What does your communications work actually cost?
Most small organizations weigh a full-time hire against getting by without one. Answer six quick questions about your organization, and we'll estimate how much work you need, then show what each way of staffing your communications costs, side by side, in the same units of work.
Based on your answers
You probably need 10 units a month.
What goes into your 10 units
Move any slider to change your mix. The others adjust so your month still adds up to the same total.
One unit is about three hours of focused work, roughly one 1,000-word blog post. Larger projects, like an event campaign or a case for support, are scoped separately.
The first year of a hire includes recruiting.
Adjust the assumptions
Every figure below is pre-filled with a conservative default. Change anything that doesn't match your organization, and the comparison updates as you go.
How we calculated this
The full cost of a full-time hire
The other options
How units work
The calculator groups work into three kinds. Everyday pieces are one unit each: a 1,000-word blog post, a donor letter, or a pair of social or newsletter posts. Stories and outreach are two units each: an impact story built from an interview, a letter of inquiry, or a three-email appeal series. Cornerstone pieces are three units each: a short impact video script with storyboard, or a copy refresh for 3 to 5 website pages. Larger projects, like an event campaign or a case for support, are scoped separately.
We assume a unit takes about three hours for anyone doing the work, staff or consultant. At that pace, a full-time staffer producing 30 units a month spends about 90 hours on production and keeps roughly 65 hours a month for meetings, calls, email, and everything else a role like this involves.
Sources
Health insurance: KFF's 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey reports an average single-coverage premium of $9,325, of which workers paid about $1,440, leaving roughly $7,885 for the employer. Recruiting: the SHRM/ANSI cost-per-hire benchmark of $4,700, the conservative end of recent SHRM figures. Payroll taxes: federal Social Security and Medicare rates; FUTA exemption for 501(c)(3) organizations. State unemployment: North Carolina's 1% new-employer rate applied to its taxable wage base; your state and history may differ. Salary context: the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the May 2024 median for public relations specialists at $69,780, so a $55,000 salary understates what many hires cost.
What the numbers don't show
Ramp-up and turnover
A new hire rarely produces at full pace in the first few months, and if they leave, you pay to recruit again while the work waits.
Supervision time
Staff and contractors need direction, review, and feedback. That time comes from your executive director or program leads, and it isn't in any column above.
Contractor classification
A contractor working a steady part-time schedule on core, ongoing work can be considered an employee under IRS and Department of Labor rules. Check with a tax or legal advisor before you hire.
Your impact is real. Let's help people see it.
RBI Narrative Studio gives your organization 10 credits of finished work every month for $2,000, delivered by RBI's Director of Communications. You pay for output, not hours: the strategy call and revisions come with the work instead of eating into it. We sit with you, learn what you're building, and help you tell that story clearly to the people who need to hear it.
Each month includes one strategy call and two rounds of revisions on every piece. Unused credits don't roll over. Larger projects, like a case for support, and any work beyond 10 credits are quoted separately.
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