Fractional CMO | Nonprofit Consulting Services
Hire A strategist
before you hire staff.
A fractional CMO gives your nonprofit senior marketing leadership on a monthly retainer. The first 90 days produce a strategy and a plan. Then a fCMO stays on to help your team run it.
Free 30 minutes. No obligation.
Trusted by executive directors at Finally Family Homes, Aid The Way, and Oasis of Hollywood.
A $90,000+ hire is a twelve-month bet.
You post the marketing director role. Someone capable arrives and asks what the strategy is, and nobody has written one. They build a calendar, and eighteen months later, the numbers look about the same.
Before you add another role, consider a nonprofit strategy consultant.
01
Senior-Level Leadership
You’re gaining senior-level strategic leadership to determine what to say, who to reach, what to prioritize, and how to align your marketing and fundraising around growth.
02
Your Team Gets Stronger
The team you already have gets the strategy, direction, and leadership they need to stop guessing and start working from a clear plan.
03
Monthly Retainers
Long enough to create momentum. Flexible enough to change course when you need to.
Fractional CMO | Nonprofit Strategy Consultant
30 YEARS
Inside Nonprofits
You are being asked to fix revenue with one hire and incomplete information.
At 26, Lonna Gibson was the first hire at a national children's charity. The founder died eight months later and she stepped in to lead it, taking the organization from four states to 38 and growing revenue by 500%.
She has since led development for a private school and an international anti-trafficking ministry, and now serves as fractional CMO to nonprofit executive directors and boards.
StoryBrand Certified Guide - 2025 · Duct Tape Marketing Certified Advisor · AFP Board Member
Frequently Asked Questions:
What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO for a nonprofit is a senior marketing leader who works with your organization on a part-time or contract basis instead of joining your staff as a full-time executive. But this isn't just another marketing consultant. A fractional CMO helps set the direction: clarifying your audience and message, building the marketing strategy, prioritizing what your team should be doing, overseeing execution, and making sure marketing supports your fundraising and organizational goals. That distinction matters. You don't need another strategy deck sitting on a shelf. You need a marketing system your team can actually run, and leadership that helps install it.
What does a nonprofit strategy consultant do?
A nonprofit strategy consultant helps your organization clarify its goals, audience, messaging, and growth priorities so your team knows what to focus on and what to do next. At Seven & Associates, we turn those insights into a practical marketing and fundraising plan your team can actually execute.
How does a fractional CMO engagement work, and how long does it last?
A strong fractional CMO engagement starts by understanding where you are before prescribing more tactics. At Seven & Associates, the scope is built around your goals, team, and stage of growth. That can include strategy, messaging, marketing fundraising, team and vendor leadership, campaign oversight, and ongoing accountability. Some organizations need a focused strategy engagement; others need ongoing executive marketing leadership. Across the fractional CMO market, engagements commonly run for several months, with six to twelve months frequently cited, because there needs to be enough time to diagnose the problem, build the system, put it into practice, and improve it.
How much does a fractional CMO cost?
At Seven & Associates, ongoing Fractional CMO+ retainers currently range from $4,000 to $15,000 per month, depending on the level of leadership and support your organization needs. But if that isn't the right investment for your organization right now, the answer isn't to force a retainer, or keep throwing money at disconnected marketing tactics. Sometimes the right starting point is a focused strategy, fundraising, or messaging engagement that solves the highest-priority problem first. The goal is to build the right infrastructure in the right order, so your next marketing and fundraising dollars have something solid to stand on. Seven & Associates currently offers fixed-scope strategy, fundraising, and messaging services in addition to ongoing Fractional CMO+ support.
Who is a fractional CMO for?
A fractional CMO is a good fit for an organization that needs experienced marketing leadership but isn’t ready to hire a full-time marketing executive. Maybe your marketing or communications leader recently left and you need someone to step in and keep things moving. Maybe your team is growing, but no one is leading the big-picture marketing strategy. Or maybe you have great people doing the work, but they need experienced leadership, direction, and support. As your fractional CMO, I step into that leadership role without the cost of hiring a full-time executive. You get 30 years of nonprofit, marketing, and fundraising experience to help guide your strategy, lead your team, and make sure your marketing supports your fundraising and growth goals. It’s a flexible way to get ongoing senior-level leadership when you need it most.
GET STARTED
3 Easy Steps
01
Book A Free Call
Thirty minutes to see whether a fractional CMO fits your organization right now. Sometimes it does not, and we say so.
02
Get Your Strategy
Clarify your goals, audience, message, customer journey, and marketing priorities, then turn them into a focused plan your team can execute.
03
Run The Plan Together
The strategy becomes a sequenced plan with owners and dates. Lonna stays on month to month as your team executes it, so the plan does not end up in a drawer.
