| User | Thread poster: Stéphanie Denton Working Pro-bono for agencies |
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Stéphanie Denton 
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
  Member (2011)
French to English
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Hey guys
Just writing to ask your view points on this as I am about to post a job posting.
I am a volunteer for Cancer Research UK, and am actively promoting Race for Life and Relay for Life this year.
I was talking to the Director, and telling her about me, my company, etc. and she asked me if we'd be interested in working pro-bono for them. I, of course, said yes, however, I know that some agencies will use pro-bono as an excuse to get free work, which isn't the case here. Wondering about how to word the job posting, as it really is for a good cause.
Thoughts/opinions welcome.
Thanks
Steph
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Michal Glowacki
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2010)
English to Polish
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Hi Stephanie,
How about going through Translators Without Borders? I'm not sure what, where, how etc. but maybe that will make it more valid to potential pro-bono suppliers.
I would imagine many translators, including me, would be suspicious about such work for the very reason you mentioned. It would be different if it was done directly for the organisation, I think.
Hope that helps,
Michał
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Stéphanie Denton
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER |
Michal Glowacki wrote:
Hi Stephanie,
How about going through Translators Without Borders? I'm not sure what, where, how etc. but maybe that will make it more valid to potential pro-bono suppliers.
I would imagine many translators, including me, would be suspicious about such work for the very reason you mentioned. It would be different if it was done directly for the organisation, I think.
Hope that helps,
Michał |
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Yes, agreed. I know myself that if I got approached by an agency to do pro-bono work i'd run for the hills...
I may contact TWB, but CR have said they'd like to work with me as I work for them. Tangled web much?
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Michal Glowacki
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2010)
English to Polish
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Well, maybe you can offer to TWB that you will manage the project(s) for Cancer Research on behalf of them. This way, they get a volunteer, Cancer Research works with you and TWB provides credentials that it's real and not a scam.
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Stéphanie Denton
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER |
Michal Glowacki wrote:
Well, maybe you can offer to TWB that you will manage the project(s) for Cancer Research on behalf of them. This way, they get a volunteer, Cancer Research works with you and TWB provides credentials that it's real and not a scam. |
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Great idea, thanks
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Yolanda Broad
United States
Local time: 16:36
Member (2000)
French to English
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MODERATOR | | Posting pro bono jobs on ProZ.com | Feb 7 |
Hi Stephanie,
The requirement for posting pro bono jobs on ProZ.com is that you include a link in your job posting to an online location where the non-profit status of the organization is substantiated. This allows folks considering applying for the job to (1) confirm the status of the organization and (2) determine whether the organization's cause is something they personally want to underwrite by doing contributing their work.
See http://www.proz.com/siterules/jobs_posting/1.2#1.2
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Stéphanie Denton
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER |
Yolanda Broad wrote:
Hi Stephanie,
The requirement for posting pro bono jobs on ProZ.com is that you include a link in your job posting to an online location where the non-profit status of the organization is substantiated. This allows folks considering applying for the job to (1) confirm the status of the organization and (2) determine whether the organization's cause is something they personally want to underwrite by doing contributing their work.
See http://www.proz.com/siterules/jobs_posting/1.2#1.2 |
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Thank you Yolanda, much appreciated
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Attila Piróth
France
Local time: 22:36
 Member
English to Hungarian
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Creating a pro bono team can be a very enriching experience. You will get to know the translators, you can communicate with them directly, and develop a very strong working relationship that can extend far beyond your common pro bono work.
The automatic system of Translators Without Borders, as described by Enrique here has its merits. The platform is well suited for handling huge volumes by reducing the time spent on project management. Automatic notifications are sent out, and the pool of translators is huge. It is a convenient solution for many outsourcers.
For moderate volumes that pool may be just too huge:
| The system will first determine the available pool (for instance all the volunteers working in the English to Spanish pair, currently 135). Then the volunteers are sorted in a random order and notifications are sent out in batches of 5 separated 15 minutes. |
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Instead, you may decide to create your small regular group of translators, communicating directly with each other, discussing terminology in a private forum or a mailing list, taking turns in proofing each others' work, etc. That is how the Solidarités team works. You can find a rather detailed account here.
Best,
Attila
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Stéphanie Denton
United Kingdom
Local time: 21:36
Member (2011)
French to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER |
Attila Piróth wrote:
Creating a pro bono team can be a very enriching experience. You will get to know the translators, you can communicate with them directly, and develop a very strong working relationship that can extend far beyond your common pro bono work.
The automatic system of Translators Without Borders, as described by Enrique here has its merits. The platform is well suited for handling huge volumes by reducing the time spent on project management. Automatic notifications are sent out, and the pool of translators is huge. It is a convenient solution for many outsourcers.
For moderate volumes that pool may be just too huge:
| The system will first determine the available pool (for instance all the volunteers working in the English to Spanish pair, currently 135). Then the volunteers are sorted in a random order and notifications are sent out in batches of 5 separated 15 minutes. |
|
Instead, you may decide to create your small regular group of translators, communicating directly with each other, discussing terminology in a private forum or a mailing list, taking turns in proofing each others' work, etc. That is how the Solidarités team works. You can find a rather detailed account here.
Best,
Attila |
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Thank you very much
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Paula Hernández
Spain
Local time: 22:36
Member (2008)
English to Spanish
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I have worked pro bono for a few local NGOs and I loved the work, it was always very interesting and I could see what it was used for after I completed it.
However, I only did the work I could do myself never outsourced it.
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Henry Hinds
United States
Local time: 14:36
English to Spanish
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If you want to do something pro-bono, then I would submit that you do it all yourself, like Paula says: "I only did the work I could do myself never outsourced it."
Don't expect others to do it.
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 13:36
Member
English to German
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Paula Hernández wrote:
However, I only did the work I could do myself never outsourced it. |
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I do quite a lot of non-profit work, and I do not expect my name to be mentioned anytime or anywhere. The mere thought, however, of investing my time, my energy and my know-how to enable another company to be able to use my work for their PR purposes is out of the question.
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