Benson Theatre — Proposed Working Agreement

Status: Draft for Eric's review. Not signed, not sent.

A multi-year retainer that covers the rebuild, hosting, and ongoing care, with the right protections so a leadership change at Benson down the road can't leave Eric holding the bag.

Why now

Benson Theatre's current site is stuck. The agency that built it stopped responding months ago. Edits can't happen without going through them, so the basics like contact info, staff details, and event copy drift out of date with no way for anyone on the Benson side to fix it. The original handoff never put Benson Theatre in control of its own website.

It's gotten worse. During our review of the live site we found it has been compromised. Search-engine spam links to pharmacy sites have been injected into the navigation. They've been there long enough that Google has likely deprioritized bensontheatre.org in search results. The longer it sits, the harder the recovery gets.

A rebuild is the cleanest fix. Not a patch on the existing site, not another round of trying to recover access from a vanished agency, but a clean rebuild on a foundation Benson Theatre actually controls. Same mission, same content, modernized and properly secured. And this is the one Jim has been asking for: an actually editable site. No more waiting on someone else to update a phone number.

The bigger value here is the ongoing partner. Websites need real maintenance to stay healthy. Plugin updates, security patches, the next round of programming added to the calendar, occasional content lifts. Without someone responsible for that work, even a freshly rebuilt site drifts into the same place we're in today within a year or two. The retainer structure in this proposal is built specifically so that doesn't happen again. Benson Theatre gets a long-term web development partner, not just a one-time builder.

I've been working alongside Jim on this since January at no cost, helping figure out how to recover access from the original agency, mapping the situation, and confirming what's possible. That work is done now and Benson Theatre has the domain back. This proposal is about formalizing the partnership going forward so the rebuild actually happens and the site doesn't end up in this same place a year from now. I want to be Benson Theatre's nonprofit web partner, not just a vendor who delivers a site and walks away.

What this would normally cost

Custom website work is usually billed by the hour or as a lump-sum project plus monthly hosting and support. Here's what each piece of this engagement would run at standard rates.

The monthly maintenance line is the unsung hero. WordPress core and plugins ship security and feature updates almost weekly. Sites that don't get touched for months become vulnerabilities. Eric runs the updates every month, watches for breaking changes, and handles premium plugin licenses (Gravity Forms, ACF Pro, etc.) on Benson's behalf so they never have to think about it.

What it costs at standard rates vs. what Benson actually pays

24-month scenario (Option A):

36-month scenario (Option B):

This is a 75% discount off standard rates, and it's deliberate. I'm offering my services at this rate specifically to be Benson Theatre's nonprofit web partner, not just a vendor who delivers a project and disappears. The structure makes the math work for both sides: Benson gets a real long-term partner at a fraction of standard cost, and I get a relationship with an organization whose mission I want to support. Win-win.

Two structures for Jim

Both options bundle the rebuild, hosting on Eric's Flywheel reseller, and 2-3 hours per month of ongoing care. Option A finishes faster and saves Benson $1,500 total. Option B spreads the cost into smaller monthly bites if the budget is tight.

What's included

• Custom WordPress site rebuild (theme, all pages, events, donate, memberships, forms, accessibility, legal pages)
• Migration off Shape Society's hosting onto Eric's Flywheel reseller
• Domain DNS management at GoDaddy
• SSL certificate, daily backups, malware scanning at the host level
• 2-3 hours per month of ongoing care: WordPress core updates, plugin updates, premium plugin license management (Gravity Forms, ACF Pro, and others held under Eric's accounts), security patches, content updates as Benson sends them, troubleshooting, minor design tweaks
• Email response within 1-2 business days for standard requests
• Annual review of how the site is performing

What's not included

• Major redesigns or new sections after launch (scoped separately if Benson wants them)
• Third-party service costs Benson pays directly (PayPal fees, ticketing platforms, newsletter tools)
• Content writing (Benson supplies copy, Eric publishes)
• Photography, video, or hardware

Ownership and licensing during the term

This is the part that protects both sides. Plain version: until the agreement completes, Eric owns the theme and the underlying code. Benson has a license to use it on bensontheatre.org for as long as the agreement is in good standing.

• Eric retains all rights to the custom theme code, custom development, and the Flywheel hosting account during the term.
• Benson Theatre receives a non-transferable license to use the site at bensontheatre.org for the term.
• The theme contains a license validation check tied to the Benson Theatre domain. If the agreement falls out of good standing or the theme is moved off the authorized site, the license check disables the front-end and shows a maintenance notice.
• All content (text, images, videos, donor data) belongs to Benson Theatre at all times. None of that is ever held hostage.

What happens at term completion

When the full term is paid through, Eric transfers full ownership of the theme and code to Benson Theatre. The license check gets removed, and Benson is free to keep it where it is, move it, modify it, or hand it to another developer. No additional fees.

Timeline to launch

Target: 30 calendar days from contract signing to public launch.

The 30-day target depends on Benson Theatre's responsiveness during the review window in week 3 (page-by-page feedback, copy adjustments, photo selections). If client feedback takes longer than two business days at any review checkpoint, the launch shifts day-for-day.

The reason this is achievable: we don't need anything from Shape Society to make it happen. We have the domain back, the content is already mapped out from the technical review run during the proposal phase, and the rebuild lives on hosting Eric controls.

Payment terms

• Auto-pay required: credit card or bank account on file, charged monthly.
• 30-day grace period if a payment fails. Eric reaches out, no fees.
• After 30 days late: $25 late fee added, site keeps running.
• After 60 days late: site shows a maintenance overlay on the front-end. Backend still accessible to staff.
• After 90 days late: site goes fully offline. Content is exported and made available to Benson for retrieval. License is revoked.
• Reactivation: pay outstanding balance plus a $100 reactivation fee within 6 months and the site is restored.

Early termination

If Benson wants out before the term completes, two paths:

1. Buyout with full ownership: pay the remaining contract balance plus a $1,000 transfer fee. Eric removes the license check, exports the theme code with documentation, transfers the hosting account, and hands off premium plugin licenses (or guidance on picking them up directly). Full ownership transfers immediately.
2. Walk away: the active site is taken down. All content (text, images, videos, donor records) is exported and provided to Benson for whoever takes over. Domain stays with Benson. Theme code stays with Eric.

Either way, Benson never loses access to their own content. The domain, donor data, and content always belong to Benson Theatre.

The $1,000 transfer fee reflects the real work of an unplanned handoff: removing the license check, exporting and packaging the code, transferring the hosting account, gathering and handing off plugin licenses, and writing documentation for the next developer. That's typically 5 to 6 hours of work at standard rates ($1,000 to $1,200).

If Eric needs to step away (life happens), 60 days written notice. Eric provides a clean handoff and helps Benson find someone to take over. No transfer fee in that case; the obligation is on Eric to wrap things cleanly.

Leadership transition clause

Recognizing that Benson Theatre's leadership may change during the term:

• The agreement is signed by two officers (Executive Director + Board Chair, or equivalent).
• Any change in primary point of contact is communicated to Eric within 30 days.
• The agreement remains in force regardless of staff or board changes. New leadership inherits the existing terms.

Why this structure makes sense for both sides

The simple version: I want to be Benson Theatre's nonprofit web partner. The 75% discount off my standard rates is what makes that possible. Win-win for both of us.

For Benson: a fully rebuilt, professionally maintained website at roughly the same monthly cost as bare-bones hosting alone. No upfront capital outlay. A real partner who knows the site inside out, has been alongside Jim through the recovery saga, and can keep things healthy long-term so this never happens again.

For Eric: predictable monthly revenue that covers his costs, formalizes a relationship that's been pro bono since January, and a long-term partnership with an organization whose mission is worth backing. Reasonable protections built in for the worst-case scenarios (leadership turnover, payment lapses, or attempts to take the work without paying for it), but those are safety rails, not the point.

The ownership and license clauses sound formal but are standard practice for custom-developed software. They protect the work that goes into the rebuild without taking anything away from Benson Theatre. The domain, content, and brand stay where they belong from day one. The custom code is held in good faith until the term wraps, then handed over in full.

Next moves

1. Eric reviews and tweaks the numbers or terms.
2. When ready, this gets formatted as a real signed agreement (PDF or DocuSign) before going to Jim.
3. Pitch to Jim during or after the May 11 working session. Frame: "here's how we make this work for both sides."

Internal notes (for Eric, not Jim)

The kill switch: the license validation check is a real protection but should sit quietly. It only activates if the agreement breaks down. Eric does not need to advertise the technical implementation; the agreement's IP and license language is the legal cover. Implementation details live in the theme code and a buried wp_options row, not in the contract.

A Todoist card has been added covering the technical implementation: license check in the theme, domain validation, graceful degradation to maintenance mode if the check fails, automatic removal on term completion.

The recommended pitch order to Jim: lead with Option A. If Jim balks at $275/mo, slide to Option B. If he balks at both, that's a sign to revisit whether the engagement structure works for him at all.

Don't drop the price below $200/mo. Below that, the math stops working for Eric and the relationship turns adversarial when scope grows.

Why $1,000 transfer fee not $500: at $500, an early-out is so cheap that a new exec director or board member could decide to bail mid-term and walk away with the site for pocket change. At $1,000 plus the remaining contract balance (e.g., bailing at month 12 of Option A means owing 12 × $275 + $1,000 = $4,300), the math creates real friction without being predatory. The fee is also defensible because it maps to actual labor at standard rates: 5 to 6 hours of handoff work at $200/hr is $1,000 to $1,200. Industry standards on early-termination buyouts for custom web work range from $1,000 (low end) to $5,000+ for larger builds, often expressed as "remaining balance + transfer fee" or as a 25-50% premium on remaining payments. $1,000 sits at the friendly end of that range, appropriate for the relationship Eric has with Jim.

Pro bono framing: the "I've been alongside Jim since January at no cost" line is true and important. It signals that Eric isn't trying to extract money from Benson Theatre; he's trying to formalize a partnership that already exists. Jim should feel that this proposal is the natural next step, not a bait-and-switch.