As photographers launch into major documentary projects they face a conundrum. Most photographers are artists and storytellers. Few are also planners and project managers. Yet designing and executing a large, long-term nonprofit documentary project demands all four of these skills.
To successfully secure funding for a project the photographer must meet a range of planning, budgeting, and documentation requirements typically stipulated as part of grant applications. Following the disciplined, well-organized path this implies will not only enhance the photographer’s chances of getting the money but will also surely improve the overall quality and effectiveness of the finished project. In so many ways, it pays to be organized.
The temptation when creating a budget is to simply open an Excel file and start plugging in numbers, but before one creates ledger sheets some careful planning is in order. Rational analysis of project needs will give a clearer picture of true costs and help to avoid the missed details that can bleed a project to death.
Start by defining the obvious elements: your “mission” (presumably the creation of the images and other content elements you have in mind for your project) and your goal (to successfully complete the project and disseminate it through various publishing and exhibition channels). Between those two points is a continuum of complicated and challenging activities. Each is associated with costs and resource needs that you will have to identify and accommodate.
To manage all those activities, break them down into a series of linked task areas. For instance, at the beginning of the process comes topical research: learning about your subject so you know how to photograph it. Then comes funding research and grant proposal writing. During the preproduction phase you will need to gather resources, book travel arrangements, set up shoot dates, and line up all the other details.
During the production phase you’ll be out in the field making pictures (a surprisingly small percentage of your time on most projects). This phase involves many obvious—and some not so obvious—needs and costs. These include transportation, accommodations, meals, subcontract labor (assistants, “fixers,” translators, etc.), perhaps shipping or baggage charges, specialized supplies, and rentals (don’t forget the cost of the dugout canoe and the mosquito netting): a whole host of expenses need to be accounted for.
But once you return from that wildly successful adventure in the field, the real work begins. In postproduction you’ll have to process all those images. Be they film or digital, they will all require work. You’ll need to caption and catalog images, perhaps make prints or prepare digital files for distribution, contact publishers, contact galleries, frame images, and on and on depending on the nature of your project. Each of these steps requires time, materials, and other resources. Add them to your budget.
Then there are the business management issues and infrastructure (the phone, the computers, insurance, etc.) that support the whole endeavor. Those too will demand your attention and your resources.
As you go through this planning process, think carefully. Who will do each task? You? An assistant, collaborator, or volunteer? What sorts of resources will the completion of each task require? On what timeline? What will it really (really) cost? Be specific. Be detailed. Be honest with yourself. Now is not the time to be starry-eyed and delusional. Many a well-intentioned and worthy project has failed because a photographer allowed him- or herself to ignore these details.
Amazingly, one of the most frequently overlooked expenses in a long-term documentary project is income for the photographer. Don’t forget you’ll still have to eat and pay the rent while you work on your opus, so build in a reasonable stipend for yourself
The budgeting worksheets in the appendices section at the end of this book, are useful planning resources.
Once you have completed some type of useful “total project analysis” you will be in a much better position to create a more traditional budget spreadsheet that reflects what your real costs are going to be. You’ll need to include this budget in most grant applications.
But creating a budget is not just about costs; it is also about income. Now that you know what you’ll need to spend to achieve your goal, consider what revenue sources might be available. Make a realistic projection of sources and amounts. What grant funding organizations will you apply to and how much will you request? How much is coming from private funders? How about corporate in-kind contributions (equipment, travel expense, etc.)? Print sales? Publication usage fees? All of this should be factored into your budget.
In general, you should manage your project with the same (or greater) diligence and oversight you use to manage your business. Board members and staff from granting agencies and many independent funders look at a great many project proposals and are highly skilled at recognizing padded, underfunded, or incomplete budgets. The budget is something that you must get right. It must be carefully thought out and comprehensive. When in doubt, consult an accountant or bookkeeper. Such an adviser is likely to offer a dispassionate, hard-nosed and useful opinion about your financial assumptions.
Once you’ve identified all of the variables and nailed down the necessary information, create a set of books for the project. Make it easy on yourself by using bookkeeping software such as QuickBooks, QuickBooks Pro, or Microsoft Money, or, if you prefer, simply use a database such as Excel to create spreadsheets. Either approach will allow you to modify your budget numbers as the project evolves without constantly having to erase and recalculate totals each time something changes. Financial software also generates splendid reports that will not only help you track expenses and keep tax records, but will also be a valuable tool to show potential grant funders how well organized your project is. If it all seems too daunting, hire a bookkeeper (and add this cost to the overall budget).
Be meticulous about record keeping. You do not ever want to visit the IRS with a shoe box full of receipts.
Remember, financial management and budgeting may be difficult and tedious, but the success of your project absolutely depends on how well you manage it.
Edited by Dan Lamont
This series features selected articles from Shooting From The Heart: Photography That Makes A Difference, our highly regarded handbook for photographers developing documentary projects. If you can’t wait for the full series to be published, feel free to download a free PDF version of Shooting From The Heart and have a copy to keep as your own!
