Why Pro Bono Work Hurts Everyone

It’s something that has happened to everyone who’s a freelancer, or perhaps just everyone who runs a business. People will ask for things for free; I want to make it super clear now that I’m not saying never do pro bono work. I’ve done it. It just needs to be the right circumstances; asking a person you don’t know for free work is not only bad for the freelancer, it’s bad for your project in general.

As a freelancer, I prioritize my projects; having a full-time job and being a professor makes this all the more important. My time is very finite. I need to make sure I’m doing right by everyone- that I’m getting my tasks done and that I’m giving my clients what they paid for. When I do this, if the client is not paying, that project gets bumped down to the bottom of the list. The part labeled, “Do this when you can.”

In most cases, it’s nothing against the client. It’s that when money is exchanged, those projects instantly become more important. The amount also has a lot to do with it; a $10,000 project is going to be more important than a $1000 project because there is more at stake. The client is telling you, “Your work is worth $10,000 to me. I want you to make sure you put in the time and effort that’s worth that much to you.” It’s also the reason rush jobs cost more. You’re telling me to tell my other clients that this new project is all of a sudden more important than everything else.

In the case of being asked to do pro bono (or even cheap) work, you’re saying, I don’t see enough value in this project to pay for it, or your time is not worth that much to me. You may not mean to say that. Maybe the project has no money or a very small budget at this point. However, that’s the message the comes across to the person you’re asking to do the work. And even if the freelancer doesn’t think that it will show when he or she puts your project at the bottom of the pile. The move that says, everything else I’m doing is more important to your project.

I know this because I’ve been there. I’ve offered to do free work for friends that went awry because I also had paying customers and I viewed them as more important; they were paying the bills, after all. It will eventually create a bad relationship between the client and the freelancer. The last time I was asked to do pro bono work, I responded that I don’t do it, nor do I pass it on to others in my network. It may seem like a cold answer, but I’m being honest with everyone, including myself. I was too busy to do free work, and it would have been bad for the project.

If you need to set up a website cheaply or freely, I suggest you look at something like WordPress.com or Squarespace until you have some money to pay for the work you want done. It may not be ideal, but it will be better for your project and for your professional relationships in the long run. You don’t walk into a car dealer and ask for a Ferrari for free. Don’t ask someone to sink hours of their time into your project for free either.