Pro bono work Why free work can end up costing you a lot

Pro bono work is work undertaken for no fee, for charities and not-for-profit organisations. This may sound great, but it will often end up costing a lot more than you think.

Branding, design and communications are powerful agents of change – that can make (or break) your organisation. Do you really want to relegate this work to a volunteer, unpaid designer/agency? To undertake work for free sets the wrong tone. It indicates that you are not invested in the success of the project and don’t value what your designer can do for you. Truly great work requires commitment, time and passion – something that your designer is unlikely to give when they are working for free. They are also unlikely to pro-actively make strategic suggestions if they result in more unpaid toil. This is not an environment conducive to creating effective work.

If someone is working for you, for free, you have much less control. What if your designer is fitting your project in around paid work and can’t keep to the deadline, is cutting corners, and isn’t providing a professional service? Also, they might not be keen to accommodate additional requirements, changes to the project, or requests to provide numerous different options and iterations.

A designer or agency might work for free with the objective of designing a creative ‘portfolio piece’ of work, or winning an industry award, that they hope will help them win future work. One of the trade-offs of pro bono work is that the designer will expect creative free reign. Unfortunately, this can create the dynamic where the designer has their own agenda and is more interested in designing something that works for them rather than you.

Projects can have their tricky moments. Rather than working together to solve any issues, if there is no skin in the game, it is too easy for either party to walk away. And if your designer gets a lucrative project, they may well not have the time or the inclination to continue to work for you. If the project is not completed or is a failure it will need to be redone – which is going to cost a considerable amount of your time, energy and money.

Often the only designers or agencies able to afford to work for free are those with clients linked to the economic system destroying our health, society and environment. Some of these large agencies give a few days of their time each year for pro bono work. Creating the absurd situation where an agency is undermining your aims throughout the year – apart from the few days ‘charity’ work for you.

Asking for or accepting work for free is exploitative and unethical. It’s like the gig economy, but worse, the person doesn’t even get paid! If you are trying to create a fairer, more just society, then you should pay someone for their work. Remember, that most designers will have spent four years in higher education: a one-year art and design foundation course, plus a three year degree. You wouldn’t ask other professionals to work for free, so why ask a designer?

There are designers who only work with charities, not-for-profits and ethical organisations. These designers should be supported, helping them to invest in their business, and in turn help more organisations create more positive impact – making a virtuous circle.