Kivi's Nonprofit Communications Blog

Nonprofit managers, ask yourselves these seven questions before you hire a freelance writer.

Before you start interviewing . . .

1. What do I want a freelance writer to do? The more specific you can be about what you need, the better you’ll be able to recruit a freelance writer who can meet your needs. Most writers think in terms of word count or page count when estimating a job, so you should think that way too. How much writing do you need? How much research or interviewing will the writer need to do? How many drafts do you typically want to see?

2. What is my ideal deadline, and what is the real deadline? Most people want projects they are hiring out to be completed yesterday. While it is fine to suggest an ideal deadline when soliciting proposals from freelancers, know in your own mind how much play you have in your schedule. If the perfect candidate comes along, but can’t meet your ideal deadline for whatever reason, do you have enough cushion in your schedule to hire that person anyway?

3. How much do I have to spend? Rates for freelance writers vary widely. In some respects, you do get what you pay for, but even among highly qualified and experienced writers, you will still find a great deal of variability in rates. Know how much you have to spend ahead of time, so when you begin to evaluate proposals, you can eliminate those that are far beyond your means. At the same time, you should also strongly consider eliminating proposals that seem exceedingly low — It’s a hallmark of an inexperienced freelancer to charge way below market rate.

As you are interviewing . . .

4. Is this freelance writer a good listener? As important as writing and editing skills are the abilities to listen to your needs and to incorporate them into the project. Writing projects include many variables, such as audience, message, and tone, all of which require that you and the freelancer work together to get it right. You should treat this relationship as a partnership, which requires that you both listen well.

5. Does this freelance writer seem flexible? Writing projects are subjective. While some elements, such as correct grammar and word count, are objective, whether the piece meets your needs in terms of style is highly subjective. A good freelance writer knows this and will work with you to get the style the way you want it, even if the first draft is way off.

Also, as the project progresses, you may very well change your mind about how you want an issue handled or what elements should be emphasized. Try to gauge whether the freelancer can “go with the flow” and adjust accordingly. Of course, you need to be willing to pay for extra drafts if you change the scope of work significantly.

6. Do I like this writer’s portfolio and client list? Does the writer have experience with your type of project? Does the writer’s list of clients relate to your organization in subject area, size, or some other meaningful measure? All professional freelance writers should be able to provide samples of their work (many will have online portfolios for you to peruse) and to give you a list of people they have worked for previously.

7. How do this writer’s other clients describe their relationships? Yes, you should check references. Pick up the phone and call. Speaking directly with another client is one of the best ways to judge how well a freelancer works with clients. Ask how many jobs the person has given to the freelancer. Repeat business is always a good sign.

Nancy Schwartz at Getting Attention wrote yesterday on the value of graphic designers who can write well too, quoting an article by Derek Powazek. While I think it’s incredibly difficult to be both an outstanding writer and an outstanding designer, it is reasonable to expect design professionals to have solid writing skills, and vice versa. This is an especially important consideration for nonprofits that may not have the resources to hire both professional writers and designers, which is obviously the best approach.

What Designers Should Be Able To Do - And What They Should Never Do

I especially appreciate the designer who can proofread, because the design process itself often introduces mistakes in the text. Designers can insert typos when they key in small sections of text themselves, like folios. Sometimes text boxes aren’t pulled down all the way, leaving blocks of text hidden. Applying new fonts to blocks of text can sometimes produce odd characters that don’t belong. While I don’t expect a designer to read the text word for word, I do expect them to watch for text mistakes like these that are generated at their desks. I’m also grateful when they spot typos that I overlooked and bring them to my attention.

I am not pleased, however, when a designer takes it upon himself or herself to make corrections that are questions of style. This is where a little knowledge can be dangerous. For example, a designer I once worked with decided that certain words needed to be capitalized and took it upon himself to make those changes. I had to waste several hours of my time going back over the document to identify all the places where he needed to change the words back to lower case. Needless to say, that was the last time we worked together.

What Writers Should Be Able To Do

At the same time, I think writers should also understand some design basics. Understanding how a document will look can have a huge impact on the text. For example, how I organize text, how many words I use per section, and the number of headings and subheadings I’ll use will vary significantly if I’m writing a tri-fold brochure versus a two-page flyer. The overall size of the document is the same, but the design is completely different.

Clients often won’t know how many words they need for an annual report, but they’ll know they want the whole document to be 12 pages, for example. I know enough about annual report design to calculate how much room will be required for various elements of the report and to estimate a word count for the text I need to write. If I can talk to the designer about their thoughts for the piece, my estimate will be that much better.

Ultimately, designers should respect writers, writers should respect designers, and nonprofit clients should respect the skills of both.

P.S. Designers and other “non-writers” who want to improve their writing skills should consider my two “Writing for the Real World” e-courses — Making Your Writing Correct and Making Your Writing Clear and Concise. Sessions start the first Monday of each month.