Pro bono goes unprofessional

In May, I blogged about some pro bono work I was doing. I'm not going to mention the name of the organisation but for me the events that unfolded were a salutary lesson in when to walk away.

Almost two years ago, this organisation (that I shall henceforth refer to as X) was in dire straits. It was bound by an unworkable constitution, its membership had fallen to an all-time low of just 12 members and only one committee member remained. This committee member co-opted three others and a decision was made to overhaul X completely with a new legal structure. As X's cause is something I care passionately about, I was quite flattered 18 months back to be asked to be a regional representative. I took on the role gladly - it was purely voluntary and I wasn't even a member as membership had been suspended by then while matters were sorted out.

I spent a lot of time and energy on X, including helping to draft a new constitution (which was never used) and doing various bits of copywriting, editorial work and giving advice on PR stuff.

Last month, I decided to step down as regional representative, for personal reasons. The committee asked me to stay on behind the scenes and continue to help with press and PR. In the committee's own words, they hadn't a clue and were reliant on my expertise. I agreed to do this.

Ahead of the relaunch of X with its new legal status, I drafted a press release and also a relaunch announcement which was to be disseminated across the internet to the community with which X works. A couple of drafts were prepared of the latter and I handed over the final version just before my holiday.

The announcement went public while I was abroad and I was deeply unhappy on my return to discover that an extra paragraph had been inserted into the copy. Had I been around, I would have vetoed a crucial half-sentence that, in my view, was misleading and potentially very damaging. But, of course, I was in Paris and unable to do anything.

It was too late - the damage was done. On one particular discussion forum, furious debate was raging, much of it based on this erroneous phrase that I had not condoned. The committee were handling the criticisms very badly. Getting hold of X's committee members was not easy. But eventually on Wednesday I made contact and made my unhappiness clear. I followed up the telephone conversation with an e-mail, to put my concerns in black and white. I wrote a lengthy piece of PR advice on how best to repair the damage to X's reputation.

One of the committee members rang me a couple of hours later to discuss my concerns and advice. We talked at length about strategy to make amends and I hung up, feeling more secure that the committee would handle things better. That feeling didn't last long. Within 12 hours, X had responded to an inflammatory piece of criticism with some very childish remarks - the equivalent of throwing toys out of the pram.

I was appalled. All of my advice had been completely ignored.

As this was the second time they had decided to forge ahead without checking in with me, I did the only thing I could do, and dissociated myself from X. I e-mailed them to explain why. My integrity as a professional wordsmith was on the line, as well as my reputation within the community X claims to represent.

Yesterday I felt sad and angry. Today, I feel more sanguine about the whole experience. I have learned a lesson that doing pro bono work is only worthwhile if you know that the time and energy you put into it is going to be acknowledged and used. In this case, it wasn't.

A full week ahead

My schedule is extremely full this week. I aim to complete the first drafts of the phase 1 web copy for my client by Friday - that's seven or eight pages in total. Some of it has already been done for the brochure that was completed 3 weeks ago and just needs tweaking for web readability and search engine optimisation. Some has to be written from scratch.

I am in the middle of doing some pro bono copywriting and editing for a campaigning organisation that is close to my heart. This body has been through a major upheaval in the last 18 months, including a change of legal status. The changes are all in place now, in time for a relaunch, which is where I come in. I've been heavily involved in creating new membership information that will shortly be sent out. I spent two hours on the phone last night discussing various aspects. There will be an online meeting tonight for the entire team, which I have to attend as well, to discuss the roll-out.

I have a batch of documents to proofread for a regular client that are arriving in my in-box at odd times and need to be turned around quickly. Another client I have just taken on is using my services daily to proofread her letters before they are sent out.

I have two clients who need chasing for payment and I need to call my website hosting company about a minor matter.

Thursday requires my attendance at a local business networking meeting. I can see I'm not going to have a lot of free time this week. It helps, in a strange way, that my beloved P will be away on business for some of the week. I shall miss him, of course, but his absence will free up some time to catch up with the small tasks.

I have a holiday looming too, which means I need to find time to chase up old friends in the city we are visiting, so that we can meet up again. That involves e-mailing my ex-husband in Moscow, which I'm not looking forward to.

Enough waffling - it's gone 9 am. Although I've already done an hour's work, I still need to shower and dress and start tackling the workload.