Thanks guys! I thought this was wrong but I'm such an easy going person that I never want to offend anyone. And when I kind of brought it up at the end, the rescue's response was "oh, no, people knew they were donating to us, we always have a donation box." They might always have a donation box but I don't think they would have brought in the money they did and wouldn't have adopted out all 10 of their kittens without having me there. And people did make a "donation" directly towards me when they put it in the jar. Oh well, I may have got burnt a little this time, just another learning experience, I need to get some more business sense into my head.

Since the stores are advertising the events as "free" photos I feel weird asking them to pay me. I don't mind volunteering my time to charity either but I think I need to implement my own donation box, maybe a $2-$3 suggested donation per customer. I'll put put a sign out that says we are volunteering our time for the day and to help us continue to support these events please donate so they can continue to be free!

Hopefully this won't be meet with resistance and I won't look stupid for asking to do this. I just feel like I should get something when shooting on such a large scale. For charities I already volunteer/offer my time to take free photos of their fosters and sheltered animals and I do fundraising, willing to donate 10% of sales back to them too. Plus all the door prises they want for their pasta dinners. I know they need all the help they can get and I hope I don't sound greedy but I have to be paid too. Ugh, I'm a bit tired, frustrated and confused! Thanks so much for helping you guys help me make sense of it all!