Beyond Organic Growth: Why Paid Advertising is Essential for EA Organisations

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Beyond Organic Growth: Why Paid Advertising is Essential for EA Organisations

If you work in effective altruism, you already know how to think rigorously about impact. You’re comfortable weighing counterfactuals, optimising for cost-effectiveness, and questioning assumptions. Yet, when it comes to marketing, many EA organisations still default to organic growth—relying on word-of-mouth, organic social media, and earned media—without considering the potential of paid advertising.

This approach is understandable. Paid advertising feels like an unnecessary expense when the organic channels are working. But just as EA organisations apply evidence to their cause areas, they should apply evidence to their marketing. And the evidence is clear: if you want to scale your impact, paid advertising is essential.

The Myth of Organic-Only Growth

The belief in organic growth alone stems from two assumptions:

1. "If our ideas are good enough, they will spread naturally."
2. "Paid advertising is expensive and inefficient compared to organic methods."

Both are flawed. First, even the best ideas don’t spread without amplification. Research in marketing consistently finds that reach is the primary driver of brand growth. Even if your cause is the most impactful in the world, it won’t gain traction if enough of the right people don’t hear about it.

Second, organic growth is no longer as viable as it once was. Social media platforms have slashed organic reach—Facebook’s organic reach for pages is now below 5%. Meanwhile, email open rates have stagnated, and search engine algorithms continue to favour paid placements. The reality is that without investment, most EA organisations will struggle to scale beyond their existing networks.

Paid Advertising as an Amplifier, Not a Replacement

The key point is that paid advertising isn’t an alternative to organic strategies—it’s an amplifier. Done well, it doesn’t replace word-of-mouth or earned media; it enhances them. Research by Les Binet and Peter Field, the leading analysts of marketing effectiveness, shows that organisations grow best when they combine brand-building (broad, long-term awareness campaigns) with activation (short-term conversion-focused efforts).

For EA organisations, this means:

• Using Meta and LinkedIn ads to introduce new audiences to your cause and build credibility at scale.
• Retargeting website visitors and engaged users with clear next steps (e.g., event sign-ups, donation prompts).
• Testing different messages to understand which ideas resonate best with different demographics.

Paid advertising allows you to go beyond the EA bubble, reaching people who might be aligned with your values but are currently unaware of your organisation.

Evidence from the Nonprofit Sector

If EA organisations are serious about growth, they should look at what works in the wider nonprofit sector. Research from M+R’s annual benchmarks report shows that nonprofits investing in paid digital advertising see significantly higher engagement, donation volume, and supporter growth than those relying on organic methods alone.

For example, the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)—one of GiveWell’s top-rated charities—has used paid advertising to drive donations, leveraging precise targeting on Meta to reach high-value donors. Similarly, The Humane League has used paid digital campaigns to build mass awareness for animal welfare issues, increasing their petition sign-ups and volunteer base.

These are data-driven, high-impact organisations. If paid advertising was a waste of money, they wouldn’t use it.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Paid Advertising

A common objection is that paid advertising is too expensive. But compared to other growth tactics, it’s often more cost-effective.

Consider the cost of:

• Hiring a full-time content team to produce high-quality organic content.
• Sponsoring major events to gain visibility.
• Investing in PR campaigns that may or may not gain traction.

Paid advertising offers a scalable, measurable, and controllable alternative. You can start with a small budget, test different messages, and double down on what works. This is exactly the kind of evidence-based, feedback-driven approach that should appeal to the EA mindset.

The Opportunity Cost of Not Advertising

Finally, there’s the opportunity cost. Every year that an EA organisation delays investing in paid advertising is another year where its impact is limited to its existing network. When you consider the counterfactuals—the people who might have been engaged, the donors who might have been converted, the policymakers who might have been influenced—the cost of inaction is far greater than the cost of running ads.

Conclusion: EA Needs to Think Like a Growth-Minded Organisation

The EA movement is built on rationality, evidence, and cost-effectiveness. Those same principles should apply to its approach to marketing. Paid advertising isn’t an extravagance—it’s a necessary tool for any organisation serious about maximising its impact.

By embracing paid digital campaigns, EA organisations can move beyond the limits of organic growth and ensure their ideas reach the widest possible audience. In a world where the most effective causes often struggle for attention, that’s not just good marketing—it’s good altruism.