Donna Jones wrote:
...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!
The problem here is they are paying the PR firm and not you. They probably are asking themselves -- how can unpaid person be right and a highly paid PR firm be so wrong?
Lets say you went to the doctor and he claims you have XYZ and need surgery ABC . You leave the office and paid for your visit (either out-of-pocket or by insurance). You meet a friend in your local grocery store -- he says you don't have XYZ and don't need surgery ABC. He says all you have is an ingrown toe nail and you need QRS! It's painful to walk on (no accessibility), but your foot this looks, smells and acts like a foot (a website) -- so why shouldn't I do QRS (accessibility) instead of XYZ?
It's all about perception and where your money goes. Money clouds judgment -- especially when you don't have any knowledge about the issue at hand! So you're fighting a battle (for accessibility and standards) with people who are going to "automatically" differ to the people they think the "experts" are (PR firm).
You mention above that you hate to see them pay a fair amount of money to get a poor website. Same thing happened to me (at least in my opinion) in the story I told before. I decided to walk away for the sake of my sanity and my feelings. So ask yourself a question -- should I continue or is my time here done?
Non-profits are so much easier to get along with when they know how much your time is really worth. I can't recall who said that you should bill your non-profits so they at least know how much money your spending on them. I totally agree with this statement and I believe this is normal business practice anyways. Usually, you can say you spent $10,000 of my time last year -- can you please consider that a donation in that amount and at least get yourself in a program/donor material/donor thank you/etc as well as some respect. It's easy to stomp all over someone when you are ignorant on the subject...
Sorry, if I don't sound all to encouraging...my advice is think it over and think in the terms of what is good for you. Do I have to pull my hair out maintaining and updating crappy code that I didn't get to write or have any input on?
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