Boulder Family Portraits for a Cause: FAQs
On Sunday 30 September, we will kick off Family Portrait Month a mini portrait session event from 11:00 am – 5:00 pm at Modern Film Studios, 1401 Walnut St, Boulder CO – the Mama and Me mini sessions to benefit Operation Smile! On that day, for $75, parents and their children will receive a mini twenty-minute portrait session and two 5×7 fine art gift prints, with all net proceeds from every session donated toward Operation Smile. This year, our the goal is to raise $480, the amount needed to help fund a two life-changing surgeries for a child in desperate need.
Every year, I get a lot of questions about the mini session events I hold to benefit Operation Smile, so this year I’ve put together a video FAQ (and blog post) to help answer some of the most common questions!
FAQ 1: I am a grandmother / godmother / dad / mother to fur babies / older sibling who is the primary care giver for my siblings… Can I still participate?
Absolutely!
Look, I get it. Modern families are as unique as you are.
Maybe you’re a grandparent raising your grandchildren.
Maybe you are a godmother who has a very close relationship with her god child.
Maybe you are a single dad, one of two dads, or a gender-nonconforming parent.
Maybe your babies are more likely to say “meow” or “woof” than they are to say “Mama”.
Mama & Me isn’t about celebrating biological women alone. It is about celebrating the mother-child relationship; that special, nurturing that comes from a bond with a parental figure, regardless of gender. And while that relationship has been traditionally expressed as mother and child, we are playing pretty fast and loose with the definition of “mother” in this instance.
So if your mother is an aunt or uncle who has always been there for you, come on down!
If your mother is an older woman at work who has taken you under her wing and become a Work Mom, please see us!
If your mother figure is your best friend who has always been there for you, for years or decades, available at any time with a cup of coffee and some motherly advice (even if you’re actually the older of the two of you) let’s celebrate that!
Whomever you feel you have a parental bond with, let us capture that forever–and help change the life of a child in the process!
FAQ 2: I cannot make it on 30 September 2018. Will you be having mini sessions on another date?
No, but just because you can’t make our Family Portrait Month kick off party doesn’t mean you cannot be a part of our fundraiser! And hey, I get it. It’s football season — I’m going to be missing my beloved Eagles playing on Sunday because of this fundraiser… which just goes to show how much I believe in this cause.
But I get it. I do. Football is like a religion, and maybe you need to be at Mile High that day. Or maybe you are participating in one of the other community events on 30 September!
No worries!
For the entire month of October, $25 of every session fee all month long plus 10% of the net proceeds of all sales (including personal brand clients and corporate clients) will be donated to Operation Smile. Whether you’re booking a family portrait session, a senior portrait session, professional headshots, glamour headshots, event or wedding photography package, or a personal branding session, $25 from ALL sessions plus 10% of all of the proceeds from the sale will go to Operation Smile! You don’t even have to mention the promotion–it’s automatic!
FAQ 3: Can I get a receipt for this donation? Is this donation tax deductible?
Unfortunately, accounting to our accountant, because we are offering a product (family portrait photography) in exchange for the donation, I cannot offer a receipt that will allow you to deduct the donation from your taxes this year.
HOWEVER: if you want to help us reach our fundraising goal and still take your charitable contribution as a tax deduction this year, there are two options. You can make a donation of any amount you wish and forego the portrait photography all together (because you’re just an awesome, charitable person like that!) or you can make a donation of $25 or more and I will deduct that amount of your donation (up to $100) from your portrait session fee!
To make a donation, go to our event’s Operation Smile – Smile Fund donation page and make your donation.
When you make a donation of $25 or more, once your payment has been completed, call 720-391-6575 and reserve your session for any day between 1 – 31 October 2018.
Bring a print out as proof that you made your donation *through our Smile Fund page with Operation Smile* and I will discount your session fee up to $100 for the amount of your donation.
Please note that this is NOT applicable to the 30 September 2018 kick off party & mini sessions AND that you MUST make your donation through our Operation Smile – Smile Fund page so that we can track your donation and make sure it is applied to our fundraiser!
About Family Portrait Month
For the entire month of October, I will be celebrating Family Portrait Month. $25 of every session fee all month long from any kind of session (family, high school senior, glamour, etc.) plus 10% of the net proceeds of all sales (including personal brand clients and corporate clients) will be donated to Operation Smile.
About Operation Smile:
Founded in 1982, Operation Smile is an international organization that helps children around the world by providing life-changing and, often, life-saving surgeries for little ones born with cleft pallets, cleft lips, and other facial deformities.