Mastering marketing and communications strategies is essential for growth for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Using data to measure results and compare them to industry benchmarks is key to maximizing impact. Nonprofits, with their unique challenges and limited budgets and resources, can greatly benefit from using data to help select and optimize the most cost-effective strategies in their communication efforts.
The importance of marketing benchmarks for nonprofits
Identify strengths and weaknesses: Comparing your metrics to industry standards helps pinpoint areas for improvement.
Effective resource allocation: Ensure your resources are used efficiently and where they matter most.
Tailor strategies for better engagement: Fine-tune your approach to engage and retain donors more effectively.
Continuous optimization: Regularly improve your strategies for ongoing success.
This is the third part of our 3-part blog series on marketing benchmarks:
Part 3: Marketing Benchmarks for Nonprofits
In our previous posts, we explored key benchmarks for B2B businesses and professional services, highlighting essential metrics and strategies. Now, we turn our focus to nonprofits, offering insights into benchmarks that can guide your organization toward more effective marketing practices. But first, let’s examine some of the common challenges in nonprofit marketing.
Marketing challenges nonprofit organizations face
Connecting with target audiences: Nonprofits often struggle to reach and inspire specific groups.
Persuading donations: Without a tangible product, convincing people to donate can be difficult.
Adopting digital strategies: Many nonprofits rely on traditional methods and find it challenging to embrace digital marketing.
Volunteer expertise: Volunteers may lack consistent marketing expertise.
Raising awareness: Potential donors might not know about the nonprofit's mission or existence.
By understanding these challenges and leveraging industry benchmarks, nonprofits can develop more effective marketing strategies that drive engagement, increase donations, and achieve greater success.
Marketing benchmarks for nonprofits
Here are the key marketing benchmarks for nonprofit organizations.
Please note that these benchmarks include data from large nonprofits. As a small or medium-sized business, your metrics will likely differ (with decreased impressions and reach), however, these benchmarks can provide a valuable starting point.
Key website metrics for nonprofits
Sessions
Median unique visitors: 12,708 per month
Insight: Tracking sessions help gauge overall website traffic. A consistent increase in sessions indicates effective marketing strategies driving more visitors to your site. For many nonprofits, 1M sessions per month will be too high of a benchmark. Instead, look at your past sessions and add a growth rate.
Average session duration
Median: 2 to 3 minutes
Insight: Longer session durations suggest engaging content. Aim to keep visitors interested with informative and interactive content.
Pages per session
Average: 2 pages
Insight: More pages per session indicate that visitors are exploring your site. Encourage navigation through clear calls-to-action and relevant internal links.
Bounce rate
Average: 60%
Insight: A high bounce rate may suggest that visitors aren't finding what they need. Optimize landing pages to be more relevant and engaging to reduce this rate.
Session conversion rate
Average: Around 1%
Insight: This metric shows the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action. Improve this rate by simplifying conversion paths and optimizing calls-to-action.
Engagement rate (per session)
Average: 66%
Insight: A higher engagement rate indicates active visitor participation. Enhance this by incorporating interactive elements and engaging content.
Donation page conversion rate
Average: 12%
Insight: This rate measures how many visitors to your donation page actually make a donation. Improve by making the donation process seamless and highlighting impact stories.
Organic social media benchmarks for nonprofits
Posts per week: 6
Engagement rate (per post): 0.07%
Follower growth (per year): 6%
Insight: Consistent posting can keep your audience engaged. Boost engagement by posting videos.
Posts per week: 4.9
Engagement rate (per post): 0.62%
Follower growth (per year): 11%
Insight: Similar to Facebook, video content was the most engaging on this platform.
X (Twitter)
Posts per week: 7
Engagement rate (per post): 0.044%
Follower growth (per year): -1%
Insight: The average follower growth rate from 2022-2023 actually decreased for many nonprofits.
Paid Ad Benchmarks for Nonprofits
Overall advertising spend
Total advertising investment by nonprofits increased by 13%.
Nonprofits are reinvesting $0.12 in digital ads for every dollar of online revenue.
61% of spending was for direct fundraising, 25% for awareness, and 10% for lead generation.
Paid search
Return on ad spend (ROAS): $2.70
Cost per donation: $55
Insight: Search ads had the highest ROAS and lowest cost per donation out of any paid marketing channel, according to a study by M+R Benchmarks.
Google search ads only
Click-through rate (CTR): 4.61%
Cost per click (CPC): $1.43
Conversion rate (CVR): 1.75%
Cost per action (CPA): $47.39
Display advertising
ROAS: $1.26
Cost per donation: $102
Insight: Use display ads for broader reach and retargeting to improve conversion rates.
Google display ads only
CTR: 0.35%
CPC: $0.59
CVR: 0.80%
CPA: $31.90
Social media advertising
ROAS on Meta: $0.48
Cost per donation on Meta: $117
Insight: Social media ads should be highly targeted to maximize their effectiveness.
Google grants
ROAS: $0.13 per $1 in ad credits.
Site visits: 332 per $1,000 in ad credits.
Insight: Make the most of Google Grants by optimizing your ads and landing pages to increase site visits.
Email marketing metrics for nonprofits
Open rate
Average: 40.04%
Insight: Craft compelling subject lines to improve open rates.
Click-through rate
Average: 3.27%
Insight: Include clear and enticing calls-to-action to increase CTR.
Unsubscription rate
Average: 0.18%
Insight: Maintain a clean and relevant email list to keep this rate low.
Email list growth rate
7% per year
Insight: Regularly add new subscribers through sign-up incentives and engaging content.
Recommendations for effective nonprofit marketing
Based on the benchmarks above, here are some recommended strategies for your nonprofit's marketing success.
Enhance website engagement. Optimize mobile compatibility, improve navigation, and add interactive elements to reduce bounce rates and increase pages per session.
Boost conversion rates. Use A/B testing for landing pages and simplify forms.
Leverage organic social media. Develop a content calendar, encourage engagement with interactive posts, and tailor content for each platform.
Optimize paid advertising. Refine audience targeting, use retargeting campaigns, and continually test ad creatives.
Utilize Google grants. Focus on high-performing keywords, craft compelling ad copy, and regularly monitor performance.
Enhance email marketing. Personalize emails, segment the audience, and maintain a clean email list.
Recommendations to overcome marketing challenges for nonprofits
Narrowing the target audience: Conduct market research, identify ideal supporters, and tailor messaging to resonate with them.
Emotional messaging: Use video storytelling, clarify where donations go, and showcase charity ratings and testimonials to build trust.
Embracing digital marketing: Create social media profiles, optimize the website, recruit digital-savvy volunteers, and develop email campaigns.
Leveraging professional help: If possible, hire marketing experts. Hold regular volunteer meetings for training and motivation.
Expanding online presence: Ensure comprehensive online content, engage on social media, and provide clear information about the nonprofit’s mission and impact.
Wrapping up
Marketing benchmarks are an excellent tool for evaluating your nonprofit's communications strategy and comparing it to other organizations competing for resources. By offering a clear picture of your performance relative to industry standards, benchmarks empower nonprofits to make informed decisions, optimize resource allocation, and continuously enhance their strategies.
Final Thoughts
Comparing performance with industry benchmarks is crucial for every sector, including B2B, professional services, and nonprofits. These benchmarks offer valuable insights, guiding organizations to refine their strategies, enhance efficiency, and achieve sustainable growth.
Sources: ImpactSEO, Portent, mrbenchmarks.com, RivalIQ, Growth Marketing Genie, MailChimp, nextafter.com.
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