Most coaches charge somewhere in the range of $75-300 per 55-minute coaching session, and I have been compensated at both ends and in the middle of that range for individual coaching. Mentor coaching range is $200-500 per session. Coaching sponsored by an organization is generally $300 per session.
I want my offerings to be accessible to all. And I need money to meet my needs. At the start of our coaching engagement we will agree on a planned number of sessions and a rate that considers both of our access to resources. Coaching is often most successful with a minimum of 6 sessions.
I am experimenting with working in “the gift economy”. That means I agree to do things that I feel joy doing and offer them as a gift and, knowing that I need money to live in this world (I am not independently wealthy!), I invite those receiving my offerings to consider a return financial gift factoring their received value of what I offered, their means, equity, and a bunch of other things outlined below. In in our introductory session we will talk about this and make an agreement that meets both of our needs.
When considering the right price for you, please reflect the following:
- If we are engaging in ongoing work, before we engage in work together ask yourself what do you anticipate the value of this labor will be to you? What amount will commit you to show up regularly and with your full self in the work?
- What is within your means to give as a return gift? If you answer no or mostly no to the questions below, set an amount that is accessible for you. If you answer mostly yes to the questions below, consider a full price gift ($150 per coaching session, $300 per mentor coaching session for emerging coaches). If you are wealthy beyond these questions’ scope, please consider a larger gift.
- Are you and your family homeowners or landowners?
- Have you attended private education institutions or do you have an advanced degree?
- Are your bills or credit cards on autopay?
- Have you not had difficulty accessing and affording healthcare or health insurance for you or your family members?
- Do you have zero to no debt and/or do you have disposable income?
- Do you have a safety net composed of “financially stable” or wealthy family and friends?
- Please consider equity and the global colonial history of who has been compensated for what in the past 400+ years. As a white woman, I would hope that you would give a Black, Indigenous or person of color a larger gift than you would give me for the same service, toward re-balancing stolen wealth and centuries of unpaid labor. I would hope that you would give me at least the same as what you would pay a white man in return for labor of similar value.
After we work together, you can adjust your gift up or down considering the following: What was the value of what I offered to you? If you didn’t find it useful, there is no need for a return gift because you didn’t really get a gift! In that case I will return to you whatever portion of what you have given so far you deem appropriate — 100% satisfaction guarantee! If what I offered WAS useful to you, what gift from you would meet your need for gratitude and reciprocity?
This information and more about my approach and my means can be found here.
Becky Dale, Coach and Composer 