I asked ChatGPT about the average marketing spend of auto manufacturers was (it said 7-8%) and the average fundraising spend of the largest US charities (it said ~10%, which is consistent with my intuition). While I’m not endorsing these percentages as optimal for auto manufacturers or non-EA charities—much less advocating that they should be applied to EA charities—they could provide some sort of ballpark starting point.
Automotive marketing, as I understand it, is considerably about creating vague positive brand associations that will pay off when the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. That’s a viable strategy in part because there aren’t too many differences between (e.g.) a Ford and a GM truck. It’s not obvious to me that would-be EA donors would respond well to that kind of campaign, and this may limit the extent to which their marketing budgets and strategies serve as a useful guide here.
I asked ChatGPT about the average marketing spend of auto manufacturers was (it said 7-8%) and the average fundraising spend of the largest US charities (it said ~10%, which is consistent with my intuition). While I’m not endorsing these percentages as optimal for auto manufacturers or non-EA charities—much less advocating that they should be applied to EA charities—they could provide some sort of ballpark starting point.
Automotive marketing, as I understand it, is considerably about creating vague positive brand associations that will pay off when the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. That’s a viable strategy in part because there aren’t too many differences between (e.g.) a Ford and a GM truck. It’s not obvious to me that would-be EA donors would respond well to that kind of campaign, and this may limit the extent to which their marketing budgets and strategies serve as a useful guide here.