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"Although most designers prefer paying clients, many professionals are now also choosing to take on a handful of pro bono projects. Even though there&amp;#039;s no paycheck involved, there are plenty of other rewards\u2014pro bono projects typically have a positive impact in a designer&amp;#039;s community, allow designers to work with organizations and groups that wouldn&amp;#039;t normally have access to their services, and, generally, make everyone involved feel good about what they do. A few designers who have recently been logging lots of volunteer hours spoke to us about their experiences. The feel good factor &amp;quot;I really believe that it is our duty to give back,&amp;quot; says David Rockwell, founder of the Rockwell Group, which has completed numerous pro bono projects, including design schemes for Imagination Playground, DIFFA&amp;#039;s Dining by Design, and benefit events for Citymeals-on-Wheels. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;ve been lucky to be able to use my architectural and design skills for so many pro bono causes,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s incredible to channel my energy and passion into places that make such a difference for causes that affect all of us so deeply.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;You feel better if you spend your time and know that somebody&amp;#039;s going to really benefit from it, and have something positive out of it,&amp;quot; says Enrico Bonetti of Bonetti/Kozerski Studio, which recently helped design Jon Bon Jovi&amp;#039;s Soul Kitchen restaurant in Red Bank, New Jersey, where diners of all income levels pay by donation or volunteer work. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a bit of an antidote to some of the clients we have.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;Design can be a very vain profession sometimes,&amp;quot; says Cara Soh of Sohbr Studio, which recently designed the public spaces of a transitional housing facility for people living with HIV and AIDS in Brooklyn, under the auspices of the nonprofit organization DesigNYC. &amp;quot;We do a lot of high-end residential, and it&amp;#039;s just a nice change to do something that makes you feel good about your profession. The appreciation you feel from the clients definitely makes you feel good about what you do.&amp;quot;  Professional development Because pro bono projects usually engage atypical clients, designers often find that the work provides valuable learning experiences as well. &amp;quot;These projects can create opportunities to learn new skills and test new ideas,&amp;quot; says Rockwell. &amp;quot;I have never been sorry to make time for this kind of unbillable work.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;It helps to reevaluate your standards,&amp;quot; says Bonetti. &amp;quot;You know you have to do something really good with very little. You might get used to using certain materials because you think they&amp;#039;re absolutely necessary, but this way, you find out that there are other things you can do, simply because you can&amp;#039;t afford your usual choices.&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s more challenging to try to provide good design with a low budget,&amp;quot; and donated materials, says Soh. Additionally, she notes, prospective clients are often impressed that her firm does pro bono work. &amp;quot;Some people don&amp;#039;t care, but most other people say &amp;#039;Oh wow, it&amp;#039;s great that you donate all this time.&amp;#039; Usually, those clients end up being the better clients.&amp;quot; Managing time Few designers stick to a set number of donated hours for a pro bono project. Rather, they commit to a cause, and volunteer enough time to see the project through. &amp;quot;I also reach out to my friends and colleagues to get them involved,&amp;quot; says Rockwell. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s great to get as many people involved as possible. Often, pro bono projects, especially the larger scale ones, are much more effective with a multidisciplinary, collaborative team.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;When things slow down, we want to keep people in the office, and we&amp;#039;re paying them anyway,&amp;quot; says Bonetti. In that situation, &amp;quot;we actually prefer to do something pro bono rather than a design competition, because we get more satisfaction out of it.&amp;quot; Things to watch out for Completing volunteer work can be so rewarding that you might run the risk of taking on too much. &amp;quot;You have to be careful not to spread yourself too thin,&amp;quot; says Rockwell. &amp;quot;If I dedicate more of myself to fewer charities, rather than the other way around, I find it is far more effective.&amp;quot; Soh points out that a little compromise is also often required. &amp;quot;Because many of these projects are based on donations and have small budgets, you have a lack of control in how the design is executed,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;You have to allow for some flexibility. The final project might not completely represent your particular vision or aesthetic.&amp;quot;  Perhaps most importantly, &amp;quot;You have to decide on your limits from the start, and the extent of what you&amp;#039;re going to do,&amp;quot; warns Bonetti. &amp;quot;It would be far too easy to get sucked into something much bigger.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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