The Challenges of Working in Not-for-Profit (Part 2)

In my last post I talked about the challenges of working in a not-for-profit organisation in terms of the implications of low budgets on staffing.
However, something I forgot to mention was the the issues that arise when outsourcing work.

I experienced the frustration of having project development delayed significantly due to the reliance on pro bono work, that is professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service.

The events and programs that Cancer Support WA run are not done so with the ultimate goal of generating large profits. The aim is basically to provide support services to those in need at a price they can afford while bringing in enough funds to keep it running. 
Due to this when CSWA needs to outsource a consultant or specialist for tasks their own staff can not effectively handle themselves they do not have the funds available to be highly selective, they have to take the best option they are provided with which tends to be companies offering services for free.

An example of where this affected me was when we wanted to improve our website and raise awareness of our project in the community. We needed a website redesigned to make it look more appealing to participants and other promotional materials produced to spread around the local area. No one in the office was able to do this to a high standard without compromising their normal workload so we required a graphic designer.
There was one lined up but it fell through and left us searching for an alternative which took weeks to find and held up the progress of a number of other areas of the campaign.  

The project I'm working on is running until the end of next year so realistically it's not that big of an issue that we've lost a few weeks here, I just wanted to help as much as I could in my short time at CSWA but now it looks like I'm not going to be able to go ahead with everything I had planned which is disappointing.

Not long to go now so I'd better just make the most of these last few days and do all that I can in the time I have left. 

Thanks for reading,
Kelsey