The question of when to DIY your marketing versus when to hire professional help isn't about budget alone. It's about capacity, complexity, strategic readiness, and honest assessment of where you'll get the best return on investment.

A Note on How We Work

Throughout this article, I use "agency" to describe the marketing industry broadly. But Kern & Turn isn't a traditional agency—we're a collective of professional problem solvers who partner with mission-driven organizations. That distinction matters when you're deciding whether to DIY or hire help, because you're really deciding whether you need a vendor to execute tasks or a partner to help you think strategically.

When DIY Marketing Makes Sense

You're brand new and still figuring things out. If your organization is less than a year old, you're still defining programs and understanding your audience. You need to learn through doing. I once told a foundation that came to us six months after launching: "Spend six months experimenting yourself, then come back with data about what works." When they returned a year later with real insights, our strategy session was exponentially more productive.

Your needs are straightforward. Regular social posts, monthly newsletters, event promotion—these are execution tasks, not strategic challenges. You need someone with decent writing skills and basic design sense, plus tools like Canva. Not a strategic partner.

You have capacity but not expertise. Training and tools often serve you better than hiring outside help. Invest in professional development, good platforms, templates, and occasional consulting. I've worked with organizations doing quarterly strategy sessions while handling all execution themselves—at about 10% the cost of full partnership.

Your budget is under $10,000 annually. Be honest: quality strategic work runs $15,000-25,000 annually minimum, or $5,000-15,000 for a single project. Below that threshold, maximize resources through DIY execution, volunteers, and occasional consulting rather than trying to hire cut-rate help.

When You Should Hire Help

You need strategy, not just execution. If you're struggling with who to talk to, what makes you different, why messaging isn't resonating, or how to measure effectiveness—you need strategic expertise. You can't DIY strategy effectively because you're too close to your own organization.

You're at an inflection point. Mergers, major expansions, rebranding after leadership changes, launching something entirely new—these high-stakes situations require professional help. The cost is insurance against expensive mistakes.

DIY isn't working. You've been handling marketing internally, investing time and effort, but email open rates are low, fundraising falls short, and engagement is minimal. Something in your approach isn't working, and you're too close to diagnose it accurately.

The opportunity cost is too high. If your Executive Director spends 10 hours weekly on marketing, that's 10 hours not spent on donor relationships, program development, or strategic partnerships. Sometimes hiring help is about freeing leadership capacity for work only they can do.

The Hybrid Approach

Many mission-driven organizations don't need all-DIY or all-outsourced. They need strategic combination:

DIY the ongoing execution (social posts, newsletters, event promotion, website updates)

Hire strategic help for foundation work (brand strategy, messaging architecture, website design, campaign development, measurement frameworks)

Occasional consulting for quarterly reviews, campaign planning, annual planning

This model gets professional strategy without paying for ongoing execution you can handle internally. Total annual cost might be $20,000-25,000 versus $50,000+ for a full-time hire or $40,000+ for traditional ongoing agency support.

Quick Assessment Framework

Do you have budget? If no → DIY with good systems

Do you know what you need? If no → You need strategy consulting first

Do you have someone who could manage outside help? If no → Build internal capacity first

Have you tried DIY and measured results? If no → Try DIY first and track what happens. If yes and it worked → Keep going. If yes and it didn't work → You're ready for help.

Is your challenge strategy or execution? Strategy → Hire strategic partnership. Execution → Consider contractors/freelancers. Both → You might need comprehensive partnership.

• Questions to Ask Potential Partners

• "What won't you do for us?" Good partners know their limits.

• "Can you show me where you told a client not to do something they wanted?" You want partners who'll push back, not yes-people.

• "What do you need from us to do good work?" Good partners know they need collaboration.

• "Who will actually be doing our work?" Make sure you're talking to the people who'll execute, not just salespeople.

Finding Marketing Partners

If you've determined you need outside help, here's where to look:

Referrals from peer organizations. Ask other foundations or nonprofits who they work with and why. Personal recommendations from similar organizations are often most reliable.

Industry-specific directories. Platforms like GoodFirms and DesignRush maintain vetted directories with verified credentials and client reviews. For website design and development specifically, these can help you find firms experienced in nonprofit sites—the technical requirements (donation integration, accessibility, impact storytelling) differ from commercial work. (Full transparency: Kern & Turn is listed on both platforms.)

Professional networks. Organizations like NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network) maintain resources for nonprofits seeking marketing and technology support.

Your own research. Look at marketing you admire from similar organizations and ask who created it.

Red flags: Guaranteed results, pricing too good to be true, pressure to sign immediately, unwillingness to share references, generic pitches that don't mention your sector.

The goal is finding a partner who understands mission-driven work specifically—not just someone good at marketing generally. Context matters.

The Honest Truth

Most small mission-driven organizations should be doing more marketing themselves, with better systems and occasional expert guidance, rather than outsourcing everything.

Strategic partnerships work best for organizations that have already tried DIY, need strategic expertise not just extra hands, have capacity to manage the relationship, and are ready to invest appropriately in quality work.

If that's not you yet, build your internal capacity. Learn through doing. Then hire help when you're ready to leverage it effectively.

When I started Kern & Turn, I outsourced almost nothing. Over time, I hired help for accounting (I'm terrible at it), legal contracts (expertise matters), and video production (Cristina's expertise). But I still handle marketing strategy and writing—because that's what I do professionally, and DIYing it keeps me sharp.

The same logic applies to you: DIY what builds organizational capacity. Hire help for expertise you don't have and can't efficiently build.

Moving Forward

Start with DIY if you're early stage, have limited budget, have straightforward needs, or have capacity to learn.

Hire help if you need strategy you can't develop internally, you're at a major inflection point, DIY has been measured and isn't working, or the opportunity cost is too high.

Either way, be honest about what you need and what you can invest. The worst outcome is hiring help you're not ready for or DIYing something that genuinely needs expertise.

And remember: the decision isn't permanent. Many organizations start DIY, hire help for specific strategic projects, then handle execution internally using those frameworks. That hybrid model often serves mission-driven organizations best.