Hi all,

 

I'm looking to build my portfolio, so I was thinking about making a site for a charity. Anyone have any info on how I'd go about this?

 

I've heard there are directories with such charities/people looking for sites. Anyone point me in the right direction?

Hi all,

 

I'm looking to build my portfolio, so I was thinking about making a site for a charity. Anyone have any info on how I'd go about this?

 

I've heard there are directories with such charities/people looking for sites. Anyone point me in the right direction?

 

 

I am working on a charity website and need a layout designed, I am a developer so I will code the php and make sure all is well with the code in general.

 

PM me if you want to know more.

Nathan... Drop me a PM with more info on your design needs and I'll see what I can do.

Nice to see people willing to do a bit for charity. Nice to see these days :-)

 

Lee.

I'm doing a basic one for my sister!

 

Often just charities you see in the local paper and radio are the best, they need the help most because are often smaller places.

 

Or ask at your local council because they deal with a lot of NPOs and charities, the library would be a good start

I'm working on a church website: Greenbelt Chapel, as one of the church volunteers. I am not sure if I can present this as part of my portfolio since I am not the only one working on this website.

 

Volunteering to design the website of your church/synagogue/mosque is another way of showcasing your talent. However, we might need to guard ourselves from greed and ensure that we are motivated by our desire to offer our talents to God and not much by the possibility of acquiring more clients.

great way to gain experience, a warm fuzzy feeling, benefit mankind.

 

and it looks good on cv etc.

 

recommended.

 

studying and day job and freelance work keeps me too busy as it is, else i'd be looking at this avenue for sure.

Volunteering to design the website of your church/synagogue/mosque is another way of showcasing your talent. However, we might need to guard ourselves from greed and ensure that we are motivated by our desire to offer our talents to God and not much by the possibility of acquiring more clients.

If you're a christian, perhaps...

 

Personally I feel there is no conflict between doing a charity/ church site for free and also being glad of the extra weight added to your portfolio. Everyone has to make a living. Trying to attract customers is not greedy unless you have a monopoly.

At the end of the day, a charity receives quite considerable tax breaks for things like this, and any good charity has a certain amount of funds set aside for exactly this purpose — do you expect them to get free rent/computers/equipment? Unfortunately, with the best will in the world, you get what you pay for. If a website is done for free, you would need an immense amount of motivation for the project to be as good as a well paid project.

 

I did some work recently for a charity, and I was told in no uncertain words that I didn't charge enough and shouldn't be so lenient on them. In the end they gave me a bonus!

 

I also do a lot of work for a large London diocese (which is a registered charity), and you would be surprised how much they have to spend on their website. They are very keen on being on the front line of web technology and trends.

 

Don't be afraid to ask a charity for money, but use your judgement. Don't charge full whack if you know they are only a small set up, run by volunteers.

I did a website for my local Oxfam shop. They wanted something different to the main site so it had to be free. At the end of the day it totally paid for itself as the main site took on board our concept and I have that on my CV!

 

Notbanksy, totally agree with your comment there, glad I wasn't the only one to feel a bit weird about that post!

 

I think that with the sites you do for free, they should be the same quality and you should have the same motivation for them as for paid work. The compromise comes in the time you commit to it. A free project always has to understand that paid work deadlines have to come first and that they cannot make unreasonable demands on your time. They are usually very willing to wait a little bit longer!

Yeah ^. I didn't really know what to say as well; no Agnostic Churches are lining up for my services.

 

At the end of the day, a charity receives quite considerable tax breaks for things like this, and any good charity has a certain amount of funds set aside for exactly this purpose — do you expect them to get free rent/computers/equipment?

 

...

 

I also do a lot of work for a large London diocese (which is a registered charity), and you would be surprised how much they have to spend on their website. They are very keen on being on the front line of web technology and trends.

 

I echo this from personal experience. At Ye Olde Music Store job, the customers who spent the most money - and the most frivolously, FWIW - were representatives from churches. That's not a criticism of churches per se, but rather anecdotal evidence that they are more than happy to pay for things. (I also found they were more trusting of my "expert" opinion - if I said a piano or PA system was what they needed, that was good enough for them and they bought it then and there.)

 

On the contrary, I've found that smaller, homegrown NPOs act pretty horribly when you ask them to pay for anything. Again, this is just my own experience, but I've offered heavily discounted rates (where I take no salary and they only have to pay for hosting, etc) to a variety of local charities and all I hear back is what a terrible person I am to offer my services to a non-profit group. It's a completely different experience. C'est la vie.