The best free stock photography websites for nonprofit organizations
There are lots of paid photography websites such as JumpStory or iStock Photo where you can purchase high quality stock photography for your website. But sometimes you’re looking for free photography for your nonprofit, and you want to ensure you have full permission to use it. With my own website design clients, I do a lot of work sourcing stock photography that’s on-brand and makes the best first impression. Sometimes, though, for social media, and other digital needs you’ll need to search for yourself.
Let’s cover the basics of royalty free stock photography, and how to find it for your nonprofit organization.
What words to search for nonprofit free stock photography
If you’ve already determined what your keywords are for your SEO, then you’ll know what to search for. However, sometimes with stock photography, you have to get a little creative to find a lot of image options for your organization. Too specific can lead you with too few options, and too broad can leave you with irrelevant photos.
Let’s say you're an animal shelter website. Start listing off descriptions of what you offer/who you serve. For example:
Dogs, cats, foster dogs, foster cats, kid with cat, kid with dog, foster pets, foster animals, rescue animal, nonprofit pet…
I recommend saving this list somewhere so you don’t forget to try the options again each time you search a new site, as each will have a different selection. The more creative you get, the more you’ll find your perfect combination.
Keep your brand guidelines in consideration
As always, your brand guidelines should be top of mind when deciding on which images to use. After you’ve done the work developing what you are about and who you can help, having it clearly established should oversee all decisions on what images and colors get chosen for your digital presence.
A note on Licensing
Although I’ve checked the sites for royalty free, it’s always best to do your own research, or ask someone who can ensure that the images you’ve found are indeed fully free for your use. You’re looking for something attached to the photo that says it is CC0 Licensed. Don’t be afraid to ask - it’s important to protect the rights of the artist and use only what they’ve intended to be used for free!
A list of free stock photography for nonprofit organizations and foundations
I’m going to put my two most used sites at the top of the list - these are the ones I try the most frequently, as I find they have a pretty robust selection. Don’t be afraid to open a lot of tabs and try a lot of them - some of them may not have the content you want at all, but others will have lots of it. It all depends on which photographers have donated their images to the sites!
1: Unsplash
Unsplash is a terrific resource for free stock photography, and one of the biggest reasons I use them the most is because they are already integrated with Squarespace.
What does this mean? Instead of needing to leave your website to search for a new image, you can simply search within the image block or banner image you want to update. There’s the option for free, paid, or recently uploaded. Use your keywords you’ve determined above, and you don’t have to download and then upload again - it’s ready for your site already!
Simply open the editing section of your image block, and select “Search for Images”…
…and a dialogue for Unsplash Free images will open for you to select and add to you site!
A quick tip - if you want to keep a copy of the image you’ve chosen on your computer, simply go to Unsplash.com and find the same image with the same keywords. Then you’ve got a backup to use elsewhere as well.
Pexels
I come back to Pexels time and again as I always find quality, modern images for use here, with consistent full photoshoots that can really fill out a site! Don’t forget your social media feeds - this is a great resource for them too!
Good Stock Photos
Good Stock Photos has a selection of nature, people, activities (like sports, resting, walking), architecture, transportation, food, tech, landscapes and cityscapes.
Gratisography
Trying to stand out? Go with Gratisography. Their site is specifically built with whimsy in mind. With categories like “Amusing Animals”, “Funky Food”, and “Goofy Grownups”, you can get the good vibes going with an artistic flair.
Kaboom Pics
Is a gorgeous selection of modern, minimal images. Their selection is like a well curated Instagram feed, with gorgeous pastels and full collections ready to use - great for using across an entire website for a consistent feel.
Negative Space
A source of diverse, traditional feeling stock photography, including nature, people, space, travel, animals, music, city, seasonal, art and design, and sport. Keep in mind this website has a confusing set up where the ads at the top of the page are smaller, that will take you to paid stock photography elsewhere. The larger images below are the free ones as mentioned.
Picography
High quality images with many categories - The wildlife category really stuck out to me in this one. If you’re a nature conservation nonprofit - this could be a great site for you!
Pixabay
Pixabay has a huge selection, including vectors and videos too, which makes your odds finding what you need much better. Try their explore option, which offers Editor’s Choice, and Popular Images too.
Stocksnap
Easy to Browse, with a terrific visual categories page with many options, helping you find what you need quickly!
Stokpic
All the standard categories, another good site to search to see if they have what your specific organization needs.
icons8
Some stock websites stand apart, and this is another one of them. Their website states “Stock photos by a movie-scale crew” and it shows in their work. Beautiful, modern collections with minimalistic flair. Also has great ethnic diversity shown.
Raw Pixel
Finally, a little scattered, but worth noting that Raw Pixel has a program where they give free premium memberships to ‘charity and good causes’ - send them and email to see if your organization could be eligible!
Do you have other sites as suggestions? Let me know and I’ll be happy to add them to the list!
