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A 10-Step Review to Improve Your Nonprofit’s Brand

By Howard Adam Levy, Principal, Red Rooster Group

How well do your donors know your organization? In large part that depends upon how well you are communicating your brand: your vision, values and personality. If done well, you can form deep and lasting bonds with your donors. If not, you risk confusing your audience. In a short-attention span world, organizations that are able to quickly communicate their value are the ones that attract the most overall support. This article, published in Nonprofit Advantage, focuses on how you can evaluate your brand and marketing communications.

1. Uniqueness Matters

With 1 million nonprofits in the United States competing for donors’ attention, your organization needs to stand out. A clear and compelling mission is crucial for attracting people to your cause. Is your mission unique, easy to understand, and inspiring? Or has it become muddled over the years?

2. Message

You know what your organization does, but do other people? Getting others to understand your message requires persistence. A recent survey we did of long-time donors to an organization showed they didn’t fully understand the nonprofit’s services. Repetition is key, and just as you begin to tire of hearing your story, it is probably just starting to get through to your donors.

3. Brand Personality

Personality is a powerful way of distinguishing organizations with similar missions. For example, in finding a cure for a disease, one organization may communicate in an authoritative tone to establish credibility on policy issues, and another may speak more emotionally to inspire people to action. Your organization’s personality is conveyed through the language, images, colors, and even the media that you use (think policy report versus Facebook). Review your marketing materials with this in mind (or, better yet, have others do it) to determine how your organization comes across.

4. Emotional Impact

People choose to donate to an organization because they are motivated to do so in some way. They may feel an affinity for the organization’s values, be moved by a story of someone the organization has helped, or feel inspired by the organization’s mission or leader. Language in brochures and websites that is organization-oriented and merely describes services (often with industry jargon) misses out on the opportunity to inspire donors to action.

5. Perception

Your brand can build trust and positive perception when you speak with a genuine voice, are consistent in your actions, and follow through on what you promise. Strong leadership, empowered employees, and fiscal responsibility set the right tone. Decisions inconsistent with your mission – such as partnering with a corporate sponsor that doesn’t share your core values – undermines your credibility. Are all of your organization’s actions are in alignment with its values?

6. Professionalism

If you want people to take your organization seriously, you have to do so as well. This starts with presenting a professional face to the world. You wouldn’t take someone seriously if they wore jeans to a job interview, so why solicit donors with an unprofessional logo, brochure, and website? To earn people’s trust, you need to ensure that all your marketing meets a high standard of excellence.

7. Consistency

When your donor receives your newsletter in the mail, visits your website and receives an email requesting a donation, do they know that they come from the same organization? Is there consistency in how your logo colors and images are used, the values and messages that are conveyed, and the tone of voice that is used? Consistency breeds familiarity, recognition and trust. And it maximizes your marketing budget by reinforcing your brand at every opportunity.

8. Communication Strategy

The method and frequency in which you reach people can be just as important as what you say. Everyone has their own preferences for printed newsletters, email, social media, and events. The extent to which you can tailor your marketing to your individual donor preferences will improve your responses and potentially save you money on printed mailings.

9. Budget

Planning your marketing budget for the year is critical to maintaining a regular brand presence in front of donors. Consider all the ways you reach donors and map out the costs for each in a spreadsheet to see your total fundraising and brand investment for the year. This will also help to plan for subsequent years and provide a good basis of comparison.

10. Ongoing Measurement & Monitoring

Developing an effective brand is part art and part science. You may not get everything right the first time, but you shouldn’t repeat the same mistake twice. Establish systems to track your responses and periodically review them to determine which tactics to eliminate and which to increase. A combination of quantitative research, such as web traffic reports, and qualitative feedback, such as interviews, will help you keep your message, brand and strategy on target.

What Next?

A brand assessment will indicate the ways in which you can improve your message as well as give you a better understanding of your stakeholders. The results may help you refine or redefine your programs and mission. You’ll feel empowered, knowing that you are pro-actively shaping your organization’s brand, rather than leaving it to fate. This assessment can help you to:

  • Communicate more clearly with donors
  • Build your organization’s visibility and recognition
  • Allocate your marketing budget in ways that are most effective
  • Determine if you need outside help to set up a marketing plan with ongoing assessment and refinement

To be most effective, the brand assessment should be overseen by one knowledgeable decision-maker who can communicate well with both staff and board members. This “brand champion” can lead the efforts to a more effective organization. There are many resources to help you get started, including The Nonprofit Brand Institute (npbrandit.com).

ASSESSMENT TOOL: Rate Your Marketing Efforts

For a quick assessment your brand, rate your organization’s marketing on a scale of 1 to 10.
  1. Staff members and donors understand and agree on our mission — they know exactly what our organization stands for and hopes to accomplish.
  2. Our brand clearly sets us apart from other nonprofits that operate in our sphere.
  3. Our communication materials convey a modern, professional image that holds up compared to other organizations.
  4. Our public messages accurately represent our organization’s core values and personality.
  5. We communicate with stakeholders in a way that inspires passion and generates excitement.
  6. Our website looks contemporary, accepts donations and can be easily updated by staff (and is kept current).
  7. It is evident that all our marketing (brochures, newsletters, website, etc.) comes from the same organization.
  8. We reach people in many different ways (including social media), depending on their communication preferences.
  9. We know how much we spend on marketing and communications annually.
  10. We regularly monitor our marketing and review our marketing and solicit feedback about our brand to ensure that we are on track.
Howard Adam Levy, is Principal of Red Rooster Group, a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites and marketing campaigns for nonprofits to increase their visibility, fundraising and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.

This article was originally published in Nonprofit Advantage, the quarterly publication of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits.

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