Freelance Writing for Nonprofits

I teach several writing courses online (business writing, annual reports) and I also teach several more for Duke University’s Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management. When I add up the time I spend creating the course materials, devising the exercises, copying all the handouts, driving back and forth, teaching the course, and doing the Duke paperwork, I make less than $10 per hour.

That’s fine with me, because I don’t do it for the money. I don’t do it to meet potential clients either, although it’s nice when the occasional student does become a client or takes an online course.

So why do I bother? Because I like giving back to the greater nonprofit community from which I make my livelihood. The nonprofit community comes through for all us where the free market and governments fail. I like helping nonprofits succeed. If I can teach an executive director how to better communicate with supporters and donors, I feel like I’m helping them make the world a better place.

At the same time, I am self-employed and my income is very important to my family, so I can’t spend much time on projects that produce $10/hour. Therefore I further justify teaching the Duke workshops by thinking of them as focus groups for my business.

By seeing how students react to the materials, I learn what parts of my lectures and exercises are likely to be successful as new online courses or tip sheets. The questions they ask clue me into where I should expand the materials or even develop new courses.

I encourage all freelancers to find an activity like teaching that allows you to give something back and feel good about what you are doing, while also creating some business benefits, even if they don’t produce much direct income. After all, feeling good about how you spend your work life is one of the biggest benefits of self-employment.

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