Understand how your CPC compares. Dive into benchmark data by industry, region, and campaign type
February 2025 - February 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
Across all countries, Nonprofit advertisers saw Facebook Ads cost-per-click levels that were consistently far below the global benchmark, but with more pronounced seasonality. CPC started the year at its lowest point, climbed steadily through spring, accelerated into Q4, then reset sharply in January. While the global market also spiked in November, the global benchmark cooled sooner in December, creating a brief narrowing of the gap.
This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for the Nonprofit industry across all countries compared to the global benchmark.
Median CPC for Nonprofit campaigns averaged $0.39 across the period, ranging from a low of $0.28 in January 2025 to a high of $0.54 in November. The year opened at $0.28 and closed at $0.35 in January 2026—up 22% from the starting point. The annual range spanned roughly $0.26, with the sharpest lift occurring into late Q3 and Q4.
Month-to-month moves show a measured first half followed by bigger Q4 swings. Notable inflection points:
Volatility averaged 0.055 points per month, or about 14% of the Nonprofit average CPC, underscoring a market with moderate month-to-month variability and a clear Q4 crescendo.
The Nonprofit CPC trend followed a familiar arc: softer Q1, spring lift, late-summer fluctuation, and a pronounced Q4 run-up. Q4 was the defining movement—September’s breakaway, November’s peak, and December’s sustained elevation—followed by a January reset that pulled costs back toward spring norms. While the global market typically tightens into Q4 as competition rises, Nonprofit CPCs remained elevated through December instead of easing immediately after November.
Relative to the overall benchmark, Nonprofit CPCs were structurally lower throughout the period. The Nonprofit average ($0.39) sat about 65% below the global average ($1.11). On a monthly basis, the gap ranged from 49% below market in December (the narrowest spread) to 75% below in January–February (the widest).
Trendlines diverged in late 2025. Global CPC rose into November ($1.32) but then cooled to $1.05 in December and fell further to $0.85 in January 2026. By contrast, Nonprofit CPC peaked in November ($0.54), stayed high in December ($0.53), and only then reset in January ($0.35). In absolute terms, the global benchmark showed larger monthly point swings (0.071 on average), but relative volatility was lower (about 6% of its mean) than Nonprofit’s 14%, indicating the Nonprofit sector moved more in percentage terms.
These Facebook Ads benchmarks highlight CPC trends for the Nonprofit industry across all countries: structurally lower costs than the global market, a pronounced Q4 surge with a December hold, and a sharp January reset. Understanding cost-per-click patterns for Nonprofit advertisers, alongside broader CPC trends, CPM analysis, and CTR performance context, helps teams evaluate country-specific ad costs and compare industry ad performance against global norms.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Cost Per Click (CPC) is the amount advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their Facebook ad. In the Nonprofit industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
CPC (Cost Per Click) is what you pay each time someone clicks on your ad, on any Facebook Ads placement. It's calculated by dividing your total spend by the number of clicks received. Facebook Ads lists Clicks, Link Clicks and Outbound Clicks separately. The former is the sum of all types of clicks (including, for example, clicks to your profile page, to a link or to a comment).
The truth is that varies, so play with our tool to get some benchmarks that are relevant to you. CPC values are highly dependent on the region, industry and campaign objective. The US is one of the most expensive markets.
Several factors affect CPC: your audience targeting, competition in your industry, ad relevance score, and creative performance. If your ad isn't getting engagement or relevance is low, CPC tends to spike.
CPC spikes usually happen because of increased competition in your target audience, seasonal trends (like holidays), poor ad relevance scores, or algorithm changes. Check if your audience targeting has become too narrow or if your creative is showing fatigue.
Yes, there's a noticeable difference between platforms. Mobile CPCs often run lower than desktop. How many times do check Instagram on your phone and how often do you open it in your computer? There's simply much more mobile inventory. Tip: segment your performance data by placement to understand where your clicks are coming from. Spoiler: it's likely all mobile.
For most businesses, optimizing for conversions will deliver much better ROI than focusing purely on CPC. A low CPC is meaningless if those clicks don't convert. However, if you're running awareness campaigns or some kind content promotion, CPC optimization might potentially make sense, although most experts have switched to conversion optimization by now.
Your specific audience targeting, creative quality, bidding strategy, and account history all influence your CPC. Industry averages provide a reference point, but your historical performance is a more reliable benchmark for setting expectations and measuring improvement.
Instagram CPCs are generally slightly higher due to stronger purchase intent and higher competition among advertisers. But it depends on the audience and creative.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
Average cost per click benchmarks across industries
Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
Benchmark click-through rates for Facebook ads
Cost per lead across different markets
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