Pricing a job for a non-profit

F

filmgen

Member
I recently shot an event for a non-profit organization that a close friend works with. I was doing it free of charge but now I'm wondering whether I can write up an invoice for them and write it off as a donation of my services. I put a lot of work into the project and I believe it's worth at the very least, $1,000. I'm hoping to get some DVXusers' professional opinions on what one would charge for the following services.

We shot the event (a little over two hours long) with two cameras (a DVX and a TRV-900). I digitized and cut all of the footage in about 16-17 hours total. I authored a DVD with chapters and three basic menus. I'm shipping them 16 copies, complete with cases and cover artwork that I designed myself (DVD production took at least 9 hours total).

What kind of hourly rate would I charge for editing/DVD production? My rate for shooting is $300/day w/camera rental. Does anyone charge extra for disk space? Over 4 hours of footage on my drives required me to dump some other material (there was nothing more frustrating then sending my project to render out overnight and to wake up the next morning to find that I'd run out of disk space so only 18 minutes rendered).

It was a huge undertaking and all of the time above does not include the ten hours or so that I was making mistakes and running into printer problems, drive space problems, etc.

So what do you think it's worth? I don't do any of this professionally so I have no idea what people charge.
 
If the organization you worked for is a 501(c)3 certified nonprofit, then yes they certainly should be able to give you a donation letter. I've done a lot of work for nonprofits, and what you describe is basically how it's done.

What you do is, you value your services at retail. Whatever you would charge a paying client, that's what you "charge" the nonprofit. Send 'em an itemized bill, along with a notation that this was a donation. Then they should respond with a letter that certifies that you've donated this much value to them. Take that to your accountant.

You can't overcharge them (i.e., if you charge other clients $300/day, you can't magically charge the nonprofit $800 or $2000/day!) The rates you list on the invoice have to be completely consistent with your existing rates for other clients.

So whatever rates you would charge someone else, those are the rates you should use, and make sure the organization is certified by the IRS as a nonprofit. If they're not, then no donation letter will do you any good, but if they are, you should have a valid tax deduction there.
 
Thanks for the info Barry. I'm positive that they're certified. I'm wondering what to charge as a lot of what I've done for them, I've never done before. I'm thinking that I'll charge $40/hour for editing and DVD production, plus my day rate for the two cameras and operation.
 
Just make sure that whatever you charge is "reasonable and customary", to borrow a legal term... i.e., don't inflate prices just because they're a nonprofit and they're not technically paying anyway. What you charge them should be the same as what you'd charge a paying client, or, lacking any evidence that you've charged paying clients before, you might want to rely on prevailing wages in your area for similar work (i.e., find out what other companies are charging for similar services, and make sure your "charges" are in line with the rest of the market).
 
One thing I'd like to add - if you are shooting a "work for hire" for a non-profit organization, then you can take the tax break for contributions. But if you are shooting your own non-profit (such as a documentary or PSA, etc.) then you should be paid for it and your own salary, equipment rental, etc. needs to be in the budget. (That's not to say you will actually GET that much, just that it needs to be shown in the budget.) This is especially true if you are going to try for any grants. If you aren't paying yourself, you almost certainly won't get the grant. So, keep that in mind, too.
 
My understanding of US tax law is that the deductions being described (for retail value donations) are only available if you operate as a Chapter-C corporation. Otherwise all you can deduct is your actual out of pocket costs (tape, DVDs, mileage, batteries, etc). Check with your accountant before you spend too much time chasing this.
 
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