I was talking to a graphic designer the other day about a project she had recently completed. She said, “I won’t charge them much. They are a non-profit.” Curious, I asked her what she thought the budget of the non-profit is. She had no idea that the budget of the agency was, from what I have heard, about 6 million dollars a year.
After talking with her a little more, I realized that she is a very kind-hearted person and felt that by charging the agency less, she’d be helping them with their mission. I could understand that, and, indeed, Kona Impact has often given services and products to local non-profits as a way to support their mission. I feel it’s part of our responsibility to support the community in which we live.
It’s important to look at non-profits through the lens of a business person, though. Some, like a small community outreach programs for homeless youth, might have a budget in the thousands, so any contributions of time or services would be much appreciated. Any money not spent would likely go to supporting community projects. These are great organizations to do pro bono work for, especially if you are new to the design business and you want to build your portfolio.
At the other end of the spectrum is non-profits supported by government grants or large foundations. This typically includes medical services non-profits, which are funded by insurance payments and Medicare, animal services, which receive state and county support in many communities, and many social service non-profits, which often receive federal and state funds. These have many full-time staff members and directors who are all reasonably compensated. They are professionally run and have a budget for outside services.
I wryly told the graphic designer that she is probably the only person who is not making sufficient money when she does work for the agency. All the staff and other suppliers are making a reasonable salary or profit, and she should consider doing the same. She could then be compensated fairly for her work and then, if she chooses, donate time or money to other nonprofits with lesser funding or resources.
Many years ago, Kona Impact decided to support a few non-profits that we knew had little funding. They also had to be organizations with a mission in which we believe. Currently, we donate a lot of products and services to the Aloha Theater, a youth sports organization, Rotary International, and our local Rotary club. We give generously to these organizations. We also try to give heavily discounted rates for other organizations that do good in our community, but we do run a business, so if our buyer is a large, well-funded organization, we do like to make some money on the jobs we do.