An open letter to my past, current, and potential clients:

I am deeply grateful for your trust and business over the past year. It has been a year of exceptional professional growth and opportunity.

After careful and difficult deliberations, I have decided it is in my best interests to make some changes to my current business model.

First and foremost, thanks to the horrific Bush-McCain economy, I can no longer afford to offer any of my services pro-bono, unless I sit on your board of directors or receive some tangible non-monetary benefit of like value. That means no more advisory committees, special event committees, brain-picking meetings over iced chai, or phone/e-mail consultations UNLESS the meeting or consultation could lead to a paying job for me.

The other major change is that I will no longer be accepting individual graphic design projects. There are other local designers who specialize in these kinds of projects and who enjoy them. They are simply not lucrative
enough for me on the scale that I currently engage in them.

These were not easy decisions for me to reach. But I have recently realized just how much my generosity of time and spirit has been taken advantage of by groups and individuals who expect my volunteer services but will not pay for me to provide those services. So unless and until local non-profit organizations come to their senses and accept that this cash cow will no longer provide his milk for free, they will have to do without my particular dairy products.

As a reminder, my specialties include communications planning, junior staff leadership development, fundraising and development planning and implementation, systems development, and strategic planning. My hourly rates are far more affordable than most other consultants in the Arizona non-profit sector, and I produce high quality work. References are available upon request.

Thank you for your understanding and I look forward to truly mutually-beneficial working relationships in the future.

Warm regards,
Michael Mandel