How to Hire a Nonprofit Marketing Agency: 15 Questions and the Red Flags to Watch

Choosing the right agency should feel like getting a steady guide, not rolling the dice. If you run a small team or you wear three hats already, the goal is simple: find a partner who respects your constraints, speaks board language, and delivers outcomes that matter to your mission.

Choose Clarity. Protect the Mission.

You do not need a bigger to-do list. You need a partner who respects constraints, speaks board language, and proves lift in retention and recurring giving. 

Here are some tips and considerations to help you approach agency selection for your nonprofit organization. Think of it as the conversation we’d have with you on a discovery call. Use it to spot great fits and avoid costly missteps.

1) Start with outcomes your board actually cares about

Ask agencies to talk about retention, recurring giving growth, upgrade rates, and donation flow conversion. Clicks and impressions tell part of the story. Evidence of donor loyalty and revenue stability tells the story your board expects.

Pro Tip: Request one example where a campaign improved retention or recurring giving in the last year. Ask to see before/after dashboards.

Red flag: Case studies that stop at vanity metrics.

2) Check how they translate marketing into “board language.”

You should hear clear bridges from channel metrics to outcomes. For example, “email reactivation led to 120 lapsed donors returning and $38K in renewed gifts.”

Pro Tip: Ask for a sample board slide or one-page summary they’ve used for another nonprofit.

Red flag: “We’ll send a monthly dashboard” without a narrative that ties activity to revenue or impact.

3) Protect your team’s capacity

Great partners design for a 1–3 person reality. That means repurposing workflows, approval ladders that move, and content plans that your team can actually keep up with.

Pro Tip: Ask what they will stop or simplify to free your time. Look for automation of repetitive tasks and fewer meetings.

Red flag: A heavier content cadence with no offsets or support plan.

4) Make sure they respect the “two audiences” reality

Nonprofits speak to supporters and program participants. The right agency shows a simple message matrix for each audience and a plan for segmentation.

Pro Tip: Ask for two short copy samples: one donor-facing, one beneficiary-facing, for the same initiative.

Red flag: One message for everyone.

5) Align Development and Marketing from day one

When fundraising and comms use different scorecards, supporters feel it. Look for shared goals, a joint calendar, and collaboration rituals that stick.

Pro Tip: Ask who owns donor retention targets and how marketing supports them.

Red flag: Separate reporting and recurring misalignment between teams.

6) Put ethics and consent at the center

Storytelling should protect dignity and reduce harm. Your partner should have a consent process, guidance on sensitive topics, and checks before stories go live.

Pro Tip: Request the consent forms and a short “dignified storytelling” checklist.

Red flag: “We’ll get stories” with no consent process.

7) Ask about accessibility, not after launch but before

Accessibility needs to be standard. Look for WCAG-aware design, alt text conventions, readable forms, and QA built into the process.

Pro Tip: Have them show an example of an accessible donation flow and the checks they run.

Red flag: Accessibility as a phase two task or “nice to have.”

8) Expect a plan for recurring giving

Acquisition matters. Retention keeps the lights on. A strong partner nurtures recurring donors with onboarding sequences, upgrade paths, and failed-payment rescue steps.

Pro Tip: Ask for the first three emails they would send to a new monthly donor.

Red flag: “We focus on acquisition” without a retention approach.

9) Insist on nonprofit references you can call

You want confidence that they know your constraints. References should be similar in size and sector where possible.

Pro Tip: Ask references one question: “What did this agency stop or simplify that saved your team time?”

Red flag: Only for-profit references or generic testimonials.

10) Clarify Google Ad Grants stewardship

Grants are powerful when governed well. You want policy compliance, conversion tracking, and landing pages built for quality traffic.

Pro Tip: Ask how they protect the account from suspension and how they connect grant traffic to donations or volunteer actions.

Red flag: “Free $10K equals free traffic” with no governance.

11) Demand a practical tech plan

Your CRM, email, donations, and analytics should talk to each other. The partner should recommend integrations that fit your budget and your team’s skills.

Pro Tip: Ask for a two-tier stack: “good” and “better,” with costs and time to implement.

Red flag: Siloed tools and manual reporting with no path to fix it.

12) Get clear on measurement and attribution

You need attribution that leaders can trust. Look for UTM discipline, goal tracking, cohort analysis, and a simple way to roll results up for the board.

Pro Tip: Have them show a campaign map from source to donation and the KPIs they would watch.

Red flag: Last-click answers to nuanced fundraising questions.

13) Look for forecasting, not guesses

Targets should come from baselines and realistic lift models. You want scenario ranges and time-to-value in writing.

Pro Tip: Ask how they would forecast recurring revenue growth over six and twelve months.

Red flag: Guarantees or round numbers without a model.

14) Ask how they de-risk creative and approvals

Strong process means fewer redo’s and faster launches. You should see draft checkpoints, stakeholder alignment, and a path to resolve feedback quickly.

Pro Tip: Request their approval workflow diagram and who owns each step.

Red flag: Endless rounds with no guardrails.

15) Make pricing and scope transparent

You should know inclusions, exclusions, risks, and change control up front. The goal is no surprises.

Pro Tip: Ask them to highlight the three most likely scope risks and how they would manage each.

Red flag: “Full service” promises with vague deliverables.

Red flags at a glance

• Outcomes framed only in vanity metrics
• Plans that ignore small-team capacity
• No consent process or accessibility checks
• Tools that do not integrate
• Guarantees without baselines
• Vague scopes and pricing

What a great nonprofit marketing partner sounds like

Good marketing efforts stall when the process drags. Expect a clear plan, lean approvals, and reporting your board understands. Let us help you find the right nonprofit marketing partner.