How to Help
Ways to Help PPA Charities and Operation Smile
In 2005, PPA Charities named Operation Smile as its charitable partner. A perfect fit for photographers, whose daily business is creating smiles for their clients, Operation Smile's mission is repairing childhood facial deformities including cleft lips and cleft palates.
We invite you to join with PPA Charities in showing the world what can be accomplished when talented and dedicated professionals work together toward a single charitable purpose: putting smiles on the faces of deserving children around the world. Here's how you can join the cause:
Become an Operation Smile Studio!
For a donation of $240, you can become a 2010 Operation Smile Studio, which proclaims to your clients that you are part of an international commitment by PPA Charities to support the life-changing work of Operation Smile, the highly regarded Norfolk, Virginia-based charity that provides the gift of surgery to precious children suffering from facial deformities. Operation Smile is the charitable partner of PPA Charities.
Your donation of $240 will make it possible for Operation Smile's volunteer medical professionals and support personnel to perform a single surgery that will transform the life of a deserving child born with a facial deformity, such as cleft lip or cleft palate.
Once your donation is made, you can download a 2010 Operation Smile Studio door sign and a larger sign to frame and hang on your studio wall. Your business will be listed as an Operation Smile Studio on ppacharities.com and on an Operation Smile Studio consumer site that is under construction. For each $240 donation you make to PPA Charities on behalf of Operation Smile, you will be credited with one entry into a drawing for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph an Operation Smile mission. The drawing will take place on January 9, 2010 at the annual PPA Charities Celebration in Nashville, TN, the evening before the start of PPA's ImagingUSA convention.
To make your Operation Smile Studio donation, click here.
To go to Operation Smile Studio downloads, click here.
Easy ways to raise funds for Operation Smile
- Donate a percentage of each sale to benefit Operation Smile.
Send your donations to PPA Charities as often as you can so that everyone can watch the ppacharities.com home page Smile Counter increase. Make sure that all donations for 2009 are received by December 15, 2009. - Designate a portion of each session fee to benefit Operation Smile.
Send your donations to PPA Charities as often as you can so that everyone can watch the ppacharities.com home page Smile Counter increase. Make sure that all donations for 2009 are received by December 15, 2009. - Sell "Smile Cards" as a year-round purchase add-on to benefit Operation Smile.
Find more information and a card template by clicking here. - Host a "Day of Smiles" in your studio.
Advertise a one-day opportunity for a basic session, with all proceeds going to Operation Smile. - Offer a $240 retail specialty item through the year to benefit Operation Smile.
Pick a specific product, such as a photo jewelry piece or a portrait with frame, then at the sales session inform clients that all proceeds from this item will benefit Operation Smile. - Offer $240 gift certificates to benefit Operation Smile.
Try offering a $240 gift certificate for $200 as a blog or special for the first 5 callers. - Join with local businesses to host an event to benefit Operation Smile.
Easy ways to raise funds for PPA Charities
- Honor the life of a friend or colleague by contributing to PPA Charities in his or her memory.
Indicate the individual whose memory you wish to honor, along with the address of his or her family, and PPA Charities will send an announcement of your gift to the family. - Honor a friend's milestone or accomplishment through a gift to PPA Charities
Indicate the individual whom you wish to honor, along with the occasion you are celebrating and the the person's address, and PPA Charities will send an announcement to that person.
Begun in 2005, Family Portrait Month provides PPA-member studios with an annual, high-profile opportunity to participate in a nationwide, charity-driven promotion to benefit Operation Smile and elevate the business image of participating studios. The event is sponsored by PPA Charities for the benefit of Operation Smile.
To register for Family Portrait Month, click here.
To learn more about Family Portrait Month, click here.
Become a PPA Charities Pacesetter
PPA Charities Pacesetters are special individuals who use their creativity to challenge themselves and others to support PPA Charities in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons. Meet some PPA Charities Pacesetters:
Jed and Vicki Taufer
V Gallery
Morton, Illinois
To learn how Jed and Vicki motivated their class at the May 2009 Texas School to contribute over $17,000 to Operation Smile, click here.
Graham Wilson
Visions Photography
Littleton, Colorado
To learn why Graham was moved to make a personal donation to Operation Smile through PPA Charities, click here.
Angela Weedon
Angela Weedon Photography
Dallas, Texas
To learn how Angie's business expects to break the $30,000 level for contributions to Operation Smile before the end of 2009, click here. Log on to Angie's free webinar by clicking here.
Terry Farmer
Terry Farmer Photography
Springfield, Illinois
To learn how Terry devised a partnership with local dentists who were eager to help raise funds for Operation Smile, click here. Log on to Terry's free webinar on partnership marketing by clicking here.
Dave Grupa
David Grupa Portrait
Maplewood, Minnesota
To learn how Dave challenged his local PPA affiliate to raise enough money to get him to shave his head . . . and in the process started a new form of Affiliate entertainment and philanthropy, click here.
Mary Fisk-Taylor
Hayes & Fisk
Richmond, Virginia
To learn how Mary convinced members of her PPA state affiliate to auction their talent, and in the process raised $7,000 for Operation Smile in only 45 minutes, click here.
Don Dickson
Don Dickson Photography
Plainview, Texas
To learn how Don is always ready and willing to help Operation Smile whenever he can, click here and here.
Carol Andrews
Andrews Photography
Houston, Texas
To learn how Carol did what Carol does best: come up with a great idea to make the most of the moment . . . raising $500 for Operation Smile in 5 minutes, click here.
The Romagueras
Romaguera Photography
New Orleans, Louisiana
To learn how the Romaguera Family (clockwise from left: Ralph, Sr., Cindy, Ryan, Ralph, Jr.) have found several ways to benefit Operation Smile, click here.
Michael Redford
Redford Photography
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania
To learn how Michael used attendance at his seminars as a way to raise funds for Operation Smile, click here.
You can become a PPA Charities Pacesetter by demonstrating your creativity in raising funds for PPA Charities and Operation Smile. Have a question? Contact PPA Charities Executive Director Bert Behnke at (708) 267-0657 or E-mail: .
Get Your PPA Affiliate Involved!
Many PPA Affiliates are generously supporting PPA Charities.
If your organization has questions about how to raise funds for PPA Charities, contact PPA Charities Trustee David Grupa at .
Take a look at some of the ways that PPA Affiliates have raised funds for PPA Charities, Operation Smile, and Family Portrait Month by clicking here.
Become an Honorary Trustee
The PPA Board of Trustees has created a grassroots advisory/ambassador group of Honorary Trustees to further the message of PPA Charities at local levels. The Honorary Trustees represent PPA Charities at local, regional, and national events and promote the activities adopted by PPA Charities. They also bring ideas to the Board for consideration and provide feedback on the success of PPA Charities promotions. PPA Charities hopes to have Honorary Trustees representing each state in the near future.
Want to Join?
Interested in becoming an Honorary Trustee? Please contact Bert Behnke at for more information.
Honorary Trustees
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Thanks to these dedicated photographers for volunteering their time and talent to PPA Charities!
