Peter J. Farrell wrote:
Donna Jones wrote:
... I'm afraid the budget is eaten up by the PR firm and so the NP is
"feeling badly" that I'm in the position, once again, of donating a
lot of my time. Ideally, in their view, i think, they'd like for me
to say, "yes, the PR's code is great and groovy and I'll continue
maintenance, updating, no problem .... " I've created a bit of a
dilemna because i can't, won't, do that ...
I've been put in similar position by non-profit. I was their webmaster
for many years and volunteered my every minute of my time. When they
received a large grant for technologies improvements, I asked if I could
put in a bid. After spending a some time developing a detailed bid, the
process became stalled and I never got the opportunity to even place a
bid. I later found out that they contracted a firm in which someone on
the board of directors knew or at least I believe so (the details are
sketchy).
In the end, I felt very used as a volunteer. I recommend that anybody
who volunteers for a non-profit, discuss ownership of code/designs when
you volunteer. I was happy that I was able put a co-copyright on the
website and in files. If problems arise, things resolve more easily
because of that.
Anyways, I wanted to say that you've not created a dilemma for
yourself. Maybe this is just life saying you need to move on to newer
and better things -- even though this still might feel near and dear to
you. If you still want to volunteer your time, find a struggling
non-profit that means someone to you and especially one that doesn't
have website or has a poor one. Best of luck during this process for
you Donna...
Thanks Peter, yes it sounds like a very similar situation. Luckily I
have one non-profit that does appreciate and pays me! and I won big
points with them because of accessibility. I had made their web-site
pretty much accessible (this was probably four/five years ago). They
had gone to a national conference and attended the "website workshop".
Lo and behold their website got pronounced as "best" because the font
size could increase and they came back very happy. Just a story of how
accessibility can "pay off", I didn't do it for that reason but was glad
to have the "points"!
but, yes, back to my "problem child" non-profit. It may be time to let
it go, it is hard to see them get a poor website and pay a fair amount
of money for it ... it is also hard to validate myself and get them to
know that i do know what i'm doing, at least tons more than the PR firm.
But thanks for saying that I didn't create the dilemma ... I'll try to
take that to heart. I suspect its a pretty common situation; and, to be
honest, when i first took it on, at no reimbursement, i was simply
chomping at the bits to have something to do and probably felt like i
should pay them for letting me do it. I've changed a bit since then!
Thanks again for your kind note and understanding.
Donna
******************************************************
The discussion list for http://webstandardsgroup.org/
See http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm
for some hints on posting to the list & getting help
******************************************************
