Empower your mission.
Distinctive, evidence-based marketing that helps nonprofits grow sustainably.
Evidence-based Marketing: What it is & Why it Matters
Growth feels hard. You’re not imagining it.
Nonprofit leaders today are navigating a rapidly shifting landscape: changing government support, evolving donor and volunteer behavior, more organizations competing for the same limited funding, and increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable impact with fewer resources.
Many organizations respond by working harder by launching more campaigns, sending more messages, and asking their existing supporters more often. Yet growth still stalls.
The challenge usually isn’t the mission or the effort behind it. It’s that much of traditional nonprofit marketing is built on assumptions about how people behave that research shows are incomplete.
Evidence-based marketing takes a different approach.
It applies decades of empirical marketing research to understand how people actually notice, remember, and support organizations—and uses those insights to guide strategy.
Over the past two decades, marketing science has identified several consistent patterns that explain how organizations grow. These findings challenge many common nonprofit marketing conventions and offer a clearer path to sustainable growth.
How growth really works
Consistent findings from marketing science explain how nonprofit organizations grow.
Growth begins with being easier to notice, remember, and support
Most people who would support your organization simply aren’t thinking about it.
Research shows that lack of awareness is a far greater barrier to support than active rejection. In one study of charity brands, non-awareness levels were 14 times higher than rejection levels, meaning most people who do not give simply have not thought of the organization when deciding where to contribute.¹
Distinctive brand assets, consistent messaging, and broad reach help ensure your mission is noticed and remembered when the moment to support arises.
Sustainable growth comes from reaching more people
Many nonprofits focus on deepening relationships with existing supporters. Those relationships matter, but they rarely drive growth on their own.
Research shows that most supporters give infrequently, often once or twice per year. A small group of highly committed donors exists, but the majority of support comes from many light supporters.²
This reflects the Double Jeopardy law, identified by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institue, and observed across sectors: smaller organizations have both fewer supporters and slightly lower loyalty. Growth therefore comes primarily from expanding the supporter base rather than increasing loyalty alone.³
Supporters usually support more than one organization
Nonprofits often define competitors by mission or cause. But supporters rarely behave that way.
Research shows that individuals commonly distribute their support across multiple organizations. The overlap between supporter bases is largely determined by organizational reach and visibility, not mission similarity.⁴
In practice, your organization competes for attention not only with similar causes but with every organization asking for support.
References
¹ Faulkner, M., Truong, O., & Romaniuk, J. (2016). Barriers to increasing donor support: Evidence on the incidence and nature of brand rejection. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.
² Faulkner, M., Romaniuk, J., & Stern, P. (2016). New versus frequent donors: Exploring the behaviour of the most desirable donors. Australasian Marketing Journal.
³ Sharp, B. (2017). How Brands Grow: What Marketers Don’t Know (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
⁴ Faulkner, M., Romaniuk, J., & Stern, P. (2022). How sharing of supporters reveals competition amongst non-profit brands. Journal of Marketing Management.
Sustainable growth comes from focusing on a small number of levers that make it easier for people to notice you, remember you, and take action.
What this means for nonprofts
Distinctive positioning and branding – Many organizations have strong missions, but they aren’t reflected clearly, simply, nor consistently for supporters to instantly recognize them in a crowded landscape.
Top of mind when it matters – People give and engage when an organization comes to mind. Without visibility, even well-regarded organizations are forgotten at the moment of action.
Frictionless pathways to engage – Confusing messaging, unclear calls to action, or too many steps reduce participation. Making engagement easy matters as much as inspiring it.
Expanding the base of light supporters – Retention challenges aren’t failures—they’re predictable human behavior. Sustainable growth comes from reaching new people and welcoming light supporters, while allowing commitment to build naturally over time rather than forcing it early.
Strengthen and expand revenue streams – Relying on a narrow set of funding sources leaves organizations vulnerable. Sustainable growth must consider expanding diversity of funding sources and models, including micro-donating, earned income and partnerships.
Clear communication to the broad middle – Most potential supporters sit in the broad middle–interested but not immersed. Growth depends on communication that feels accessible and relevant to them—not messaging designed only for your most committed supporters.
How We Can Help
Brand & Market Audit
A comprehensive assessment of your current brand position, stakeholder personas and perceptions, and comparative organization landscape, providing prioritized findings that establish a shared basis for decision-making.
Strategic Positioning and Messaging
A distinctive strategic positioning statement and stakeholder messaging framework. Designed to align leadership, staff, and board members around a clear, shared understanding of who you are, who you serve, and why you matter.
Strategic Marketing Planning
Marketing planning, content strategy, and channel planning across owned, paid, and earned media. Plans are sequenced over time, with clear objectives, timing, and measures of success for implementation and tracking.
Supporter Portfolio Strategy
A strategic assessment of how your supporters engage over time, recommending the appropriate balance of acquisition and retention efforts, and design communication that serves light, moderate, and committed supporters.
Creative Playbook
A practical set of distinctive brand assets, communication elements, and creative templates. The playbook emphasizes consistency and ease of use, enabling staff, partners, and vendors to execute with confidence.
Strategic Planning Workshops
Facilitated workshops with leadership and stakeholders to align your mission, vision, organizational strategies and annual priorities. Sessions are outcome-focused designed to build clarity and momentum.
Revenue Expansion Development
Identification of new revenue opportunities, including mission-related earned income, strategic partnerships, and optimization of existing funding models and channels – evaluated for viability and sustainability.