For those of you who have never heard of Smugmug, they are a family run company based in Silicone Valley, California and they specialise in providing a one stop shop for Photographers to sell their prints and to make running their photography businesses easier.
Way back in 2010 (actually it’s not all that long ago) I contacted Smugmug to see if they offered any discounts to Non-Profit organisations. As a Scout Group we we’re just relaunching our website and being able to showcase the many photos from our fun and exciting events was one issue we were looking at solving.
I soon had a response and after completing the correct information, Smugmug kindly donated us with a free lifetime Smugmug Pro account.
Following the discussions on Dgrin this week, Smugmug’s Photography and Support forum, it appears not long after we received our account, Smugmug had changed the way they offer support for non-profits by providing them with either a discounted rate or free for one year.
Don MacAskill, Chief Geek and CEO, has recently responded to a question about the previous offering and after doing a little digging around, free lifetime accounts are coming back!
Scouts having fun in Kandersteg during our ‘trip of a lifetime’ in the Summer of 2010
Just how have Smugmug invested in the future of our young people?
Our free lifetime account has provided us with a platform to display and show off our photos from events ranging from; Camping at the local Scout campsite to Rock climbing, International evenings to an International trip of a Lifetime to Switzerland!
It can be so easy sometimes for people to not see the full impact of one companies support to a non-profit organisation.
As a volunteer, I personally have benefited from Smugmug’s donation to the Scout Group, not in money, but in skills. Smugmug has helped develop the photography skills for a number of volunteers within the charity, by providing the platform for us to show our work to the parents, our young people and our community supporters. We try to capture the atmosphere of the events instead of just pointing and taking a quick photo like we used to do.
During our International ‘trip of a lifetime’ in 2010, a team of 10 volunteers took 30 young people to Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. We provided constant updates to our families back home via Twitter and Facebook but we also uploaded photos every day to our Smugmug account. The parents loved it, commenting on our return that they felt like they had also experienced the fun and adventure that we had experienced in the Swiss Alps. But most importantly our young people can go on-line, find our album and re-live the fun they had over the 10 days in the summer of 2010.
The memories will stay with them as they grow into active citizens, building and improving our communities and one day, possibly running the country.
For the young people to not only remember how much fun they had during their youth, but to also be able to look back at all the photos from the events, is just awesome!
Support for non-profits from companies isn’t just providing something for nothing, its much more than that, they truly are investing in the future of our young people!
On behalf of 4th Golcar Scout Group, Thank You Smugmug for showing your support!