Wow. I’d be real tempted to tell them you’ve submitted your work & they can take it or leave it. Not out of spite or anger. But just because you put a lot of time in and only have so much.

You’re a better guy than that, though. Just don’t let them abuse you too much, eh?

I would be with Kevin on this issue. Being on the communications team at my church, I was charged with completing the website, thankfully I am given a pretty wide bearth on the site since very few people (other than Pressed) can do it.

Sounds pretty rough. If they asked you to be a part in all of that you would think they would give you a say in what was produced. I almost agree with Kevin, in that I would tell em that you have put your time and energy in it and they could take it or leave it. I, for one, would never do a brochure on a plain white peice of paper in New Times Roman, never, ever, ever, and that is just the way it is. But I am kinda bull headed that way.

I am also the head of the communications team in our 40 day campaign. I designed the brochures and wrote the newspaper article, Mr. Wright did the webpage, and another lady on our team made banners for the church and outside. I pretty much had free riegn with the brochures, which was nice… even though I spent a lot of money on colored ink and paper. But the banner they hung in the sactuary is not centered and is all wrinkly and looks bad. I have mentioned this, but to no avail… in fact me and the pastor have had a little tuffle about it. So I am just going to forget it, even though it looks bad. Sorry you are haveing all of those problems… seems like they are missing the point of the whole thing in the first place…

I end up volunteering to build a lot of church websites. I figure if I charge them full rate and then write it off, I’ll get more out of the deal financially than if I charged them what they would pay.

I used to get taken advantage of quite a bit. I’d put all the work into it just to have them tell me when it was done that they don’t like it and they want something entirely different. Pro bono jobs are always the worst at this. And churches are worse than other organizations.

Now, when I offer a job, I give them a full quote/estimate that includes how many hours are in the project and what they will get. I let them know that I am offering my services up to X number of hours. If they want more after that point, it’s full rate.

This policy has been great! I no longer have to tell anyone that I won’t do the job or won’t be helpful. When I give them the final project, I remind them that I have given them everything I was able to donate and that if they want further changes, I will be happy to do it - for a price. So far, no one has ever asked me to make a single change after giving them the site.

Boundaries are a good thing. But they are hard to enact after the fact.

I’d be depressed too. And it does raise a topic for a few thousand blogs: why is it that working for Christians, be it in a voluntary or professional capacity, is often worse than working for the pointy-haired boss? Kevin’s advice should not be necessary but it is nevertheless sound.

Tim I hope that this is just an isolated experience. I doubt too, that the work you did would be rejected by Christ, in whose service you offered it. His words of reward are perhaps relevant here: Well done, good and faithful servant.

Stay sane matey.

Thanks everyone for the comments. Unfortunately its too late to respond to them at the length they deserve, so I’ll comment tomorrow.

First off, I should apologize for sounding so whiny. I realize that while this is frustrating, its nothing like what can and does happen. I mean, I shouldn’t even be complaining when I consider experience such as the ones Kevin has had at some churches. I really shouldn’t be complaining, at least its only a few brochures and such.

Anyway, here’s responses, in order:

Kevin: Thanks. I’ve actually thought about bowing out for the time reason you mention. Right now isn’t the best time to have to redo a bunch of stuff. The only problem is that the sub-committee head is a really good friend of mine and I hate to leave them in a lurch. I dunno, I’m praying about whether I should keep on the project or if perhaps there is someone else who would be willing and get what they would like done done.

Christopher: Normally I’m given pretty well free reign on the web site as well. Of course, normally the web site doesn’t deal with committees.

Pressed: Thanks! I know what you mean about Times New Roman. Ugh. Even if I do do the work, I’d rather not have my name anywhere near the design they want. I’m still surprised they junked a full color, full bleed (i.e. all the way to the edges printing) brochure with topical clipart and unique fonts for a black-on-white Times New Roman brochure with no clipart. We can print ‘em in house, and they do want the logo in color so saving money doesn’t appear to be the issue.

Kevin: I like that idea, perhaps I should give that a whirl. It’s a bit late on this project though.

Saint: It isn’t entirely isolated, unfortunately — there’s a certain “problem” that I haven’t gotten fully the grasp on that I accidentally got myself mixed up in last year (I think I accidentally stepped on someone’s toes, so to speak). A few other people I later found out were running into similar problems. I really shouldn’t say any more since this blog is publically readable. But, at any rate, I’ve been hitting more and more walls since then. Thanks for the kind words.