Cincinnati marketing communications agency
Fractional CMO leadership for mission-driven teams without a marketing department.
The MCS Agency serves as your fractional chief marketing officer. We set the strategy, shape the brand, build the website, grow your social media presence and run the communications, so a small team gets the experience of a full one.
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Where Clara leads and contributes
- Founding memberAfrican Professionals Network (APNET)
- SecretaryCincinnati-Harare Sister City Partnership
- Board memberCaracole Inc.
- Board memberTogether Digital Foundation
- Creator & co-hostRoots, Routes & Voices: Stories That Shape America
- Newsletter authorDigital for the Rest of Us™
The MCS Agency is a Cincinnati marketing communications agency that provides fractional chief marketing officer services to nonprofits, purpose-driven organizations and small businesses. Founder Clara Matonhodze leads strategy, branding, website design, social media and AI readiness for teams that have no in-house marketing department.
Who we serve
Built around how each kind of team works.
01
Nonprofits
Funders, donors, volunteers and the people you serve each need a different message. We build one brand and one website that speak to all of them, and give your staff a structure they can maintain after we hand it over.
Marketing for nonprofits02
Small businesses
Customers choose the business they understand fastest. Your brand gets clarified, your website starts earning inquiries, and your content stays consistent without adding headcount.
Marketing for small businessesServices
What we do
Strategic Communications
Communications plans for campaigns, funder and donor outreach, and messaging that needs a fresh look.
View serviceBranding and Storytelling
A voice, a story and a visual identity that funders, customers and communities recognize as yours.
View serviceWebsite Design
Sites that people can find, your team can update, and every visitor can use, with a clear next step on every page.
View serviceSocial Media and Digital Campaigns
Content calendars and campaigns that keep you visible and consistent on the platforms where your audience spends time.
View serviceAI Readiness
An audit of your content and search visibility, plus a roadmap that keeps your message discoverable by both people and AI search tools.
View serviceClient results
What clients say about the work.
The retreat ran with a level of calm and order we had never experienced before, and our team finally felt supported rather than stretched.
Nonprofit Executive, We Think 4 A Change
Her team listened closely, helped us articulate what we had been struggling to say and shaped a brand story that finally sounded like us.
CEO, BackPack4Kids
The MCS Agency became the steady partner we depended on.
Board Chairman, Henry Hosea House
By the numbers
Results
Organic social media results for client organizations, 2025 and 2026.
Facebook views in 90 days for Hosea House, a Northern Kentucky soup kitchen
Up 139 percent from the previous 90 days, with 78 percent of views from people who did not yet follow the page (April to July 2026).
organic LinkedIn views for a diaspora-focused nonprofit
Content built around real people and community activity, with 3-second video views up 183.3 percent (2025).
more interactions for an HIV education nonprofit
Posts that paired common myths with plain facts made complex health information short, clear and easy to share (2025).
FEATURED CASE STUDY
AfriThrive: one brand for a growing mission.
AfriThrive runs food distributions, urban farming and integration programs for African immigrant families. We unified its messaging, visual identity and outreach as it grew from one truck and a parking lot to a fleet, a federal grant and a building of its own.
Read the case studyfull-time staff since we began working together
Plus a federal grant, a fleet of three trucks, cold storage and a building on the way.
How it works
Strategy comes before tactics.
Every engagement follows the same discipline, whatever the budget.
Define the audience
We name who needs to act and what matters to them before a single word gets drafted.
Find the root cause
A weak campaign usually traces back to an unclear message or a confusing path. The fix happens at the source.
Choose the strategy
Tactics follow once the direction is set, and each recommendation arrives with its reasoning, tradeoffs and risks.
Agree on how success is measured
You leave with next steps and the numbers that show how the work is performing.
In the community
Where Clara shows up.
About the agency
A small team with senior leadership.
The MCS Agency is a three-person team led by Clara Matonhodze, a fractional chief marketing officer with more than 26 years of communications experience. Every client gets senior strategy and hands-on delivery from the same small group.
- Clara Matonhodze
Founder and Principal Consultant - Alexandra Zunze
Agency Associate - Harsh Pathak
Website Developer and Designer
The team works from Ubuntu, the philosophy that says “I am because we are,” so every engagement starts with the people an organization serves.
Meet the teamFree tool
See how your website performs today.
Our free audit checks search visibility, page speed and accessibility, and shows you where to start.
More free tools
Insights
Digital for the Rest of Us™
Practical guidance on marketing, websites and AI for teams without a department behind them.
Should You Boost a Post or Run a Meta Campaign?
When each option fits, with real budget numbers.
AI readinessWhy AI Skips Over Your Business (And How to Fix It Fast)
What keeps AI search tools from recommending you, and ten quick moves that change it.
StrategyThe Strategy No One Wants to Say for 2026: Why Holding Steady Beats Chasing Growth
Four frameworks for leading through uncertainty.
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Digital for the Rest of Us™ arrives every other week with one practical answer you can use the same day.
Questions
Questions we hear often.
What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who leads an organization’s marketing strategy on a part-time or contract basis. A small team gets senior leadership without hiring a full-time executive.
Who does The MCS Agency work with?
The MCS Agency works with nonprofits, purpose-driven organizations and small businesses. The agency is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and serves clients beyond the region.
What services does The MCS Agency offer?
The agency offers strategic communications, branding and storytelling, website design, social media and digital campaigns, and AI readiness, all led by a fractional CMO under one strategy.
How does an engagement begin?
It begins with a conversation about your goals, your audience and the team you have today. From there we define the audience, find root causes, choose a strategy and agree on how success is measured.
Does The MCS Agency work outside Cincinnati?
Yes. The agency is based in Cincinnati and serves nonprofits and small businesses beyond the region.
Tell us what your team is working toward.
Start with a conversation about your goals, your audience and the team you have today.
Start a conversation