The Modern Marketing Team (2026): What Nonprofits & Small Organizations Actually Need

Wondering Who to Hire Next? Stop Guessing

If you've tried to write or read a marketing team job description recently, you can see the uncertainty and scrambling happening in businesses and organizations of all sizes.

No judgment here because we all have questions with so many rapid changes happening in the field and every industry. It's easy to say AI is the game changer, but it goes beyond that. It's all of it: tools and market, as well as audience shifts.

After extensive market research and expert input, we've developed a simple, practical framework you can use now: one hire, a staff-plus-agency model, or a midsize-team build.

Pick the tier that matches your capacity and focus on the single outcome that matters most.

Why structure matters now

• Many groups hire “everything” marketers and end up with scattered results.

• Others hire narrow specialists who don’t connect strategy to execution.

• The smartest teams pick a clear priority, set measurable goals, and build around them.

• AI and new tools speed work, but they don’t replace human judgment, relationships, or creative craft.

Tier 1: One hire or a small retainer

When this fits

You’re a small nonprofit, micro-business, or you have a tight budget and limited capacity.

What to prioritize

Pick one core outcome (donor retention, volunteer growth, sales conversion, or partnership leads) and set a 90-day milestone tied to that outcome.

Team roles: staff and/or contract

Growth generalist or reliable fractional marketer. Define which skills matter most in this position, and contract specialty areas as needed. You may want to prioritize based on these vital positions in the modern marketing team:

•  Strategy-first: defines the single priority and owns the plan.

•  Storyteller: writes clear emails, partner outreach, and simple social content.

•  Practical analyst: tracks one core funnel and reports results.

•  Ops-minded: sets up basic CRM journeys and automations.

•  Tool-savvy: uses tools to speed repetitive tasks, not to replace relationship-driven tasks.

How to buy this work  

You will get more high performance (bang for your buck) by contracting this work. Use a fractional retainer or a compact agency package. Agree to 90-day goals and weekly check-ins. Measure the single KPI and define success in advance.

Tier 2 — One on-site marketer plus agency partners  

When this fits  

You have at least one full-time marketer and need specialist depth without hiring a full team.

What to prioritize  

Scale execution while keeping strategy and measurement in-house.

Team roles: staff and/or contract 

• In-house: Marketing Manager who owns strategy, briefs vendors, and weaves work into program goals.  

• Agency: Specialists for

  • Content production, paid media, SEO, and technical automation.  

  • Marketing Data Partner (internal or vendor): ties channel work to outcomes and funding.  

  • Automation & Personalization lead (agency or specialist): builds journeys that convert and scale.

How to operate  

Run regular sprint planning. Treat agencies as extensions, not black boxes. Require shared OKRs and transparent reporting. The in-house marketer should be the conductor, not the sole task completer.

What success looks like  

Predictable campaign performance, integrated reporting, and better ROI on ad and outreach spend.

Tier 3 — Midsize organizations building a future-ready team  

When this fits  

You have the budget for multiple hires and need a repeatable growth or fundraising engine.

Team roles: staff and/or contract 

Strategy layer: Head of Marketing: owns brand direction, audience priorities, and the growth roadmap. Example tasks: set quarterly goals, approve major campaigns, allocate budget across channels, and present results to leadership.

Functional collaboration: focused teams that handle day-to-day work

• Content & Creative: writers, designers, videographers who create stories and assets.

• Performance & Paid: paid-search/social manager and media buyer who run acquisition campaigns.

• Growth & Data: analyst and growth lead who design tests, measure results, and own attribution.

• Ops & Personalization: marketing technologist or automation engineer who runs the CRM, builds journeys, and manages personalization tools.

Creative-technical hybrids: people who bridge storytelling and data. Example: a content lead who also runs A/B tests on landing pages, or a designer who understands analytics enough to iterate on conversion-focused layouts.

Cross-functional connectors: liaisons who keep marketing aligned with other teams (programs, product, development). Example: a product-marketing partner who coordinates campaign timelines with product launches, or a program liaison who translates field needs into messaging priorities.

How to scale  

Invest in a martech backbone (CRM, analytics, CDP), a growth roadmap, and a steady experiment cadence. Keep brand and strategic judgment in-house; use agencies for specialist scale.

What success looks like  

Cross-channel attribution, shorter test cycles, lower sustainable cost-per-acquisition, and clear ROI tied to funding or revenue.

Common mistakes to avoid  

Hiring an “everything” person without a clear brief or KPI.  

Keep your expectations reasonable, and your definition of success clear. Many marketers bring a plethora of skills, with a few key abilities. Focus on strengths, and be sure your needs align with the marketer's key abilities. It's relatively easy to learn skills and organizational knowledge, and marketers are used to a short learning curve. So don't hyperfocus on finding someone who "already knows" everything. Find the person who can do what really matters most for you. Don't know how to define that? Ask us for help.

Expecting AI or tools to be your resident expert

AI does not replace people. People are the experts in relationship-driven work, storytelling, or strategic thinking. AI helps them manage this efficiently. It can't replace the high-level, experiential, and innovative thinking people bring, nor should it be your go-to for building and managing relationships.

Letting vendors run without a strong internal conductor

Agencies want clear direction and communication. If you don't know what you need, agencies are happy to help you define that. They're your partner and should be glad to answer questions and ensure you understand what you need and what they do. Ask questions, and be sure you have an internal point person who stays on top of this relationship. Remember to adjust expectations to fit your evolving needs.

Measuring vanity metrics (likes, raw reach) instead of outcomes that affect budget and capacity

Even for those who understand accurate performance metrics and what matters most, these are changing. As browsers evolve and audience behavior shifts, so should the metrics we use to guide and inspire our tactics. Make sure your metrics are up to date, and we recommend subscribing to a reliable source that keeps you current, such as this blog post.

Quick 90-day checklist (practical steps you can start today)  

• Pick one priority KPI and write down success criteria.  

• Map the single conversion journey that leads to that KPI.  

• Decide which tier you fit and hire or contract to fill the critical gap.  

• Run one experiment tied to that KPI and measure results weekly.

How Joint Ventures Marketing helps  

We help you identify your most crucial marketing needs, recommend the right model, and implement a future marketing era framework that speeds work without losing the human touch. We focus on measurable wins you can sustain. If you want a straightforward recommendation you can act on in 90 days, contact us for a short audit.

Also, we have a podcast where we answer selected questions about your pain points. Send us your marketing question, and it might be chosen to get an answer on our podcast.