How much do you charge?

“How much will it cost? Do you have a nonprofit rate?” We get asked this all the time. People want to know if they can afford the price of a designer. It’s a fair question, and the answer is not what you’d think.

We do most of our work for nonprofit organizations, so we’re very aware of the budgetary constraints in the sector (now more so than ever, it seems). We typically don’t work on an hourly rate, preferring to come to an agreed-upon budget with our clients for the overall project. This way, we can tailor design costs to what our clients can afford — and shape our time and involvement according to the budget available.

So we shy away from spitting out an hourly rate or standard set of fees. Each client and each project has its own calculus. A good design team will collaborate with clients to find a mutually agreeable fee to allow both sides to thrive. And not leave anyone surprised at the end when they see the bill.

It’s not that we don’t have an hourly rate; sometimes we need to bill for individual hours. In this case, our rule of thumb is a $100/hour “nonprofit rate” and $150/hour rate for commercial projects when things are too small or too brief to warrant a project fee. But we don’t often bill on an hourly basis. It just doesn’t make sense for the kind of work and the sector we serve.

If there’s a project you’d like us to offer some design fee guidance on, feel free to email us with some general parameters. We’re always happy to offer an estimate!