If you’ve ever searched for nonprofit communications resources, then you’ve probably come across suggestions on how to make more cost-effective decisions. One of those suggestions is to outsource non-core nonprofit operations, including marketing and communications.
Outsourcing means that you assign tasks or projects to people or businesses outside of your organization. For nonprofits, this can be a cost-effective win that addresses several challenges. By outsourcing some operations, nonprofit organizations can save on:
- Time training in-house staff
- Costs associated with technology acquisition
- Labour related to professional development and risk
- Time adjusting to changing organizational needs
In the nonprofit sector, it’s becoming increasingly common to outsource marketing and communications. However, the advice stops short at outsourcing. There is very little advice about how to actually go about it. The last thing you want to do is hire a freelancer without being aware of what could go very right and very wrong.
I thought about creating an infographic, deep-dive post and a presentation. But I thought that it would be more helpful to you to have questions and answers in one place. This way, you can take what you’re looking for and leave the rest behind.
Also, you can come back and revisit this post anytime you’d like. While this list is non-exhaustive, it covers what I believe are the most common questions. Additionally, the answers are from my experience and perspective, someone who has been both a freelancer and employed in the nonprofit sector.
Without further ado: Here are some frequently asked questions about how nonprofit organizations can outsource marketing and communications.
Frequently asked questions
The decision
How do we know if my nonprofit organization should outsource marketing and communications?
Even though every nonprofit organization has different needs, they can outsource marketing and communications if current circumstances indicate that it is the best option. However, I do not recommend outsourcing for only one individual reason, such as cost-effectiveness. Business objectives, strategic goals and the level of need should drive the decision to outsource, in addition to any of following reasons:
- Cost efficiency
- Additional expertise
- Risk reduction
- Flexibility and adaptability
- Work efficiency
- Brand consistency
- Ongoing strategy execution support
What activities and/or operations should our organization outsource?
Your nonprofit organization should outsource marketing and communications activities that do not require direct supervision or heavy collaboration. These activities should require a specific skill set and expertise to complete and produce clear deliverables. However, if there are activities that are a bit more abstract, I suggest only outsourcing them to people you’ve already worked with, in order to reduce risk and complications.
Should I hire a freelance marketing and communications professional long-term or short-term?
The answer depends on your organizational needs and goals. You may want to hire someone long-term if you’ve got ongoing projects, goals related to capacity-building or a need for overflow or under-capacity support. However, you may want to hire someone short-term if you’ve got time-bound projects or a need for support executing marketing and communications strategies. Before you decide anything, talk to your team and review your strategic documents.
Budget/Payment
Do we need a particular budget to hire a freelance marketing and communications professional?
No, you do not. Rather, you need to use the budget that you already have to make your decision. Your goal should not be to maximize the labour you can get for the least amount of money. Quite frankly, this goal can lead to an exploitative situation that likely contradicts your organization’s values. Therefore, it’s important to be transparent about the budget you have and explain what you want. An experienced independent contractor will tell you what you can do with your budget. Furthermore, they can tell you how you can build your capacity to achieve your goals over time.
Should we hire the cheapest freelance marketing and communications professional I can find for my nonprofit?
In short, you should not. The cheapest freelancer will not necessarily have the experience that you’re looking for. Likewise, the most expensive freelancer may not provide you with the values and services you’re looking for. Therefore, you should hire the freelancer whose services are within your budget, whose experiences indicate likely success and whose track record indicates that they will provide the most value to your organization.
How do freelancers charge for their services: By the hour or by the project?
Every freelancer is different. Some freelancers prefer payment by the hour because it is easier to track time and labour, especially for projects with looser scopes or extra work. Other freelancers prefer payment by the project because it is easier to structure payments and pricing represents the value provided. Some do a combination of both. The important task here is to have this discussion.
Expectations/Considerations
What should we expect when working with a freelance marketing and communications professional?
While the answer can be subjective, there are some objective expectations you should have. Firstly, you should expect the working relationship to be dissimilar to one between employers and employees. In particular, the power dynamic is non-existent. Secondly, you should expect the freelancer to ask you and your team several questions to clarify the project as much as possible. Lastly, you should expect collaboration, clear communication and professional judgement.
What are some considerations should we have before hiring?
- Budget
- Strategic plan
- Organizational goals
- Business objectives
- Editorial calendar
- Capacity to manage the working relationship
Why do some freelancers mention the employee-employer relationship in their contracts?
Freelancers are also known as entrepreneurs, small business owners and independent contractors. In other words, freelancers work independently to provide services to organizations and businesses in accordance with contracts. As such, they do not work within the employee-employer power dynamic because they are providing services from the outside.
As well, they do not reap the benefits from the power dynamic, such as biweekly payment and health benefits. Furthermore, they are not legally beholden to the schedules, needs and priorities of the organization that are beyond the project scope. Therefore, freelancers mention the employee-employer relationship in their contracts in order to protect the integrity of their working approach.
Finding the right one
Could you tell us some green flags that I should look for before hiring a freelancer?
There are several green flags that you should know about, including:
- Professional conduct during meetings
- Clear communication
- Professional expertise
- An official website and portfolio
- A track record of successful projects
- A specific track record of projects similar to yours
- Recommendations and positive reviews
- Clients who are in your sector
- Owned content that demonstrates approaches, ideas and expertise
Where should we look to find a freelance marketing and communications professional?
You can look around places, including:
- Your network (Start here!)
- Nonprofit conferences, webinars and panels
- Upwork
- Nonprofit marketing/communications agencies
Which one should we go for: One person or an agency?
The answer depends on your goals, budget and needs because there are pros and cons to each option. Generally, if you should hire a freelancer if you have:
- A smaller project or set or projects that one person can do
- Smaller budget (i.e., not ready to hire an agency)
- Projects that require specific skill set
- Worked with them before
- Evidence that the freelancer is great fit for the project(s)
In general, you should hire an agency if you have:
- Bigger, complex projects that require more than one person
- Compliance, data security, privacy considerations for your project
- Projects that require numerous skill sets
- Evidence of a good reputation
Hiring/Onboarding
Is it appropriate for prospective freelancers to do a test before we hire them?
The answer is debatable, but here’s my take. I do not think test projects, paid or unpaid (but the should always be paid!) are appropriate to use to figure out if you should hire a freelancer. I have many reasons for this:
- There can be a gap between what the freelancer actually needs to complete the project and what information they’re provided. This makes even the simplest projects unnecessarily time-consuming.
- Test projects are less about process and more about product. Process tells you how a freelancer thinks. You know what demonstrates process? Portfolios. If nonprofit organizations are very clear about what they’re looking for and what their indicators of fit/success are, then they can ask meaningful questions about portfolio items that elicit these indicators (with testimonials and/or specific track records).
- Freelancers have differing levels of experience. Test projects may come across as insulting for very experienced freelancers who can afford to pass up opportunities to work with your company. Furthermore, there are ethical concerns regarding what happens to the end product, what the working relationship is like and what the parameters of the projects.
Despite these reasons, test projects can work in a specific situation. Let’s say you’ve already hired the freelancer and are considering providing them with a retainer agreement. If you use the projects that the freelancer has done so far as evidence (i.e., tests) of their capacity to work with you regularly, then I think test projects makes sense. Otherwise, I don’t think it’s worth it.
At the beginning of the conversation, should we just go right ahead and ask the freelancer about costs?
No. You will not get an accurate answer. Costs do not depend solely on what you say you might need. Rather, they depend on other significant factors, such as type of project, project scope, level of background research, technology and visual design needs, the value of the project and more. An experienced freelancer will ask you key questions to gauge this information. Afterwards, when they have the necessary information they need, they can provide you with an accurate quote.
Should we ask for references?
While you can, I’m not sure how useful they are. What are they really going to tell you? A freelancer will not give you a bad reference. In my professional opinion, there are better ways to gauge evidence of a freelancer’s skills, expertise and knowledge, such as:
- Owned content
- Testimonials and reviews
- Word-of-mouth from your own network
- Portfolio that details their work
- Track record of projects in your sector
Should we post a job posting, call out on social media or a request for a proposal?
Any of these options could work. The most common are request for proposals because they include specific information about your projects. However, I think the requests are tricky to do because even with specific information, there can be a lack of clarity around what you actually want. As well, they may include language that suggests an employee-employer relationship. Furthermore, they are time-consuming for both freelancers and organizations. Therefore, I suggest that whatever you decide to do includes a lot of clarity, clear asks and expectations and deadlines.
How should we onboard the freelancer?
Onboard the freelancer by giving them a clear rundown of your needs, expectations, deadlines and troubleshooting processes. I also suggest providing the freelancer with whatever they need. If you don’t have it or are unsure about how to create it, inform the freelancer so that you get the right support.
Problem-solving
Why can’t we contact freelancers in an on-call fashion?
The freelancer is not an employee. As such, they are not available outside of the parameters they should have set with you at the beginning of your working relationship.
What should we do if I don’t like the freelancer’s work?
Use clear communication to inform the freelancer of your assessment of their work. They are professionals and should be able to handle constructive criticism. However, I suggest consulting your agreement/contract with the freelancer to confirm the parameters for editing. The last thing you want to do is scope creep and make frequent changes to the project details that indicate indecision on your part.
Why might a freelance marketing and communications professional terminate our contract early?
There could be numerous reasons for the early termination of a contract, including:
- A lack of appreciation for their expertise
- Frequent changes to project details, such as goals and objectives
- Scope creep
- Poor and/or excessive communication
- Unrealistic expectations
- Lack of transparency around budget and payment
- Reproduction of an employee-employer dynamic
What should we do if we need to delay or extend the project?
Review the terms of your agreement with the freelancer and inform them of this change as soon as possible. A sense of urgency around the change helps a freelancer make an informed decision.