Donation and Discount Requests
Yes, we work
with nonprofits.
You asked whether we would donate a booth or cut the rate. Here is exactly how that works, what it costs, and what we ask for in return. No back and forth required.
Start a partnership requestThis page is only for organizations asking us to donate a booth or reduce the rate. If you are booking at our standard rate, check availability is the faster route.
Straight Answers
The honest part, first.
We get asked to donate a booth more often than you would guess, usually by organizations we genuinely admire. So we want to be straight with you rather than disappear for two weeks and send a polite no.
A donated booth is not free to give. Every event means an attendant on payroll, travel, printer media, backdrop and equipment wear, insurance, and one less paid job we can accept that night. Free is the one thing we usually cannot do.
What we can do is build a trade. You get an experience your guests actually line up for, and we get something that helps us keep saying yes to the next organization that asks. Below is what each side puts on the table.
The Partnership
What the trade looks like.
Nothing here is a surprise on event night. If a line does not work for your organization, say so early and we will find a version that does.
What we bring
Included in every nonprofit partnership, whatever rate we land on.
- An attendant-run booth for your full program windowSomeone dressed like a guest, not like a vendor, running the experience, keeping the line moving, and handling every problem before you hear about it.
- A print for everyone, designed around your eventEverything is custom branded for your event. The print becomes the favor, so nobody leaves it on the table.
- Instant sharing by text, email, or QR codeYour event travels home in guests’ camera rolls the same night it happens.
- A branded online gallery, live during the eventYours to send in the thank-you email, and to pull from all year for newsletters and social.
- Guest email opt-in at the boothCollected with clear consent and handed to you as a clean list. Our attendants lead with email over text on purpose, because an email address is a donor contact and a phone number usually is not.
- A post-event engagement reportSessions, prints, shares, and gallery visits, written so you can put it straight in front of your board or next year’s sponsor deck.
- Setup, breakdown, insurance, and venue COIHandled with your venue directly so it never lands on your committee.
What we ask for
Scaled to the discount. A small reduction asks for less than a fully donated booth.
- Recognition as a Guest Experience PartnerIn the program, on event signage, and named from the podium alongside your other partners.
- Our name beside yours on the prints and gallerySmall and tasteful. Exactly where it sits depends on the design, and we will work that out with you.
- An introduction to your corporate sponsorsThis is the one that matters most, and the reason we can keep saying yes. We want to get them in the booth, say hi for a moment, and get their contact information so we can connect with them later on.
- Tagged posts before and after the eventOne announcement when the partnership is set, one after with a link to the gallery. We will let you know which posts we would like to run as collaborations, and we ask that you accept the invite so the post reaches both audiences.
- Permission to use event images in our marketingStandard vendor terms, and we will honor any guest or honoree you ask us to keep out.
- A Google reviewA detailed review of your experience, with photos that showcase exactly what we did for you, posted within two weeks of the event. This is a condition of the partnership, not a favor.
- A donation receipt for the in-kind valueOnly when part of the booth is donated. The in-kind value changes from job to job, so we will settle on the figure with you before the event.
Partnership Options
Three ways to work together.
Most organizations land in the middle. The third one is worth a serious look before you rule it out.
Hundreds of Events
What actually works.
We have worked hundreds of events over the past 15 years. A few things worth deciding before you book.
Make the print the favor
Guests keep a photo of themselves with people they love. They do not keep a branded stress ball. A well-designed print with your logo and your anniversary year outlasts anything else on the table.
Put it where the room already is
Near the bar, the food, or wherever your guests are already gathering, not tucked in a hallway. A booth in the wrong corner is a booth nobody uses, and we would rather tell you that during planning than after.
Open it during cocktail hour
The line is longest before dinner and again after the program ends. Booking through the awards portion is usually money spent on an empty booth, so we will help you time the hours.
Let the theme come from you
Our AI Booth can build custom concepts around your event, your honorees, or a sponsor campaign. For cultural and heritage celebrations we take the creative direction from your committee, never the other way around.
Popular Add-Ons
Worth adding, especially for a fundraiser.
The rate covers the booth. These are the pieces that tend to earn their cost back, and most organizations add one or two. A sponsor can underwrite any of them.
- Audio guest book and video testimonialsDonors, board members, and scholarship recipients recording thirty seconds on why this work matters. You walk out with footage for your year-end appeal, not just party photos. For a nonprofit this is the single most valuable thing we can add to a gala.
- Live photo displayEvery photo hits a screen the moment it is taken. The booth stops being a corner activity and becomes part of the room, including for guests who never step in line.
- Branded print framesFolding card frames carrying your logo, or your underwriting sponsor’s. The print goes on a desk instead of into a coat pocket, which means your name stays in front of that donor all year.
- Full brand skinThe booth exterior, start screen, prints, and gallery matched to your style guide. The whole activation reads as yours rather than as a rented booth.
Also Available
We photograph the event, too.
The booth captures your guests. It cannot capture your program. Most organizations need both and end up hiring two vendors who have never met.
The program, covered properly
Awards, speeches, honorees, and the moment the check goes up. The pictures your annual report needs and a booth in the corner will never get.
Sponsors, documented
Their signage, their banner, their table. Sponsors renew when they can see exactly what their money paid for, and a photo makes that case better than a paragraph.
One team, one invoice
The photographer and the booth attendant work for the same people. Nobody is competing for the same corner of the room, and you have one contact for both.
Images you can use all year
The year-end appeal, the newsletter, next year’s sponsor deck, and the website refresh you keep putting off. One night of coverage feeds all of it.
Photography runs through SMJ Photography, our partner studio. Mention it when you send your details and we will quote the two together.
Good to Know
Before you ask.
A few things that will save us both a round of emails.
- Saturdays from September through December book first. Six months of notice gets you a yes far more often than six weeks, but do not let that stop you from asking.
- Custom print designs, branded frames, and sponsor overlays need two weeks minimum before your event date.
- We take a limited number of in-kind partnerships each year, awarded in the order they are requested.
- We take outdoor events from time to time, always case by case and always with a guaranteed indoor space we can move to. Equipment and weather do not mix, and safety decisions are not negotiable.
- One partnership per organization per year, so we can spread support across the region.
- If you are asking on behalf of a nonprofit as a consultant or committee volunteer, please include a staff or board contact on the thread.
Start Here
Send us the details.
Email works best. The more of this you can include up front, the faster we can come back with a real answer instead of more questions.
- Organization name and your role
- Event date, venue, and start and end times
- Expected guest count
- Rough program flow, including when dinner and the awards portion run
- Which of the three options above fits your situation
- Whether a sponsor might underwrite the booth