Retainer Service Rates

Some work doesn’t fit a project quote. If you need a steady stream of small things — a landing page this week, a trade show banner next month, ongoing edits to a site I built — a retainer is usually cheaper and faster than quoting each piece separately. This page lays out my hourly rate, the discounts that come with a 6- or 12-month commitment, and the reduced rates I hold for nonprofits.

Hourly Production Rates

Standard rate: $100.00 / hour
Nonprofit rate: $90.00 / hour

Billed in quarter-hour increments (.25 minimum).

That rate covers everything I do — design, development, revisions, file prep, and the phone calls in between. There’s no separate project management line, no account coordination fee, and no markup on a junior designer’s time, because there is no junior designer. You’re paying for the person doing the work.

Retainer Rates: Lower Hourly Cost for Committed Hours

A retainer reserves a block of my time each month. You commit to a set number of hours over 6 or 12 months, and the hourly rate drops. The longer the term and the larger the monthly block, the deeper the discount — a 12-month agreement at 60 hours per month brings the effective rate down 14%.

6 Month Contract – Retainer Rate

60 hours per month: 7% discounted: Hourly Rate: $93.00

40 hours per month: 5% discounted: Hourly Rate: $95.00

20 hours per month: 3% discounted: Hourly Rate: $97.00

12 Month Contract – Retainer Rate

60 hours per month: 14% discounted: Hourly Rate: $86.00

40 hours per month: 10% discounted: Hourly Rate: $90.00

20 hours per month: 6% discounted: Hourly Rate: $94.00

Nonprofit Rates for Oklahoma Organizations

Nonprofits work from a $90.00 base rate rather than $100.00, and the same retainer discounts apply. I’ve done long-running work for organizations like Wings of Hope Family Crisis Services, Heroes in Waiting, and The Promise to Oklahoma, and the reduced rate exists because that work matters and the budgets are real.

To qualify, provide documentation of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status along with your Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN).

6 Month Contract – Nonprofit Retainer Rate

60 hours per month: 7% discounted: Hourly Rate: $83.70

40 hours per month: 5% discounted: Hourly Rate: $85.50

20 hours per month: 3% discounted: Hourly Rate: $87.30

12 Month Contract – Nonprofit Retainer Rate

60 hours per month: 14% discounted: Hourly Rate: $77.40

40 hours per month: 10% discounted: Hourly Rate: $81.00

20 hours per month: 6% discounted: Hourly Rate: $84.60

How a Retainer Actually Works

A retainer buys you priority. When you hold reserved hours, your requests move to the front of my schedule — I respond the way an in-house designer would, not the way a queue does. That predictability is the real value, and it’s why the rate comes down.

The terms are straightforward:

Hours are use-it-or-lose-it. You must use your monthly allotment within that billing cycle. Unused hours don’t roll into the next month.

Overage is billed at the standard rate. If you run past your allotment, I’ll keep going — those extra hours bill at $100 (or $90 for nonprofits) rather than your discounted rate.

Priority applies to reserved hours. Once you’ve used your monthly block, additional work moves to first-come, first-served against whatever else is in production that week.