For most nonprofits, marketing is the first line cut and the last one funded. The logic feels responsible. Every dollar spent promoting the work is a dollar not spent doing it. But that instinct quietly caps growth. The organizations that raise more, recruit more volunteers, and move more policy are usually the ones that decided to fund their visibility on purpose instead of paying for it out of whatever was left.
The investment pays back, too. The M+R Benchmarks study, which tracks digital data from roughly 180 nonprofits, found that online revenue for the average organization rose 15 percent in 2025. Reaching donors works, but only when there’s a budget behind the reach.
Start with a percentage, not a guess
A budget built from whatever’s left will always lose to one built from a target. A common rule of thumb puts nonprofit marketing and communications at 5 to 15 percent of total operating budget, and smaller organizations usually sit near the top of that range because they have further to go to be known. The exact figure matters less than the discipline of picking one and protecting it.
Tip: Set your marketing budget as a fixed percentage during planning, before program costs claim everything. A number you defend in advance survives the year. A number you defend in the moment rarely does.
Fund the channels that compound
Not all spending earns at the same rate. Some channels deliver a one-time spike. Others build an audience you can reach again for free. Email is the clearest example. It’s cheap, you own the list, and a subscriber you gain today costs nothing to reach again at year-end. Industry data puts the typical nonprofit’s paid advertising at around $13,000 a year, and the organizations that get the most from it use that spend to grow the channels they own rather than treating the ads as the goal.
In practice, that means putting your money behind a few things:
• Growing your email list, donor database, and monthly giving program.
• A website and search presence strong enough that people looking for your cause actually find you.
• Stories, photos, and data you can reuse across appeals all year.
Budget for measurement, not just output
The most common budgeting mistake is funding production without funding proof. If you can’t tell which appeal or channel drove the gifts, you can’t defend next year’s budget to your board or to a funder. Set aside a small slice for the tracking tools and the staff time that turn activity into evidence.
A nonprofit marketing budget isn’t an expense to minimize. It’s the engine that decides how far the mission travels.
At Romark Strategies, we help mission-driven organizations build marketing budgets that grow giving instead of guarding it. Let’s talk about funding your visibility on purpose.
Sources: “M+R Benchmarks 2025,” M+R: mrbenchmarks.com. “The State of Nonprofit Marketing 2025,” Feathr: feathr.co.
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