Thanks for writing this, Emily! I have had many similar thoughts and am part of a few groups for those who do contract work for cause-based organizations. I wkk ok next what they have to say about uptake. I started doing consulting, contract, and fractional marketing and communications because I wanted to try my fit in different organizations, and because I felt that the kinds of organizations I wanted to work with didn’t have much money to afford a full-time me (with many years of experience and a wide range of skills sets), but could afford smaller or fractional engagements. I thought I could do more good this way. It has proven to be not as impactful as I’d have liked. I’m trying to improve my targeting so that I can do more good, instead of just “get work”.
If there’s a way I can help, let me know! Perhaps I’m wrong about my assumptions, but they are similar to yours about hiring being expensive and that full-time commitments can be a risk for organizations.
To your questions:
Could you do freelance work if you wanted to? Yes but the barriers are just that the freelance opportunities for someone with my skill set seem few and far between
Does the country you live in make it easy to try out freelancing? Canada is good for this. Except that we no longer qualify for employment insurance or get other benefits, though healthcare is freely available
Would you be open to freelance work? I’m already doing it!
Could your work (e.g. in operations, communications) be projectised? Yes, even the strategy work I do can be done as a project. I offer a few different models including marketing and communications function set-up, project based work, and fractional engagements
Does your role need a lot of org-specific context? To some degree, yes. Some organizations have much of it written down in an accessible format, and in some cases, I’d be creating that context. That’s part of my offering. And in some projects (often campaign-based) sufficient context is easily come by and can rely on general best practices for execution
What worries would you have in taking on freelance work? Not getting paid :) Which does, in fact, happen. With little information about the company’s finances, it’s hard to know ahead of time how secure they are. It takes a long time to take a delinquent client to court, and may not result in full payment, even if you have a good contract.
Thank you for your responses, Cathy! I may be in touch soon as I further develop this idea. Could you tell me more about the groups you’re part of for those who do contract work for cause-based organizations?
Of course! Although this is a list of organizations who are INVOLVED in that sector, not necessarily doing the contract work. There’s a bit of a spectrum.
SOCIAL PURPOSE CONSULTANTS—there are a variety of companies like this, but I’m fairly sure you’re not asking about that now. However, I suspect that many are collections/networks of consultants.
SUPPORT—These may be useful to contact for more info on the landscape and if looking to expand your network of target audience.
High Impact Professionals (https://highimpactprofessionals.org) is similar in that it’s not specific to contractors, but more impact careers generally.
Thanks for writing this, Emily! I have had many similar thoughts and am part of a few groups for those who do contract work for cause-based organizations. I wkk ok next what they have to say about uptake. I started doing consulting, contract, and fractional marketing and communications because I wanted to try my fit in different organizations, and because I felt that the kinds of organizations I wanted to work with didn’t have much money to afford a full-time me (with many years of experience and a wide range of skills sets), but could afford smaller or fractional engagements. I thought I could do more good this way. It has proven to be not as impactful as I’d have liked. I’m trying to improve my targeting so that I can do more good, instead of just “get work”.
If there’s a way I can help, let me know! Perhaps I’m wrong about my assumptions, but they are similar to yours about hiring being expensive and that full-time commitments can be a risk for organizations.
To your questions:
Could you do freelance work if you wanted to? Yes but the barriers are just that the freelance opportunities for someone with my skill set seem few and far between
Does the country you live in make it easy to try out freelancing? Canada is good for this. Except that we no longer qualify for employment insurance or get other benefits, though healthcare is freely available
Would you be open to freelance work? I’m already doing it!
Could your work (e.g. in operations, communications) be projectised? Yes, even the strategy work I do can be done as a project. I offer a few different models including marketing and communications function set-up, project based work, and fractional engagements
Does your role need a lot of org-specific context? To some degree, yes. Some organizations have much of it written down in an accessible format, and in some cases, I’d be creating that context. That’s part of my offering. And in some projects (often campaign-based) sufficient context is easily come by and can rely on general best practices for execution
What worries would you have in taking on freelance work? Not getting paid :) Which does, in fact, happen. With little information about the company’s finances, it’s hard to know ahead of time how secure they are. It takes a long time to take a delinquent client to court, and may not result in full payment, even if you have a good contract.
Thank you for your responses, Cathy! I may be in touch soon as I further develop this idea. Could you tell me more about the groups you’re part of for those who do contract work for cause-based organizations?
Of course! Although this is a list of organizations who are INVOLVED in that sector, not necessarily doing the contract work. There’s a bit of a spectrum.
Independent Nonprofit Consultants (https://thomasappleyard.com/nonprofit-consultants) and is based in Canada.
IMMA Collective helps its independent-consultant members collaborate on opportunities (https://www.immacollective.com/).
SOCIAL PURPOSE CONSULTANTS—there are a variety of companies like this, but I’m fairly sure you’re not asking about that now. However, I suspect that many are collections/networks of consultants.
SUPPORT—These may be useful to contact for more info on the landscape and if looking to expand your network of target audience.
Probably Good https://probablygood.org/ is more general career like 80K Hours vs specific to contracts.
High Impact Professionals (https://highimpactprofessionals.org) is similar in that it’s not specific to contractors, but more impact careers generally.
Consultants for Good (https://www.consultants4good.com/) is more about creating a community.
Consultants for Impact (http://consultantsforimpact.org) is a network with career advising, support etc.
I think I may be missing some. Anyway, I hope this is helpful and what you were looking for.