Bending the Industry's Unwritten Rules 🙇
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Hi there <<First Name>>,
Earlier this month, an engineering nonprofit we often collaborate with reached out to request our services on an upcoming project in central Missouri. We know and trust the people we would be working with, the work itself is exciting, the skills required for the project overlap heavily with my professional background, and the timing of the project works into my schedule well. Once I looked further into the project, however, I realized that Heidt and Depth would lose over $7,000 dollars if we took it on! Yet, if we turned down the project, there would be a problem: the work still needs to happen. And no other firm is as uniquely positioned to do this work as Heidt and Depth is.
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The unfortunate reality
Herein lies the problem many of our clients face. They need quality design or construction to achieve their mission, but they don't have adequate funding to procure these services because the market rates for these services are astronomical. Market rates are based on which clients the design and construction industries chooses to take on, and most successful firms pursue clients who will pay them well. This is why so many nonprofits and small businesses rely on friends and volunteers who eventually burn out doing the work.
It would be easy for us to only take on projects that turn a profit, but if we did that, we would be neglecting our vision statement:
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"We strive to realize a world where all people have the power to transform the built environment for the good of those around them."
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To fulfill our vision statement, Heidt and Depth must find creative ways to offer our services to nonprofits, small businesses, and individuals at rates that make their impact in their community possible, not limit it. Sometimes this means providing our services below market rate or pro bono (free of charge). But as you saw in the case of the Missouri project, figuring out how to do this while keeping the business alive can be a challenge! This is where we would like to ask for your help.
Introducing: Adopt-a-Project
Earlier this week, we announced a partnership program we developed, called "Adopt-a-Project." Here's how it works:
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1. Someone approaches us with a need
A nonprofit, small business, or individual reaches out to Heidt and Depth requesting our assistance with placemaking. We examine their situation, and if they show a demonstrated need for reduced rates, we set up an Adopt-a-Project fund.
Please note: there are plenty of other project-related placemaking needs our clients run into on placemaking projects in addition to affording services. |
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2. You meet their need
You might not be able to provide this person or organization with professional services in architecture, land development, or construction, but Heidt and Depth can with your help. It's pretty simple actually.
To complete our work, we need to pay for supplies, materials, equipment, and transportation to complete a project. We also need to pay our employees and any collaborators we work with, ideally at or just below market rate. As an individual, a family, a business, or an organization, you can partner with us to cover these costs so that we can serve our clients where they're at, instead of expecting them to pay the same rates most placemaking firms seek out. Think of it like Patreon or Kickstarter, but for architecture and construction: you partner with us and we keep doing the cool work you follow us for.
And the coolest part? You get to choose which project(s) your gift(s) bring to life!
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3. We reward you
To thank you for your financial gift, we return the favor with one-of-a-kind benefits:
- behind-the-scenes insights into the project you enabled and the impact it has on the client
- multiple avenues where you can connect with our network of colleagues and clients and build visibility for your brand
- an invitation to our 1st Anniversary Party in April (🥳🕺🎉!)
- and more.
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So far, the Adopt-a-Project program has been very well received by our friends and colleagues, but this Spring, there are two specific projects that need an additional push from you:
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Wildfire Recovery Efforts
Community: Boulder County, Colorado
Client: Various
Scope: Design-Build and Public Art
Collaborator: Jenelle Tennigkeit
Duration: February 2022 - Present
Funding Progress: Funding Goal TBD, Call to Inquire
Jenelle Tennigkeit is a registered architect and has been a friend and mentor to those involved with Heidt and Depth since 2012. When her childhood home burned down in the Marshall Fire in 2022, she was quick to engage Heidt and Depth for assistance in rebuilding the community and creating a memorial. The scope of Heidt and Depth's work on these recovery efforts is constantly evolving, so we will share more information on our Current Projects page as our work develops. Adopt-a-Project partnerships allow Heidt and Depth to provide technical design and construction assistance as needed to Jenelle and her network.
Click Here to Adopt
Photo credit: Jenelle Tennigkeit
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Missionary Training Center
Community: Central Missouri
Client: Ethnos360
Scope: Community Planning
Collaborator: Engineering Ministries International
Duration: March 2022
Funding Progress: $1,100 Remaining as of 2/17/22
Ethnos360’s mission is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the most remote people groups in the world. Their Missionary Training Center is in need of an updated campus master plan. They use this facility to train new employees in cultural skills, such as church planting, off-grid technologies, linguistics, and Biblical literacy. Through an updated master plan, Ethnos360 hopes to map out a framework for how to best revitalize the campus and accommodate its expanding programs. Adopt-a-Project partnerships allow Heidt and Depth to provide the consulting services requested by EMI at no cost to EMI or the client.
Click Here to Adopt
Photo credit: Ethnos360
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Are Adopt-a-Project partnerships tax-deductible?
At this time, we cannot offer tax-deductible status for Adopt-a-Project contributions (we do not currently have 501(c)3 status with the IRS), although we hope to offer this benefit within the next few years. In the meantime, if you would like to support our work financially and receive tax-deductible status for your gift, several of our clients offer the opportunity to donate to project-specific funds earmarked for the construction of our designs and planning work. You can find these opportunities on our Current Projects page.
Bending the unwritten rules
The architecture, engineering, development, and construction industries operate within a confined set of traditions. If something has always been done a certain way - because it worked for others over time - that is the standard the industry tends to operates. But what if we challenged the norms? What if instead of turning down the nonprofits around us to chase wealthy clients with lucrative invoices, we sought these nonprofits out? What if we provided families recovering from a wildfire not only with design services but design services of the highest quality along with a substantial helping of empathy?
These are the things I set out to do when I created Heidt and Depth. Now, Heidt and Depth's clients need your help to make it possible. Will you please consider adopting a project? Any size gift goes a long way.
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Thanks in advance for your consideration,
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Neal Heidt
Placemaking Strategist | Heidt and Depth
HeidtandDepth.com | 303-519-9453
Check out our 2021 Impact Summary
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