Are mid-sized nonprofits spending more on advertising?
This is the second time Whole Whale has used 990 data to answer questions about nonprofit advertising expenses with help from CauseIQ, the leading nonprofit data platform.
This study analyzes advertising and fundraising spending trends from a sample of over 7,000 U.S. nonprofit organizations. This study compares over 7,000+ organizations from a “Current Time” frame to 7,000+ organizations from our “Past Time” study. These time frames compare publicly available Form 990 data from 2022-2023 (Current Time, “CT”) to 2018-2019 (Past Time, “PT”).
Access 2024 Advertising Report + Dashboard
Price: $10 buy the interactive dashboard + study
Big Picture: Overall Trends in Ad Spending
Overall Ad Investments Are Rising:
Nonprofits have pumped in an additional $21.3 million for advertising, marking a 12% increase overall from the previous Study.
Growing Ad Spending per Organization:
The average ad spend per organization jumped 13% from $26,000 to $29,000.
Stretching Dollars Further in Fundraising:
Despite increases in average ad spend, organizations trimmed their fundraising expenses by 5%, with average fundraising expenses dropping from $143,000 to $136,000.
Ads Taking a Larger Slice:
Ads are taking up a larger portion of the total expense pie with a ~17% uptick in advertising as a relative percentage of total fundraising costs.
Smaller Nonprofits Bet Bigger on Ads, Despite Tighter Budgets:
Among organizations with ad expenses, smaller nonprofits ($1.4M-$4M revenue) invest more of their expenses in advertising (0.68%), outpacing their larger counterparts ($4M-$11.8M) at 0.59%.
Median Ad Investment Around $13K:
For nonprofits dedicating funds to advertising, median ad expenses were $12,950, representing .66% of total expenses or just over $1K per month; average ad expenses indexed higher at $47,000.
Summary Current Time (CT | 2022-2023)
- Percent of Nonprofits Spending on Ads: 62%
- Median Ad Spend: $2.2k
- Average Ad Spend: $29k
- Median Ad Spend as a Percent of Total Expenses: .12%
Summary Past Time (PT | 2018-2019)
- Percent of Nonprofits Spending on Ads: 60%
- Median Ad Spend: $1.96k
- Average Ad Spend: $25.8k
- Median Ad Spend as a Percent of Total Expenses: .11%
{snippet from the report}
Lower Revenue vs. Higher Revenue Nonprofits
The median ad spend for organizations who had advertising expenses was $12,950. When comparing ad spend vs. total expenses, lower revenue organizations ($1.4M – $4M) have a lower median ad spend to total expense ratio (.11%) compared to higher revenue organizations ($4M – $11.8M) at (.14%).
The percentage of advertising spend as it relates to fundraising spend for organizations with lower reported revenues ($1.4M – $4M) was also higher at 22% compared to organizations with higher reported revenues ($4M – $11.8M) at 20%.
This seems to indicate that nonprofit organizations of a smaller size and revenue threshold allocate more of their marketing budget to advertising efforts relative to their overall expenses and fundraising efforts compared to higher revenue organizations. This indicates the importance of advertising budget allocation in the early stages of organizational development.
As observed on Advertising Study Overview Page, Organization Revenue from ~1.4M-4M
As observed on Advertising Study Overview Page, Organization Revenue from ~4M-11.8M
FREE: Download the full report
About the 2024 Nonprofit Ad Study
The Whole Whale 2024 Nonprofit Ad Study, in partnership with CauseIQ, analyzes advertising and fundraising spending trends from a sample of over 7,000 U.S. nonprofit organizations, comparing publicly available Form 990 data from 2022-2023 (CT) to 2018-2019 (PT). The report provides a detailed analysis of advertising and fundraising spending trends by industry, revenue size, and region, offering insights that nonprofits can use to inform their strategic planning and maximize their impact.
The Study examines spending trend differences by reported industry, revenue size, and region. For the purposes of this Study, organizations were divided into two revenue cohorts; the lower revenue organization cohort are those with reported revenue between >$1.4M and <$4M USD, while the higher revenue organization cohort are those with reported revenue between >$4M and <$11.8M USD. Example organizations within the $1.4M-$4M band include: Rock The Vote, Delaware Humane Association, and Coney Island Fund. Example organizations within the $4M-$11.8M band include: Metro Meals on Wheels, Texas Public Radio, and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Who is Cause IQ?
Cause IQ provides business data on the nonprofit sector to help organizations find funding, research nonprofits, and grow their nonprofit client base. Cause IQ’s customers including leading nonprofits and service providers to the nonprofit sector. Cause IQ’s website combines over a dozen data sources on nonprofits — Form 990s to Form 5500s, A-133 audits to custom research — with purpose-built tools to make the data searchable, accessible, and downloadable.