If you or your company are donating money to help non-profit organizations... and photo opportunities are an afterthought, you could be missing fabulous opportunities for publicity.

A good-quality, unusual photo is often the first thing that attracts a reader's attention. It serves as an anchor on the page. And often, a photo can tell its own story, without being accompanied by an article. Big checks are still unusual enough that they will make the paper or the news.

Journalists say a good photo or an unusual photo can move your article from the back of a magazine or newspaper to the front. Photos can be the deciding factor when you're pitching a story idea. An editor who knows that you can provide photos, or that their own photographer can take photos of something interesting, might be encouraged to say "yes" to your story idea. And while you are not donating the money for your gain.....why don't let the community know of your good deed?

Here are 12 tips for using photos and big checks for publicity:

1. Make sure you have good-quality, above-the-shoulders photos of all your experts who are likely to be interviewed by the media....have these folks in the big check picture if possible

2. Consider asking your photographer to shoot "environmental portraits" of your experts. An architect, for example, might be shown holding several rolled up architect's renderings under her arm. A construction executive can be shown holding a hard hat or other tools of his trade. Weekly newspapers that don't have big photo staffs would probably welcome these photos. Have these props available in the big check photo.

3. Have interior and exterior shots of your company available for the media. The interior shots can show people at work.

4. Submit big check photos with news releases about the donation.

5. Pie charts, bar charts and other graphics can often help readers understand complicated issues such as budgets. Offer to supply information to media outlets so they can create their own graphics to accompany the article they're writing about.

6. If you're sponsoring an event that doesn't necessarily warrant a story, call the photo desk at your local newspaper and let photographers know what's happening. Let them know that a big check will be involved.....they are still unusual and help get your photo published.

7. If a photographer from a newspaper or magazine takes photos at your company, never demand to see the negatives, or dictate what photo they should use with the article, or ask for free copies of prints. The negatives are the property of the media outlet, and the media maintains full control over their use. If you want prints, expect to pay for them. Try to ensure that the photographer gets a photo of the big check exchange.

8. When sending prints to the media, be sure correct identification is on a sticker on the back of each photo. When sending several photos, slip a piece of paper between each one so the ink from the back of one photo doesn't bleed onto the front of the photo behind it.

9. Avoid using big clunky photos at your website because they slow down the time it takes a page to load....big check photos on your website show that you care and are active in the community.

10. In addition to the check passing photo, take a photo that illustrates what the money will be used for.

11. Make sure you offer all your images as digital photos that the media can access at your website, perhaps in a password protected area that the public can't access.

12. If you're sponsoring an annual event, take lots of photos yourself and offer them to the media the following year to be used for pre-event publicity. The big check photo can be used for many years.

Are you starting to get the picture? Photos and graphics can be a powerful publicity tool-but only if you use them. You are doing a good thing with your donation.....let your clients and the community know what is going on.....it tells them a lot about you and your business.