Is My Nonprofit Too Small to Have a CMO?

Being the leader of a small-ish nonprofit likely means you wear all of the hats and do all of the things. You juggle leadership, staff issues, and face sleepless nights wrestling over next month’s fundraising campaign, half wondering if it’s too late to throw in the towel and open a food truck. 

You’ve got big vision, a tiny team, and even tinier pockets. And then someone ,maybe a podcast or your board member with a business degree, whispered, “You need a CMO.”

A what?

Chief Marketing Officer is certainly a fancy title with big shoes. Sounds like someone who drinks oat milk lattes and uses words like “brand equity” and “omnichannel strategy.” But also, it sounds like something a Fortune 500 company needs. Not your nonprofit with five staffers, three volunteers, and a part-time office cat named Muffin.

But hang on. Before you write off the idea, let’s unpack this.

The Myth of “Too Small”

Let’s start here: being small is not a weakness. In fact, it’s kind of your superpower. You’re nimble, community-connected, and scrappy in all the best ways. But size doesn’t exempt you from the need for strategy, especially when it comes to marketing.

Marketing isn’t just making a Canva graphic for your next donor dinner. It’s how you tell your story. It’s how you get people to care. And in a landscape where everyone’s attention span is shorter than a TikTok video, that story better be clear, compelling, and consistent.

Whether you have 3 employees or 300, your mission still matters. And you still need someone to lead how the world sees it.

What a CMO Actually Does (No, It’s Not Just Social Media)

Let’s bust another myth while we’re here. A Chief Marketing Officer is not just someone who schedules your Instagram posts or orders pens with your logo on them. A CMO thinks like this:

• How does our marketing align with the organization’s growth goals?
• Why are we doing a specific campaign, and how does this fit into our broader strategy?
• Who are we trying to reach and what makes our message stick with this audience?
• How do we measure if it’s working, and how do we make it sustainable?

That’s strategy. That’s vision. That’s alignment across development, outreach, and even operations.

And, of course, this kind of thinking should happen at small nonprofits. In fact, I’d argue that smaller orgs need it more because your time and resources are already stretched thinner than the coffee at a board meeting.

You Can’t Afford Not to Market Strategically

I know you’re watching every penny, but consider this:

According to the Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s 2023 Trends Report, 68% of nonprofits said they feel underfunded in marketing, yet the same report shows that organizations with a clear marketing strategy were significantly more likely to meet their goals (NonProfit Marketing Guide)

So, it’s not about how much you spend. It’s about how smart you are with what you’ve got.

And yet, so many Executive Directors think of marketing like a nice-to-have, or something they’ll get to when there’s time. But your mission can’t grow in the dark. It needs light, attention, and clarity.

Enter the Fractional CMO

So now what? Even if you are tracking, you still can’t afford a full-time CMO.

But, you don’t have to.

Welcome to the fantastic world of Fractional leadership. A Fractional CMO is a senior-level marketing strategist who works with your team a few hours a week or a couple days a month. You get the brain without the full-time salary, benefits, and drama.

It’s like getting a personal chef to plan your meals and stock your fridge, without moving them into your house.

And it works. Fractional CMOs are popping up across nonprofits because they give you:

• Strategic direction
• Brand clarity
• Campaign planning
• Donor messaging that actually converts
• Confidence in your next move

And they help unify all your scattered efforts, the intern’s email blast, the development director’s donor letter, the event flyer, so you don’t sound like five people shouting different things in a parking lot.

But What If We’re Really Small?

You don’t have to jump from DIY to CMO overnight. You can start small:

• Hire a consultant to audit your marketing
• Build a 90-day campaign strategy
• Get brand messaging that reflects your values
• Train your staff and volunteers with a roadmap

Think of it like investing in infrastructure. You wouldn’t build a house on sand. Why run your fundraising on guesswork?

According to the 2023 Giving USA Report, donors gave over $499 billion last year, and the number one reason they gave was because they believed in the cause and how it was presented to them. If you’re not showing up clearly, someone else is, and getting those dollars.

The Real Question: Can You Afford to Stay Invisible?

This isn’t about chasing trends or inflating your org chart with executive titles. This is about leadership.

Having someone think critically about your communications isn’t a luxury. It’s a lever. One that pulls your story, your team, your donors, and your mission into alignment.

And when that happens? Momentum follows.

So no, your nonprofit isn’t “too small” for a CMO, but it might be too stretched to keep doing things the way you’ve always done them.

And that’s exactly why it’s time to bring in a brain that can help you lead.

Learn more here

Some Final Thoughts

Look, I’ve worked with nonprofits for years. I know your days are full of meetings, coffee, and putting out metaphorical fires with metaphorical duct tape. But your mission matters too much to stay small out of fear.

Marketing leadership isn’t just for the big guys. It’s for every nonprofit bold enough to want to grow, even when it’s hard.

So ask yourself, not “Am I too small to have a CMO?” but…