Many nonprofits assume hiring a communications person is the responsible, affordable choice. Sometimes it is. Often the math doesn’t work the way you hope.
A single hire gives you one skill set. A strong writer might be weaker at design, or great at social but new to strategy. You are paying a full salary for part of what the work requires.
Then there is everything the salary doesn’t reveal. Benefits and management time. And the hidden cost of turnover.
An embedded team works differently. You get writing when you need writing and design when you need design, with the strategy to point both in the right direction, and without carrying all of it on your payroll. For many of the organizations we work with, that costs less than one mid-level hire and covers much more ground.
This is not true for everyone. Some organizations have the volume and the budget to build a real in-house team, and they should. For small and mid-sized nonprofits, the honest comparison often points in the other direction.
Before you post the job, run the real numbers. The best option is not always the one that is “cheaper” on paper.
