Category: Photography

To win, competitors submit photos and a bio where they solicit votes from friends through social media. Each competitor gets one free vote each day and can buy extra votes to raise money for a charity. In this case, the charity is American Royal, a Kansas City based nonprofit that hosts rodeo and equine events as well as does a lot of Ag education outreach.

This is not my first involvement with this type of contest. Last year, I did some photos for Santanna Mitchell who competed in the “Ms. Health and Fitness” competition. It had the same format but was based around fitness and supported a first responders charity.

However, there have been some questions raised about whether these competitions and charities are on the up and up. Some of the information online appears vague and the competition asks for credit card information which kind of raises some red flags for many. If my photos are going to be involved with something and if I’m going to ask my friends to help vote or support something, I wanted to make absolutely sure that it is in fact legit. So, I did some digging.

First, I looked all over the websites for clues as to who is connected with the organization. I found two contacts other than the organization itself to verify what was online. First I contacted American Royal. They were aware of the competition but their PR person had only been with them for a couple of months and wasn’t fully up to speed yet on the exact ins and outs of the competition or fundraising efforts but told me a company called Colossal is involved with the competition. They are in effect the “operator” of these types of competitions. Colossal is a for-profit online marketing company. They take a percentage of the funds raised, but I believe around 70-75% of the funds raised go to the chosen charity.

After going through the Colossal website and social pages, I had more questions than answers because everything was recently posted. But I found that they were connected with a non-profit organization called DTCare. I left a voicemail with them asking for information.

I then reached out to Natalie Kovarik via e-mail. Natalie is listed as the host of the competition. Natalie is an influencer in the ranching/agriculture world with a large Instagram following. However, I didn’t immediately see any connection between here and the competition. I didn’t hear back from Natalie directly, but just a short time after e-mailing her, I received an e-mail directly from the MS Stars and Stripes organization.

Natalie had obviously forwarded my e-mail to them because they knew that I had contacted both Natalie and the American Royal. I still had a few questions in my mind, but the e-mail confirmed that a lot of what was going on was in fact legitimate. I responded to their e-mail and I did have a few more serious questions that I was looking for answers to.

I guess my due diligence had set off a fire within the organization because the next day, not only did I hear from the Ms. Stars and Stripes organization, but I’m pretty sure I received phone calls from virtually everyone involved in any level of the organization. The first phone calls that I got were from DTCare.

DTCare is a US-based charity also doing some cool charity work overseas in Poland, Ukraine, and other regions. I’m not an accountant so I don’t exactly understand this part, but I believe for some tax purposes, the funds raised pass through another nonprofit partner called DTCare. I don’t think DTCare is using any of the funds but DTcare is then passing the funds on to the American Royal or whatever the chosen charity is for the competition. While on the phone I got to speak directly to one of DTCare’s accountants and another Administrative staffer who filled me in on so much of what DTCare is doing and specifically how they work with Colossal.

Next, I received a phone call from a guy from Ms. Stars and Strips competition. He went over all of the concerns I’d raised about the organization, the Ms. Health and Fitness competition, and several other similar competitions/fundraisers that they work with. They have now been running these types of events for the past 8 years.

Before the day was over I got a call from the founder of DTCare. We had a great conversation about how the organization works and other things they are involved with.

I can say that I’ve never had so many people act so quickly and so fully address concerns with any organization. After all of this, to the best of my knowledge, Yes, this is a legit competition. It is a legit charity. If you are so inclined, go vote for one of these girls and help a charity. I don’t remember exactly how far or how much money has been raised through them, but I do know that last year, Santanna Mitchell made it pretty far in the competition last year.  

If I can help anyone build their personal brand or help a charity with my photos, I’d love to work with you.