Donating 1970's Film cameras to non-profit organization?

Dave Colangelo · Oct 22, 2017

Depends on what you want the outcome to be. Most org's will just sell the stuff (good will etc) they dont have much use for the cameras as they stand. As you mentioned most schools want digital stuff although you may find a university that still offers film. Chances are they have lots of stuff lying around from the film days.

My suggestion would be to find a local camera/photography group (things like meetup.com can help with this). Get to know the members and then find out who is interested in film and give them the gear directly. This way you now it will go to a good home, you have some control over who it goes to and you know it will be used for photography and not just a quick profit. There are a lot of young people who are getting back into film, or want to, but dont know where to start or how to use the gear once they have it. An instructional hour would also go a long way if you have the time.

If you are in the Philly area I know a few young photographers that might be interested.

cfcboc · Nov 6, 2017

Dave Colangelo said:
Depends on what you want the outcome to be. Most org's will just sell the stuff (good will etc) they dont have much use for the cameras as they stand. As you mentioned most schools want digital stuff although you may find a university that still offers film. Chances are they have lots of stuff lying around from the film days.

I am in process of contacting a local Art Institute with a photography program and a local university that has a film photography program. I did note that an Art School that I researched was a for-profit, which negates the tax benefit of a donation.

cmra8407 · Nov 10, 2017

I am a photography student and would be interested.

Sent from my SM-G920V using ThePhotoForum.com mobile app

cfcboc · Nov 11, 2017

cmra8407 said:
I am a photography student and would be interested.

But are you doing film-based photography, e.g. 35mm film?

cfcboc · Nov 11, 2017

Wanted to close out this post with a thank-you to all that provided tips and suggestions for my donation.

Fortunately, I have received a reply from a major university within driving distance, that has a significant film-based photography program with well-equipped darkroom and processing facilities. They can place the equipment from my donation with their students to use during their program, especially with the larger format cameras, since they have very few in their inventory. So we are making arrangements to transfer most of the equipment to the school, and for whatever remains, I will use several of the suggestions offered to place that equipment.

OldManJim · Nov 11, 2017

Glad to hear you found a good home for your equipment. Hopefully, it will give years of joy and discovery to the users. This generous act should not go unrewarded.