Marketing may be the most important determining factor in whether or not a start-up succeeds or fails. No NPO organization should spend more than thirty percent of its budget on marketing or soliciting for funds. The percentage of the budget spent on marketing will become very apparent as part of the Form 990 filings. As a result of this informal restriction, small NPOs typically do not have very high-profile or extravagant advertisements. Smaller nonprofits must rely on human effort and interaction to make up for these funds.
The marketing director of a nonprofit may be a board member, volunteer or employee of the organization. It is not unusual to find a separate committee on marketing within the organization, because in the case of the educational and scientific nonprofits, spreading the word about the opportunities and services offered is at least as important as fund-raising, and requires its own team.
It is essential that nonprofits realize that individual donors are, by far, the largest single contributor to nonprofits in the
