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Topic: Freelance but as a staff member of non-profit
| Author | Message |
| liagd | Posted – 3/4/2008 6:28:21 PM | show profile Hi, I know others have questioned and answered regarding freelance rates. But I'm applying for a position at an activist nonprofit as a kind of in-house p/t freelance writer. They've asked for salary requirements. It's a pretty intensive position writing much of their promotional, educational, press material. I'm very qualified for this position and have done lots of the type of writing they want, though I haven't done a lot of freelancing. I also have an MFA in writing. What do I put as a sal. req? Thanks |
| Village Gal | Posted – 3/5/2008 8:58:00 AM | show profile so you have to go into their office and they're not taking out taxes.. and you have lots of experience in this area.. I'd charge anywhere betweem 60-75 an hour. I doubt your MFA in writing is relevant to this job but your related experience should count for a lot. good luck |
| wineaux | Posted – 3/5/2008 10:19:43 AM | show profile It really depends on the size and resources of the particular non-profit in question. I did pr writing for a small but decently resourced non-profit in N. Cal and did not make what the above poster suggested. I was happy to get consistant, flexible writing work in the small town I lived in, so I agreed to a lower salary. But, if it is a larger, deeply resourced np such as, the American Cancer Society and your skills warrant that sort of pay,give it a try. Just think carefully about what they will accept. I was turned down a couple of times by expecting too much hourly pay at non-profits when my clip book wasn't fat enough. Now that I have had some success writing in that arena, I don't mind proposing higher fees. |
| liagd | Posted – 3/8/2008 8:15:41 PM | show profile Yeah, I'm wary of requesting the 60-75/hr. Not just because I don't want to price myself out of consideration. But there is also the question of if I get really attuned to the position and can turn out the work more quickly then I'll be financially shortchanging myself. What would be a reasonable yearly salary to propose? I have over 10 years of experience as an activist and working for small and moderately sized nonprofits. |
| Village Gal | Posted – 3/9/2008 9:48:32 AM | show profile I suggested $60 because when I've done non profit writing at home, I charged $50 for this type of writing, so I added on more for going into the office. Yes, it does depend on the group but many non-profits have large budgets. |
| nellie bly | Posted – 3/10/2008 3:01:05 PM | show profile liagd, if you?re worried about over- or under-pricing yourself, I suggest you do a little background research on the nonprofit. As other posters have pointed out, nonprofits are not all alike when it comes to annual budget and compensation to top staffers or consultants. If you go to Guidestar--- http://www.guidestar.org/ (a mediabistro poster recommended this site to me in an earlier post)--- you?ll be able to look up the nonprofit?s financial info on their 1099. Access is free if it?s your first visit. It?s helpful to know for example if the exec director?s compensation is $45,000 or $100,000. This should help you figure out how much they can afford to pay you AND whether or not you can afford to work for them. |
| wineaux | Posted – 3/10/2008 3:59:22 PM | show profile great advice, nellie |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 3/10/2008 8:00:32 PM | show profile My personal feeling is, when in doubt ask for the highest reasonable rate. It's much more common to underprice yourself than overprice yourself. |
| Astera | Posted – 3/10/2008 8:35:16 PM | show profile I've only had one experience with a non-profit, but it was the American Cancer Society--well-known and well-funded. I applied for a marketing associate position, which would have involved a lot of promo and press material writing, along with some event management. I had a phone interview with the marketing director, and she said that while she would love to hire me, I was overqualified (approx. six years of related experience) and that I would never be able to come close to my current salary (~$60,000) if I took the job. It paid $43,000 at the top end, and if I were to start at the high end, I wouldn't be eligible for the standard 3 percent yearly raise until a higher-ranking position opened up. So, even a large non-profit doesn't pay all that well, at least in my limited experience. This was for a local branch in a fairly high-cost area of Southern California. In this case, I would be more wary of overpricing yourself than underpricing yourself. It would have been difficult for me to handle such a large pay cut, but I might have been happier in that job. I tried (unsuccessfully) to avoid giving my current salary, but once she had that, she said she wouldn't feel comfortable giving me the job and having me take such a big pay cut, because she worried I'd move on as soon as I found something better. ------ www.adventuresofastera.blogspot.com |
