I agree. If he wants to do some for free, do it for free. There's nothing damaging to your reputation about doing pro-bono work. I suggested my wife redesign so

I agree. If he wants to do some for free, do it for free. There's nothing damaging to your reputation about doing pro-bono work. I suggested my wife redesign some libertarian party websites for free as she was making the transition from print to web as a way to get experience and build a portfolio. This worked out well and actually led to some paying work through the contacts. She adamantly refuses to work for less than pay for less than what she thinks is a long-term viable rate on the grounds that once you quote someone a price, you can never go back to them and say "oh, yeah, $60/hr was because I was desperate, now I'm charging $90". If you need to cut the price, charge the going hourly rate and throw in freebie hours.