Freelance Writing for Nonprofits

I’ve recently hired a few freelancers to help me catch up on some projects and I was stunned at some of the rates people quoted to me. I ended up offering two writers MORE than they asked for, because I couldn’t in good conscience pay the paltry sums they requested. I’m not talking big bucks here, folks.

When I first decided to contract out some work and was looking at my finances, I decided that I couldn’t afford to pay more than $0.10 per word for material that I would be offering for free on my websites and in my e-newsletters. I don’t work for that little, so I felt a little sheepish about offering a fellow writer that rate, but I reasoned that it was acceptable pay for a new freelancer or a young writer. The writers who are helping me with e-books that I sell are getting more, because those assignments generate revenue for me.

Imagine my surprise when I got offers to write for as little as $0.02 per word from people whose writing samples and resumes looked good. How can anyone who is serious about freelancing for a living write a 1,000 word article for $20???

Maybe I’m completely out-of-touch with the cut-throat world of freelance writing as I work in my little specialty niche, but working for pennies per word seems ludicrous to me. How can freelancers expect a living wage if we don’t ask for it?

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