On the fundraising side, the Scan Zone wants to participate. I'm a great believer in community and have been involved in philanthropy on many fronts for many years, including running the philanthropic arm of one of the largest companies in Rockland. Currently, I am the President of People to People, Rockland County's largest food pantry and have served on many other boards over the years.

Now the question is what can I do to help as many non-profits as I can. Any non-profit who does a Scan-a-thon will benefit from every donor who gets their photos done as part of the promotion. The Scan Zone will contribute 30% of any scanning project that's part of the promotion to the non-profit. With the most popular product being 1,000 photos scanned for $250, it can add up to a good amount of money for a charity.

If you wanted to do a Spring Scan-a-thon for a specific non-profit, here is how it might work:
• People could send their photos (via UPS or Fedex) to our office in Nyack, NY or from a central collection point if that is easier, we would do the scans, save and preserve on DVD, bill them and remit 30% of each payment to the non-profit.
• Or the non-profit could collect them in some other way, the Scan Zone would pick them up; we'd bill the organization the cost of the project less 30% and they could add on any value-added item and bill them on their own.

I believe a Scan-a-thon is effective because it allows an organization to touch its donors another time and by doing a project they were already thinking of doing--or even if they hadn't yet thought of doing it--they will be donating to your non-profit. What's better for them, the donation comes out of the Scan Zone side, not their side.

We use high speed scanners; we can color correct, organize them into folders, edit when necessary and output to DVD. The result will be that the improved image will be frozen in time and will last 50 years or more on the DVD-- with no degradation.

By some estimates, there are about 4 trillion paper prints and countless slides circulating around the world. If people had them scanned as part of Scan-a-thons, think about the money that could be raised for so many different kinds of important non-profits.

If you want to learn more about The Scan Zone, feel free to find us on Facebook or go to our website, which is www.thescanzone.com.

I look forward to the opportunity to work with more additional organizations for the benefit of all those helped by its fine work.