Any artist interested in making donations of their creative products may want to look into the standard business and donation practices of larger businesses and take a play or two from their rulebooks. Fundraisers for major charities understand that many companies that they depend upon for underwriting (funding and other donations) have a limited amount that they can donate and must choose among the many charities making requests. In order to get the underwriting that they need, charities keep careful track of how the donations will benefit these businesses.
If you are deciding whether to donate your artwork to one charitable organization over another you may want to ask the fundraisers a few questions. Will your brand or name and your painting, photograph or other artwork receive exposure to an audience that may purchase more of your artwork or services? Will the charity ensure that your name or brand is prominently displayed in it's events announcements, brochures, flyers and other advertising? Fundraising executives are accustomed to these questions and can usually provide complete demographics. Demographics tell you the approximate income, possibly age groups and other information about the typical patron of a benefit, art auction or other event. In the case of sales of collected works, calendars, books etc. similar information should also be made available to you.
Demographic information can help you to determine if those who will attend will be likely to 'bid' or generate in some way as much money for the charity as it cost you to produce the artwork or as much as you could have generated through a sale. In addition, this information and the answers to the other questions can help you to determine the advertising value of your art donation. You may find, as other businesses have, that charitable donations can provide you with great marketing and advertising opportunities as well as general good will and the positive feeling that comes with having made a donation. So effective are charitable donations and contributions to some businesses that many include an allowance for them in the advertising portions of their operating budgets. Artists, who likewise depend heavily on public awareness and name recognition and who seldom have large advertising budgets for the promotion of their artwork or services, would do well to look into making donations of their artwork for the same reasons as larger businesses.
Including permanent website information and other contact information on your artwork is one way of reaching a broader audience that may be browsing the work before an auction or event. Announcements are another way to broaden the exposure of your artwork and the charitable event. These can be in local print newspapers, on flyers, by email and through other announcements, both on and offline. For listings of some online art event websites where you can announce your art donations or participation in an event visit our Art Events Page
Finally, you will want to know the cost of production and the retail value of the artwork that you are considering donating. Get a receipt from the charity for tax and other purposes. You may also want to find out who purchased or obtained your art, greet them, ensure that your contact information is provided to them, if for any reason it is not attached to the artwork, and offer to put them on your mail or email lists. In this way you keep track of art pieces that you may ultimately wish to republish or include in a book or other collection of your artwork. This also gives you the opportunity to make future art available to those who already have your artwork in their collections. Other records that may prove helpful include records of the size, value, subject, auction sale price and other information about the art and records of the affect on your website, art gallery or other traffic and sales, both before and following the event. With this information you can fine tune your art donations for maximum benefit to you and to the cause that your donations support
Before you donate your artwork you may also want to read the informative articles posted here. Once you have decided to make a donation there are links here to just a few of the many organizations that would be grateful for your contribution of your artwork.
Valuable information about donating your artwork to charity can be found at
and also in this article titled
Donate Your Art Prudently at ArtBizCoach.com.
"Art for Healing collects works of art through donation and places them in a wide range of hospitals, hospices, and other locations throughout the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.
Art for Refugees in Transition, "provides curriculum and training programs to engage both children and adults in refugee communities in visual, performing and creative arts drawn from their own cultures." A.R.T. is seeking monetary donations to fund these programs.
"Artists for Autism is a grassroots network of artists, academics and advocates dedicated to providing sustainable grassroots funding for arts and recreation based programs for individuals on the autism spectrum in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
In "Got any spare art?" Linda Frost offers an insightful look into her own experiences with art donations and solicitations.
Another valuable insight into the world of art, and in this case, photography donations; this article presents EASL, an art donation program that benefits artists.
JustGiving.Com provides opportunities for artists and others to establish fundraisers to benefit the cause or causes of their choice.
Designed "to feed the New Orleans' Renaissance", this website showcases the cultural movement within the city and welcomes contributions of opinions, work and your support of local talent.
The Art Connection is a nonprofit organization that expands public access to visual art by placing the work of donor artists and collectors on the walls of community service organizations. Since its inception in 1995, this unique art gifting program has supported 260 agencies in their personal selection of more than 3900 works of art by 250 artists and collectors. Within these healing environments, the original works of art provide welcome opportunities for reflection, inspiration, comfort, and hope.
This guide to Nonprofit Charitable Organizations at About.Com helps you to select an organization that is well run and not fraudulent.
Here you can find out not only if the nonprofit is registered in the US, but the extent to which your donation will be tax-deductible (for US artists / donors).
The American Institute of Philanthropy rates charities and provides watchdog reports.
This website primises to "answer your questions and provide meaningful and effective philanthropic solutions for individual donors, families, advisors, and financial institutions."
As with any charity rating service, the Guidestar.Org listings of nonprofits are not complete, but they are always growing, top-notch and informative for those charities that are listed.
This article is just one of many informative articles on charitable giving provided by Charity Navigator "Your Guide To Intelligent Giving". In this article Charity Navigator cautions donors about bogus childrens' charities.
Network for Good provides information about crisis and disaster relief opportunities worldwide.
This page offers recommendations and detailed U.S. tax information regarding charitable contributions of art and tax deductions.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service page of instructions for establishing the fair market value tax deduction for various propery including art donations.
The New Orleans Museum of Art offers a brief, clearly-worded set of intructions for those interested in donating to the museum, including tax information for those who would like to donate art.
The Bridge Law Group raises some interesting questions and provides information about tax deductions and legal implications associated with donations of art and antiquities.The information here is primarily for art collectors.
In this brief commentary and the following discussion, The Art Newspaper raises the issue of tax deductions for artists when donating works of art.
