Pro bono
Why free work can end up costing a lot

Pro bono work is undertaken for no fee for charities and not-for-profits. If you’re one of these organisations, this may sound great, but it could end up costing you a lot.

Branding, design and communications are powerful agents of change – which can make (or break) your organisation. Do you really want to relegate this work to a volunteer or an 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 proactively 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’, or winning an industry award, that they hope will help them win future projects. One of the trade-offs of pro bono work is that the designer will expect creative free rein. Unfortunately, this can create a situation where the designer has their own agenda and is more interested in designing something that works for them, not 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 inclination to continue working for you. If the project is not completed or is a failure, it will need to be redone – which is going to cost more 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 of ‘charity’ work it does 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 time. 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, like me, 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 – creating a virtuous circle.