Pro Bono Publico
Posted by: Carl Smith on Monday August 4, 2008
At the beginning of the year my fellow nGeneers and I sat down and talked about things we would and wouldn’t do in 2008. One thing we struggled with was pro bono work. Historically the pro bono projects we started were always on the verge of greatness, but then fell apart. Each one had good intentions but could never come through with the necessary resources to achieve the potential of the idea.
In addition, many organizations asking us to donate our time “pro bono” didn’t seem to really be doing services for the people. Instead it was for the good of one group or in some cases the organization itself. Interestingly, at one time the phrase “pro bono” was actually “pro bono publico” which meant “for the good of the people”. So basically society has dropped the reference to “the people.” Which makes this is a sadly accurate description of modern day pro bono work.
Instead of letting past frustrations cause us to turn our backs on doing good deeds, nGen Works decided to choose the pro bono projects we donated our services to. We turned the standard pro bono process on it’s head by approaching clients before they approached us. That would give us equal footing in determining what the project would be and how it would run.
So we’re happy to announce our first pro bono client of 2008, Jacksonville’s Sustainable Future (JSF). JSF seeks to provide information and connect others who are promoting and practicing sustainability in the Jacksonville area. This is a cause that all nGeneers are passionate about. Taking the project was the perfect opportunity to help not only JSF, but the City of Jacksonville and the publico who live here. We’ll keep you posted on the projects progress in the upcoming months.
Comment RSS Filed under: Business, Interweb
Martin Ringlein
08.30.08 at 3:48pm
Great post Carl! I am a little late on reading it, but am glad I finally got it; we were struggling with the same debate here at nclud; to pro bono or to not. It is the falling apart at the end aspect that has us hung up as well.
We had one client that does the most help with the homeless in Washington, D.C. — but they do so much for the homeless they just have little to no time to keep the great web work we did for them alive and running. We tried for almost a year to continue to be a resource; but it just got to be to much of a resource drain on us internally; we eventually were able to find a kind-hearted freelancer that was willing to take over and keep things running well. It doesn’t look as beautiful as it used to, but at least it is still up and running.
Carl Smith
08.30.08 at 8:03pm
Yay! Someone feels the same way! No research to back it up, but I bet it’s a rampant situation throughout america. It kills me that not-for-profits get the .org extension because the last thing they are is organized.
So did you guys decide to just avoid it all together? It seems to ebb an flow for us, we always want to believe the next time will be different.