Reviews
Part of Nonprofit fundraising campaigns: the parts worth your attention
How to vet nonprofit fundraising campaign agencies: what to ask and check
A practical guide to vetting nonprofit fundraising campaign agencies: named firms, what to ask, fee models, donor file ownership and pitch red flags.
What to take away
A vetting pass on nonprofit fundraising campaign agencies comes down to five checks, and none of them is the logo wall.
- Ask every agency for net funds raised after fees, not gross revenue, on two comparable campaigns.
- Check whether the firm will name a client reference you can call without the agency on the line.
- Get the fee model in writingflat retainer, percentage of gross, or percentage of net. They behave differently when a campaign underperforms.
- Confirm who owns the donor list, the creative files and the ad accounts when the contract ends.
- Treat any pitch that promises a multiple of spend as a lead to verify, not a result.
Agencies that run fundraising campaigns sit in three groups: full-service direct response firms, digital-only shops, and peer-to-peer or event specialists.
The group matters less than the evidence. A firm that can show net funds per campaign, donor retention after the campaign closes, and a client who will talk is worth more than one with a longer logo wall.
The named firms and what each does
These are real organizations with public track records in nonprofit fundraising. Most quote fees per engagement, so ask for a written model rather than a number. Give every firm the same brief and request the same four figures listed below.
Agencies and What They Do
Agency
- Lautman Maska Neill
- Direct mail
- CCAH
- Multi-channel direct response
- M+R
- Digital campaigns
- Donordigital
- Online and advocacy
- Campbell Company
- Planned giving
- Cathexis Partners
- CRM and data
- Givebutter
- Peer-to-peer platform
Core work
- Lautman Maska Neill
- Mid-size charities
- CCAH
- National nonprofits
- M+R
- In-house staff
- Donordigital
- Advocacy groups
- Campbell Company
- Legacy programs
- Cathexis Partners
- Database teams
- Givebutter
- Small shops
Best fit
- Lautman Maska Neill
- Retainer plus production
- CCAH
- Retainer
- M+R
- Project or retainer
- Donordigital
- Retainer
- Campbell Company
- Project or retainer
- Cathexis Partners
- Project
- Givebutter
- Free tier plus tips
Fee model
- Lautman Maska Neill
- CCAH
- M+R
- Donordigital
- Campbell Company
- Cathexis Partners
- Givebutter
| Agency | Core work | Best fit | Fee model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lautman Maska Neill & Company (Washington, DC) | Direct mail and integrated annual fund programs | Mid-size charities with an established donor file | Retainer plus production |
| Chapman Cubine Allen + Hussey, CCAH (Arlington, Virginia) | Direct response across mail, digital, telemarketing and mid-level; ask for sustainer retention at twelve months | National nonprofits running multi-channel appeals | Retainer |
| M+R (New York) | Digital campaigns, peer-to-peer, analytics; publisher of the annual M+R Benchmarks study on nonprofit digital revenue | Organizations with in-house fundraising staff | Project or retainer |
| Donordigital (Berkeley, California, part of Mal Warwick Donordigital) | Online fundraising, email, advocacy integration | Advocacy-heavy groups with large email lists | Retainer |
| Campbell & Company (Chicago) | Planned giving and major gift marketing | Groups building legacy and bequest programs | Project or retainer |
| Cathexis Partners (Georgia) | CRM selection, data migration, reporting | Teams replacing or cleaning up a donor database | Project |
| Givebutter (platform, not agency) | Peer-to-peer, events and donation pages | Small shops that want tooling before hiring | Free tier, optional tips, card processing typically about 2.9% plus 30 cents |
| RKD Group (Dallas, Texas) | Direct mail, digital and donor data analytics | National nonprofits with large mailed donor files | Retainer plus production |
| CCS Fundraising (New York) | Capital campaign and major gift consulting | Organizations planning a multi-year campaign | Project fee |
| The Lukens Company (Virginia) | Direct response, membership and advocacy programs | Associations and advocacy nonprofits | Retainer |
Head office cities, ownership lines and the Givebutter processing rate above are what each firm publishes now. Rates and ownership change, so confirm them on the firm's own pricing page and about page before you sign.
The Givebutter row matters because some teams hire an agency to fix a problem a platform change would solve. If your donation page converts poorly, a new page may cost less than a retainer.
No firm on this list publishes net funds or cost per dollar raised as a standing figure. The economics depend on file size, offer and channel, and clients usually hold the numbers under a confidentiality clause.
What real results look like
A result is a number tied to a population and a date. "We raised $400,000" tells you nothing without the cost to raise it, the number of donors, and whether those donors gave again.
Ask for these four figures on a named campaign:
Four Figures to Request
- Gross revenue and net funds after all costs
- Donor count, average gift, share new
- Twelve-month retention for acquired donors
- Cost per dollar raised, same method
| Figure | What it shows | Illustrative example |
|---|---|---|
| Gross revenue | Everything raised before deductions | $400,000 |
| Net funds | Gross minus fees, production, postage or ad spend, and platform charges | $400,000 minus $120,000 = $280,000 |
| Donors | Gifts or households that gave | 4,000 |
| Cost per dollar raised | Total cost divided by net funds | $120,000 divided by $280,000 = $0.43 |
The example is arithmetic. Your costs and results will differ.
The arithmetic is simple. Net funds equal gross revenue minus fees, production, postage or ad spend, and platform charges. Cost per dollar raised equals total cost divided by net funds. Substitute your own campaign's figures and compare agencies on the same basis.
The questions that separate firms
Most agencies answer the easy questions well. These four are harder.
Four Hard Questions
- Who owns donor data, creative and ad accounts?
- Which staff will run our account?
- What happened to your last departing client?
- If we miss target, what changes first?
- Who owns the donor file, the creative and the ad accounts the day the contract ends?
- Who does the work, and how many hours will the most senior person on the account spend on it?
- When a campaign misses its target, what changes first, and who pays for the next test?
- How is retention measured on the donors acquired, and at what month is it reported?
A firm that hesitates on the third question is telling you something. So is one that will not put the fee model in writing.
The audit trail: NIST, GAO, CISA and W3C
Two public documents shape how a serious agency handles data and reporting. The NIST Privacy Framework starting guide describes a voluntary process for identifying privacy risk, assigning owners and recording responses. It is a management aid, not legal clearance for a marketing use. Ask a firm which privacy risks it logged on your file and who approved each response.
The GAO evaluation design guide links evaluation questions to evidence needs and design choices. Use it to write the brief you hand an agency: what you want to learn, what evidence would count, and what would make you stop. Then ask what would make it stop a campaign that is failing.
Keep records of who accessed the donor file and when. The CISA business-system logging guidance explains why organizations retain and review event records for security. Logs show access and change. They do not prove a campaign worked. Ask who reads the log and how fast.
Accessibility belongs in the contract too. The W3C information and relationships explanation covers how visual structure should also be available programmatically. Apply that test to the donation form, the gift array and the confirmation email before you sign. Ask who tests the gift array with a screen reader.
When a firm sends reporting samples, check them against these four documents. Ask which fields it logs, who reviews them, and how long it keeps them.
Red flags in a pitch
- Urgency language that misstates a need or a deadline.
- Photos of people presented as program beneficiaries without documented consent.
- A guarantee of return on spend.
- Fees quoted as a percentage of gross with no cap.
Any one of these is a reason to ask harder questions. Two is a reason to walk.
Common questions
How do I compare agencies when their fees differ?
Convert every proposal to cost per dollar raised on the same campaign type. A percentage-of-gross fee and a flat retainer can look similar until a campaign underperforms, when the percentage fee still takes its cut. Ask each firm to price the same brief.
What should I ask a reference client?
Ask what the agency did when the campaign missed, how quickly it reported, and whether the client renewed. Ask who owned the donor file at the end. A reference who will not discuss a failure is not a useful reference.
How long before I can judge an agency?
One campaign is not enough. Judge on two comparable campaigns, or one campaign plus twelve-month retention on the donors it acquired. If you are still building the brief, start with how to improve nonprofit fundraising campaigns and the common nonprofit fundraising campaigns questions before you shortlist anyone.
Do I need an agency at all?
Sometimes not. If your list is under a few thousand donors and your donation page converts, a platform and a clear calendar may do more than a retainer. Read nonprofit fundraising campaigns for the in-house path before you commit budget.
