Marketing is essential to nonprofit success. It helps you spread the word about your team’s good work, encourage support, and keep supporters connected to your organization.
However, too many nonprofits waste time, money, and resources conducting outreach without a cohesive marketing strategy. One of the best ways to design or refine your strategy in an efficient and effective way is to leverage nonprofit marketing consulting.
Working with a marketing consultant is an investment, and like any investment, you must be prepared from the beginning to get the most out of it. To guide your efforts, we’ll cover the basics of nonprofit marketing and the world of marketing consulting:
- Nonprofit Marketing Consulting: An Overview
- Common Nonprofit Marketing Channels to Know
- Nonprofit Marketing Best Practices
- When to Hire a Nonprofit Marketing Consultant
- 9 Top Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Agencies to Consider
There are more than 1.8 million nonprofits in the U.S. alone. A stellar marketing strategy backed by the guidance of a nonprofit marketing consultant can help your organization stand out from the crowd and secure the support it needs to achieve its mission.
Nonprofit Marketing Consulting: An Overview
What is nonprofit marketing?
Nonprofit marketing refers to all of the strategies a nonprofit organization uses to promote its cause, mission, and services. These strategies can involve everything from digital marketing to event marketing, content creation, and beyond.
Typically, the key focus of nonprofit marketing is not just sharing information but also telling inspiring stories and appealing to an audience’s emotions. In doing so, nonprofits can encourage people to support the organization in several ways, such as donating, volunteering, participating in advocacy work, attending events, and more.
What does a nonprofit marketing consultant do?
A nonprofit marketing consultant is an expert who helps nonprofits develop and implement marketing strategies that boost their visibility, engage their audience, and increase support from their community.
Your organization may already have a few core marketing activities up and running, but a dedicated marketing consultant can help take your efforts to the next level.
These experts serve as valuable members of your nonprofit’s team, bringing the following to the table:
- A third-party perspective on your organization’s current marketing approach
- Tailored suggestions for improvements based on industry best practices and the latest trends
- Implementation support as you put your new and improved strategy into play
- A goal to use your organization’s resources as efficiently as possible
- Tools and techniques for measuring and analyzing the impact of marketing activities
- Training and support for your in-house team to help build your nonprofit’s long-term marketing capacity
While every nonprofit marketing consulting firm is different and will have its own area of expertise, here are some typical services you can expect to see as you research different consultants:
- Overall marketing strategy design: A comprehensive marketing strategy will involve mastering multiple marketing channels, setting specific goals for outreach, and tying all of your efforts to your organization’s larger mission.
- Brand development and management: Your organization’s image needs to be consistent, recognizable, and compelling. A consultant can help you craft and maintain your brand across multiple channels.
- Website development and optimization: A well-designed, functional website can serve as the home base of your organization’s online marketing efforts. A consultant well-versed in user experience (UX) and search engine optimization (SEO) ccan help your team maximize its website’s potential to help your nonprofit gain visibility on the web.
- Digital marketing strategy support: From social media campaigns to email marketing and everything in between, there are a lot of plates to keep spinning when it comes to digital marketing. A consultant can help you coordinate and prioritize these campaigns.
- Print and digital materials design: Not every nonprofit has an in-house graphic designer. Choosing a consultant with print and web design services can help your organization quickly develop effective appeals for all of your marketing channels, from social media to direct mail.
- Public relations and media outreach: Some nonprofits, especially large organizations, may benefit from enlisting a consultant to manage their public relations efforts, like press releases, media communications, and event promotions.
- Content creation and copywriting: Compelling content is a must in your organization’s marketing strategy. Look for a consultant who knows how to help your team write engaging blog posts, newsletters, and annual reports, and also create multimedia materials like videos.
- Event marketing: If events are a core focus area for your nonprofit, you need to know how to effectively promote them and increase attendance. A consultant can help you increase RSVPs and support for every event you run.
- Analytics and reporting: A marketing strategy isn’t something that your team can just set and forget. Work with a consultant who can monitor, analyze, and report on your marketing campaigns to improve your strategy over time.
Above all, look for a nonprofit marketing consultant that offers comprehensive digital strategies that tie your marketing, technology, and fundraising goals together. This will prove invaluable as your nonprofit grows, expands its reach, and moves more of its operations online.
Common Nonprofit Marketing Channels to Know
As you work with a consultant to develop your marketing strategy, you’ll begin by selecting the outlets you’ll prioritize. There are a variety of options, and each organization should use its own mix of marketing channels based on which ones seem to best engage as many supporters as possible.
Here’s a look at the top marketing channels at most nonprofits’ disposal:
- Your organization’s website: Your website is one of your nonprofit’s most important marketing assets. It serves as a central hub for supporters to reference when seeking information about your nonprofit and involvement opportunities. It houses important marketing components like your blog, social media streams, event and campaign information, and much more.
- Email marketing: Email is essential for nonprofits, and nearly 70% of organizations use it. Start by creating a weekly newsletter that provides regular updates on your organization’s activities. Make sure to spread the word about subscribing to your email list via other outlets, like your social media posts and blog updates. You’ll also want to set up an email sequence for new subscribers to thank them for joining and educate them on your organization.
- Social media platforms: Social media is a great tool to boost brand awareness and recognition. When developing your strategy, adjust your outreach based on the platform. For instance, X is ideal for succinct updates whereas Facebook is more suitable for longer appeals (and can integrate with some fundraising solutions!). When you create valuable posts that fit each platform, followers will be much more likely to share your content with their own social networks. Additionally, funnel readers back to your website in order to generate more traffic and conversions.
- Google Ads: Google offers a program that gives nonprofits $10,000 each month to use on Google Ads. By making use of the Google Ad Grant, your organization will appear at the very top of the Google results page when a user searches a keyword related to your mission. This is a great way to increase your organization’s visibility online and can complement your SEO efforts.
- Direct mail: There’s a common misconception out there that direct mail is an out-of-date marketing channel. However, direct mail is still driving results for organizations everywhere—in fact, the average return on investment (ROI) for direct mail is around 30%. Today, it is likely that direct mail is so effective because of its novelty. When you send fundraising letters, event invitations, and donor thank-you notes through the mail, they stand out in the midst of bills and advertisements as a personal touchpoint with your recipients.
- Text messaging: Did you know that text messages have a whopping 98% open rate? This means that texting is a foolproof method for reaching your audience. Use texts to send quick updates or reminders about upcoming events and campaigns. You can also ask for donations via text and include a link to your donation page.
In addition to selecting multiple marketing channels to work with, consider taking an omnichannel approach to your outreach as well. An omnichannel approach allows you to link all of your marketing channels together in order to keep your audience engaged.
For instance, ask your email subscribers to follow your organization on social media or encourage social media followers to click through to your website by sharing an excerpt from a recent blog post. Instead of having entirely separate appeals, supporters will have a single engagement path to follow. You’ll lead them from one engagement opportunity to the next, making the supporter experience much more immersive.
Nonprofit Marketing Best Practices
When developing a dedicated strategy, keep the following nonprofit marketing tips in mind:
- Segmentation: To effectively market your organization, you’ll need to store insightful information on existing supporters in a tool like a constituent relationship management system (CRM) or centralize information from multiple data sources in a data warehouse. Use this information to segment them into meaningful groups within your records. For instance, consider your audience’s communication preferences, giving preferences, and past interactions with your organization. Then, personalize your marketing outreach by creating appeals that are tailored to specific groups with shared qualities.
- Email automation: Automation can save your team time and drastically improve the results of your outreach. An email marketing platform allows you to release a series of emails based on a supporter’s behavior and/or a specific period of time. For instance, if a constituent takes an action (such as making a donation), an automated email series can be triggered to send a sequence of emails over a set period of time. Plus, these can be personalized based on the donor segments you create.
- Mobile-first strategies: Considering that nearly 60% of website traffic comes from mobile devices, you should prioritize mobile responsiveness when crafting any of your digital marketing materials—especially when designing your website. A responsive design adjusts the structure, content, and presentation of content in response to the user’s screen size (and many website builders take care of this for you). When drafting digital appeals and corresponding action pages like your donation page, design for mobile devices first and desktops second by limiting the number of top-heavy elements and aiming for a simple but engaging design.
- A/B testing: An easy way to test the effectiveness of your marketing materials is to create multiple versions and compare their performance. For example, you can test email subject lines, send time, length, phrasing, imagery use, and a number of other elements. Keep the core call to action the same, and vary only one element each time. By doing this, you can better understand what is more motivating to your donor base. Then, use the results as a guide when crafting future appeals.
Want to learn more marketing tips and tricks?
When to Hire a Nonprofit Marketing Consultant
If you’ve never worked with a consultant before, it can be difficult to pinpoint an optimal time to hire one. From general support to a complete overhaul of your marketing strategy, a consultant can help at any point during the process. Here are a few common times when your nonprofit may consider seeking external help:
- Upcoming major campaign: Maintaining motivation throughout a campaign is a difficult task. If you need help designing a campaign that prioritizes engagement, consider bringing a nonprofit marketing agency on board. They’ll help you navigate the landscape and create engaging campaigns that widen your reach and increase your impact.
- Big technology upgrades: A consultant can facilitate the process of transitioning to new technology. This way, you can focus more on furthering your mission. After all, technology is meant to streamline your workflow, not interrupt it.
- Restructuring your fundraising strategies: Your fundraising approach may have proven successful at one time, but often, generating new ideas will revitalize your team and your donors. A consultant can give you an outside perspective so that you can fill in any gaps and better connect with supporters.
- Revamping your marketing materials: Transforming your nonprofit’s marketing materials is a major undertaking. From redesigning your logo to making brand-new marketing collateral like flyers, a nonprofit consultant can eliminate the guesswork and create designs that communicate your cause. Simply tell them what you’re looking for, and they’ll bring your vision to life.
- Needing assistance with data hygiene. Data hygiene, the process of organizing, cleaning, and updating your nonprofit’s data, is essential for refining your marketing campaigns and contact lists. You may want assistance with this process, especially if your organization has a plethora of data or your information hasn’t been updated in a long time.
Understanding the Hiring Process
Once you know that the time is right to hire a nonprofit marketing consultant, you’ll need to follow a few key steps to select the consulting firm that is the right fit for your organization:
- Review your nonprofit’s marketing needs. What are the pain points your organization is experiencing with its current marketing approach? What do you hope to accomplish by working with a marketing consultant? What technology solutions is your team using for marketing, and are there any additional systems you want to implement? By determining your needs beforehand, you can be direct with any nonprofit marketing consultants you speak to and determine the best route of action for your team from there.
- Discuss consulting needs and plans with your board. In order to get the most out of a consulting engagement, all of your organization’s key stakeholders need to be aligned on why you’re seeking a consultant and the scope of the project you need assistance with. Present your hiring plans to your board and get their approval before moving forward so that you don’t experience any roadblocks during the rest of the process.
- Set some guidelines for your ideal consulting engagement. Outline specific guidelines for the project you need assistance with. Include budget details, a start date, and a flexible timeline.
- Research top nonprofit marketing consultants. Explore the internet to find consultants who seem like they would be a good fit for your organization. Also, ask peers from other organizations to recommend marketing consultants they’ve worked with before. Create a list of consultants that you could see yourself working with.
- Create a request for proposal (RFP). An RFP is a document that outlines your project, purpose, needs, and the guidelines for your consulting engagement. Consultants use these documents to build out proposals that demonstrate how they would approach helping your team.
- Review your shortlist of candidates. Work with your team members (specifically, anyone who will be interacting with the consultant once you’ve chosen one) to review your list of consulting candidates. Send your top candidates your RFP, giving them a reasonable deadline for getting back to you with a finished proposal.
- Review candidates’ proposals. Once you have completed proposals in hand, work as a team to review them. Some organizations find that creating a simple scoring system allows them to more objectively evaluate whose proposal and approach are best. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to consulting candidates to ask questions about the proposal.
- Select your consultant. Let your chosen consultant know that you want to hire them. Work out the specifics of the engagement and formalize your plans by creating a contract that sets clear expectations for both the consultant and your team.
Throughout the hiring process, pay attention to each consulting candidate’s working and communication styles. Since the consultant will be working side by side with your team, you need to ensure that they will be a good fit for your organization’s culture and respect that you have the final say in any strategy decisions.
9 Top Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Agencies to Consider
Every nonprofit marketing expert has their own benefits, specialty, and style. By taking the time to find the right fit, you’ll set your organization up for marketing success.
To help your team jump-start your research and compare options, explore the following agencies:
1. DNL OmniMedia: Top Full-Service Nonprofit Marketing Firm
DNL OmniMedia is a full-service nonprofit marketing consulting firm that specializes in helping nonprofits make the most of their technology. Designed to help your organization get in front of more prospects, our nonprofit marketing consulting services can take your outreach to the next level.
We’ll assess your organization’s marketing and fundraising goals and work with you to build a marketing plan that fully meets your needs. Here’s an overview of the marketing services our expert team offers:
- Nonprofit technology and marketing strategy development
- Website design, development, and maintenance
- Pay-per-click marketing
- Social and organic content management
- Copywriting services
- Nonprofit event planning
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
While our marketing services are extensive, our expertise doesn’t stop there. From website development to technology selection and implementation, we offer comprehensive solutions that can streamline how you use technology across your entire organization. Few nonprofit marketing consultants offer as wide a range of services and support as we do.
Want to see our work in action? Check out our projects with World Help:
World Help: A DNL OmniMedia Case Study
World Help is a nonprofit dedicated to fighting global poverty and providing humanitarian aid to vulnerable communities worldwide. This organization has a long-term partnership with Team DNL, allowing us to collaborate on their Salesforce, Blackbaud Luminate Online, and web development goals that help them further their mission.
Our team has assisted World Help in creating user-friendly, mission-focused web experiences to strengthen their online presence and allow them to form lasting connections with donors and partners. We also provide ongoing data import and transformation help and Salesforce and Luminate Online strategy support.
Do you have similar needs or projects in mind that will help boost your fundraising and marketing efforts?
2. Getting Attention: Best Nonprofit Marketing Consultants for Google Grants
Getting Attention is a team of expert Google Ad Grant managers that works with nonprofits to harness the power of paid advertising. Through the Ad Grants program, Google supplies nonprofits with free credits to spend on boosting visibility for their fundraisers and missions within search results for relevant terms.
With a unique understanding of nonprofits’ advertising needs, this consulting firm can help you apply for the program, create persuasive ads, and monitor your performance metrics. In turn, they’ll help you drive more website traffic and convert passive visitors into long-term supporters.
From applying to actively managing your account, this expert Google Ad Grant agency will cover every step of the process. Their main nonprofit marketing services include:
- Google Ad Grant eligibility check and application
- Ad creation and keyword research
- Ongoing compliance and account maintenance
- Performance tracking and reporting
- Account reactivation for lapsed or suspended accounts
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Acting as an extension of your team, Getting Attention will work to understand your marketing goals and craft an Ad Grant management plan that supports those goals. The agency’s sole focus on the Google Grant program assures its nonprofit partners that their ads will drive meaningful results.
3. Kwala: Best Nonprofit Marketing Agency for Subscription-Based Graphic Design
Kwala is a graphic design agency that specializes in nonprofit design. With years of experience in the mission-driven sector, they understand what it takes for nonprofits to stand out online through powerful visuals. Plus, you’ll work with a dedicated account manager who will get to know your cause on a deeper level.
Kwala’s expert designers provide nonprofits with stellar brand creatives that stand out across web and print advertising. They’ll help you successfully connect with and inspire prospects across any platform through powerful graphic design.
Some of their core graphic design services include:
- Fundraising flyers and brochures
- Infographics and other web graphics
- Direct mail, such as letterheads and postcards
- Nonprofit logos
- Branded merchandise
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Kwala follows a subscription-based model, meaning that you can submit unlimited graphic design requests and revisions each month. You pay a flat fee, and they’ll fulfill as many of your requests as possible. What’s more, they’ll keep designing until you’re happy with your materials!
4. GivingMail: Best Nonprofit Marketing Consultancy for Direct Mail
Direct mail is a favorite marketing channel for senders and recipients alike—and for good reason. But increasing the impact of your mailings and really grabbing your audiences’ attention might require some assistance. That’s where GivingMail comes in!
GivingMail is a powerful marketing and fundraising firm designed to assist nonprofits of all shapes and sizes with effective direct mail strategies.
Make the most of direct mail for nonprofits with these useful services:
- Fundraising letter templates
- Visual design assistance
- Donor list rentals
- Marketing and fundraising packages
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
If you’re going to host a direct mail marketing campaign, working with GivingMail can actually help your team save time and money. Then, these crucial resources can be reallocated back into what matters most: your mission!
Rather than purchasing all of the paper, ink, envelopes, and stamps you’d need to conduct a direct mail campaign on your own (not to mention stuffing all of the mailings), GivingMail can reduce the stress and the cost to your organization.
5. Vibrant Agency: Best Marketing Consulting Firm for Churches and Ministries
In the digital age, reaching churchgoers is a difficult task. Luckily, there are nonprofit marketing consultants who specialize in church outreach. Vibrant Agency is a marketing agency dedicated to offering affordable consulting services to churches of all sizes, so you can have your own marketing team without the hefty cost.
Keep the conversation with church members going with these low-cost services from Vibrant Agency:
- Church website development
- Social media management
- Unlimited graphic design
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Vibrant Agency is devoted to providing affordable marketing solutions to churches, meaning your organization will receive the most tailored services available. With industry knowledge and a proven track record, they’ll provide your church with the tools it needs to expand its reach.
6. Rhyme & Reason Design: Best Marketing Consulting Firm for Branding Projects
Rhyme & Reason Design is a nonprofit marketing consulting firm that specializes in branding outreach. When it comes to building your brand, you can strongly benefit from advice from an expert in the field.
To aid you during the process, this nonprofit marketing consultant offers the following services:
- Brand development to help you with branded elements such as naming, logo design, and standards
- Research to help you uncover what motivates your target audience
- Video creation to represent your brand in a compelling way and to get in front of an engaged audience
- Presentation development to ensure your speaking engagements fully encompass your brand
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Rhyme & Reason Design emphasizes the importance of establishing a strong, compelling brand. Branding is a big deal for nonprofits. It tells your organization’s story and furthers your mission by making your cause memorable.
Their team draws from hands-on experience and has presented on design and branding strategies at a variety of conferences and educational meetings. With their help, you’ll be able to better establish your brand through your campaigns by featuring smart ideas and engaging designs.
7. Nonprofit Marketing Guide: Best Marketing Consultants for Communications Coaching
Nonprofit Marketing Guide is unique in that it is a training and coaching company. Through live or on-demand training sessions, these consultants will help your organization improve its internal and external communications. You can also tap into private consulting tailored to your team or invite a marketing expert to speak at your organization.
Here’s a brief overview of some of the topics the Nonprofit Marketing Guide experts can teach your team about:
- How to advance your nonprofit communications career
- How to raise awareness
- Social media trends
- Using generative AI
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
The Nonprofit Marketing Guide team specializes in improving communications across the board. Your team will learn how to implement communication best practices both within your organization and with constituents.
Plus, your team can start the learning process by using the consultancy’s free membership offering, which allows you to access everything from their private community and discussion spaces to self-paced courses. If you love what you’re learning, you can then upgrade to a paid membership to get even more perks.
8. Nexus Marketing: Best Marketing Consulting Agency for Nonprofits That Sell Products and Services
Nexus Marketing helps nonprofits that generate revenue from programs, products, and services by helping them leverage organic marketing channels. So, if your organization sells something like online courses or even physical products to fund its work, Nexus Marketing may be the perfect fit for your organization.
Here’s a closer look at what Nexus Marketing can help your nonprofit with:
- SEO, including keyword research, content creation and optimization, and link-building
- Lead generation through panels and educational video creation
- Digital PR through off-site content promotion and collaborations with nonprofit influencers
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Nexus Marketing is well-connected in the nonprofit space, which makes it easy for your organization to get the word out about its cause. For example, with an extensive network of partner websites and panel attendees, Nexus Marketing can help your organization establish itself as a trusted authority in the nonprofit space, boosting your visibility and garnering more support for your mission.
9. Sarah Best Strategy: Best Nonprofit Marketing Consultant for Social Media
Sarah Best Strategy, headed by Sarah Best, is a digital marketing agency that helps nonprofits shine in the digital space. Best’s team can help your organization grow its digital marketing capacity and will also step in to extend the bandwidth of your team.
In addition to email marketing, Google Ad Grant management, and website content creation and optimization, this firm is well-versed in all things social media. They offer the following services to help boost your performance on various social platforms:
- Social media strategy audits
- Social media management for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, and TikTok
- Social media advertising assistance
Why This Nonprofit Marketing Consulting Firm Stands Out
Sarah Best and her team understand that social media is an affordable and cost-effective tool for building awareness, boosting engagement, and encouraging support. They’ll meet you where you are and help you design a social media strategy that resonates with your supporters and keeps your bottom line in check.
Marketing is a crucial component of any fundraising strategy. To maximize your reach, turn to a professional nonprofit marketing consulting firm for expert guidance rooted in extensive industry knowledge.
The right consultant will enable you to develop strategies, build out your toolkit, and fill vital gaps in your operations.
Want to learn more about the world of nonprofit marketing and technology? Check out these additional resources:
- Nonprofit Marketing: The Savvy Nonprofit’s Ultimate Guide
- Nonprofit Technology Consulting: 6 Steps to Success
- Blackbaud Luminate Online: A Full Guide for Nonprofits
- Blackbaud vs. Salesforce: A Full Comparison for Nonprofits
