Can I hire DonationCoder programmers for a project?
Yes. We are available for contract work, and would be happy to talk with you about potential programming/consulting jobs.
DonationCoder.com is a small operation run by a handful of skilled programmers and web developers with backgrounds in Academia and the Micro-ISV field.
Most of our work is on application development for Microsoft Windows and in building online web services. We have expert-level experience with C++ (20+ years), PHP, Python, and Java, but we are comfortable in almost any language and platform. Our offices are located in Champaign, IL in the United States.
Rates and pricing
Our starting price for contracting/consulting work is $1,000. We don't take on small jobs for less than that because it doesn't give us enough time to become familiar with your needs, nor enough time to follow up with you and do the unanticipated final touches that are inevitably part of every project-for-hire.
Our rates for contracting work and custom projects are consistent with U.S. rates for highly skilled coders. We can arrange contracts based on hourly rates or on a per-project basis. The actual pricing can vary dramatically based on the platform, the scope of the work, and the exclusivity of the finished product. We do not work on commission.
You can find cheaper programmers at your local university or high school, or on sites like rentacoder.com, and we encourage you to use such sites if you are comfortable doing so and you are looking for a bargain. Our experience has been that hiring programmers from such places is something of a hit-and-miss operation, but there are good programmers out there.
Our services
We are programmers. But from our standpoint, programming skills are not all you should be concerned about when looking to hire someone for contract work. Just as important is hiring someone who can work with you to make sure you have a good solid idea of what you need - and help you fill in the gaps in your idea before decisions are made which will take you in the wrong direction.
It may be that you are not at the stage of wanting to hire a programmer, but you do want to hire someone to spend some time with you developing an idea and exploring whether there is a viable programming project that can be developed from it. Or perhaps what you really need is simply help figuring out the best software packages to use for a project and an estimate of how hard it would be to set up a certain system using out-of-the-box components. Much of what you are hiring us for is to give you good advice about such things.
It may be very difficult for you, as a non-programmer, to know exactly what you need in a software package or web service. You probably are not completely familiar with what software is already out there or the ramifications of different decisions about platform, language, database choices, etc.
We will work with you to develop your ideas and make sure that you end up with what you need, even if it means that instead of coding it from scratch we end up recommending you purchase an off-the-shelf system which just needs some minor customization. We will not let you waste money on something we don't think is in your best interests. And if we know someone who will do a better job than us on a specific job, we'll say so.
