6 Ways Boards Are Critical to a Nonprofit’s Brand

1. Prioritize the Brand

Having a strong brand is fundamental for long-term success. The brand must be easy to understand, appealing, and motivating. If people don’t know what you do and how well you do it, they are not going to support you. Boards make it possible for an organization to build and maintain a brand by allocating the resources needed. Whether marketing is done in-house or with the help of a consultant, the board must budget sufficient money to ensure success.

If the brand is important to the board, it will be important to staff, donors, and clients. By ensuring that systems and resources are in place to reinforce the brand, the board ensures its continuity and strength.

2. Be Part of Brand Development

Boards help define the organization’s brand — its mission, vision, values, and brand promise. The board can participate by taking an active part in the branding process. Boards should be involved in developing and approving key deliverables, such as a new name, visual identity, or mission statement, and ensure that appropriate trademark protection is secured.

3. Protect the Brand from Internal Threats

The board must ensure that there is a brand guideline manual and that all communications materials reflect the standards laid out in the manual. By making consistency a priority, your team will not inadvertently erode your brand. 

For organizations that have chapters or affiliates, pay attention to the relationship between the parent entity and others that use the brand. Parent organizations need to clearly articulate how their brand is to be used (and not used), provide guidelines and training to those using the brand, and monitor for misuse.

Affiliate organizations need to be mindful of using the national brand appropriately and setting guidelines for adapting the brand locally within the national standards.

4. Protect the Brand from External Threats

External threats come from people — including your supporters — who may use your logo or other brand identifiers in an inappropriate manner, or other organizations that usurp or infringe on your name or logo. 

The board must also examine any potential mergers, partnership arrangements, or cause-marketing deals to ensure that the arrangements are mutually beneficial and that the organization’s brand won’t be misappropriated or harmed in any way. Make sure that all partnership arrangements are with entities with similar values and interests. Don’t enter into agreements — no matter how financially tempting — that contradict the mission and values of your organization. Spell out all the details of how your name, logo, and other brand elements will be used.

5. Leverage the Brand

Smart organizations know that their brand reflects their entire organization and that branding, marketing, and fundraising support each other. Each of these departments has touchpoints with the public — clients, donors, media, volunteers — and each touchpoint should reinforce the brand. 

Boards can ensure that all departments — particularly development and marketing — support each other. Boards need to understand the many skills, roles, and positions within the organization affect and support their marketing efforts. They need to put systems and teams in place to ensure brand cohesion. 

6. Speak Up for the Brand

Board members must be brand ambassadors. Their job is to enthusiastically spread the word, raise funds, and serve as the chief cheerleaders for the organization. To do so, they must be able to confidently and passionately talk about the value and impact of the organization. A strong brand makes it easier for them to do so by providing clear, concise language and a message that board members are proud to convey.

Previously published online in Candid.

1. Provide Sufficient Information

Hiring a consultant can provide the expertise that you don’t have in-house, but that doesn’t mean that you can take a backseat role. No one knows your organization as well as you do, and you’ll need to be highly involved in the project. Good consultants will engage you in that process. They will want to understand the essence of your entity, elicit ideas, and bring information together in new ways to generate insights.

To do so, the consultant will want to review information about your organization and talk with many people, from clients to board members. Make sure that you can supply the relevant documents and that stakeholders can set aside time to talk.

2. Have a Clear Process

Whether developing a strategic plan or a brand, it’s important to know what you are aiming for and how you will get there. Your consultant should provide the roadmap that they will use to engage your team through an iterative process that includes key stakeholders.

That plan should include the key activities, milestones, and outcomes for each step in the process. Clarify who will be involved in each phase, who will make the decisions, when they will make them, and when deliverables are due. Your job is to provide the appropriate information, context, and ideas, provide feedback on the work presented, and make decisions so the project can move forward.

3. Understand How Decisions Will Be Made

Decisiveness keeps projects moving forward. Put a plan in place that ensures decisions can be made in a timely manner. To facilitate this, you’ll need to decide in advance who will give feedback and how, who will make the final decision, and how that decision will be made. This includes considerations for how the board will be involved in the process — what discussions and presentations will happen and what decisions they will make.

Also, consider whether key decisions will be made if not everyone can attend a meeting or if a conscious determination will be made to delay the project to include everyone.

4. Presenting to the Board

Even if intermediate decisions have been delegated to a committee or staff, keeping the board involved as the project moves forward increases the board’s buy-in and eases the way for final approval. My clients have found it helpful to have me make a presentation to the board at key points in the project. Getting information from an outside expert can help the board move past insularity. Also, because I’ve done the research and looked at alternative approaches, I can answer questions or provide additional context to facilitate decision-making.

However, there is a flip side to this. For some organizations, the better choice is to have committee members, not the consultant, make presentations to the board, to gain the trust of others. Having a board member who has bought into the concept present to the board can be an effective way to show that there is internal support for the initiative. Assess your organizational culture and determine which route will be most effective in gaining the trust needed to get buy-in for ideas.

5. Build Your Project Team

For very small nonprofits, a project team may be one or two people. For larger organizations, team members should represent a variety of stakeholders, such as executive-level staff, a member of the board, and perhaps, some frontline staff members.

Members of the team should be willing to express their ideas and listen to the ideas of others. They should also understand and support the overall goals of the project. And, remember, team meetings and reviews of materials presented will take time. Make sure that every team member is given the time to do the required work.

6. Designate a Point Person

At the beginning of the project, decide who will be your organization’s liaison to the consultant. The point person may be asked to contact people who are going to be interviewed, provide background information and documents, arrange meetings, and make sure that information is shared with key stakeholders. 

7. Set a Schedule

The consultant needs to know about events that will affect the availability of your team. Organizational events, board meetings, vacations, maternity leave can affect the workflow and ability to provide needed feedback and approvals. Working out a schedule together eliminates delays and reduces stress for both your team and the consultant.

8. Have a Plan for Communicating

To facilitate a smooth process, determine who will be included on the project and how you will communicate with your group — email, phone calls, a project management system, Zoom, Skype, etc. — and how you will exchange documents and comments on the documents: as PDFs, Google docs, or Word documents. It’s also a good idea to schedule a standing call in order to reserve time each week, even for quick status updates. This can reduce the problems in scheduling meetings that can delay the completion of a project.

9. Address Stumbling Blocks That Raise Costs

Delaying feedback or reversing decisions already made can stall or even stop a project. Moreover, revising decisions already made can undermine the viability of the project and incur more costs.

This can happen when the plan is for the executive director to make decisions, but when it comes time to give final approval, board members want to express their opinions and second-guess or reverse decisions already made. Or a decision-maker on the staff or board is replaced and the new person wants to undo prior decisions.

To avoid such costly delays, provide the board or a committee with regular updates and opportunities to provide feedback. Discuss any serious concerns with the consultant and team so a satisfactory resolution is reached and costly backtracking is avoided.

Ultimately, you want to achieve a successful outcome for your organization, and want to have a positive experience with your consultant. A good consultant should understand these issues and guide you through them so that you can achieve both.

Previously published in Philanthropy News Digest

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There are about 4,000 to 6,000 cancer-related organizations in the United States and yet, we haven’t cured cancer. Foodbanks cannot keep up with the increasing demand of more people going without a meal. We have growing rates of autism, Parkinson’s and other diseases, more people falling below the poverty line, and many other monumental problems. Over the past decade or so, the number of nonprofits has doubled to 1.6 million. And yet, we haven’t solved these problems. What’s going on?

No Shortage of New Nonprofits

Every month, our marketing agency is approached by people looking to start a nonprofit organization because they encounter one of these types of problems and want to do something about it. And so they think that starting an organization to bring comedians into the hospitals to lift cancer patients spirits will help, or bringing inner city kids boating for day will help. It will help, but not much.

That’s because they are not addressing the fundamental problems — the causes and cure for cancer, in the first case, lack of regular outdoor activities for certain populations, in the second case.

We have enough organizations applying small and ineffective band aids to larger problems. This has to stop. We need to start thinking seriously about how to solve the large problems.

There are many well-intentioned and knowledgable people in the United States ready, willing and able to make a difference. We need to channel these efforts in a meaningful way that will actually go toward solving problems, stemming the causes of the problems, and creating structures to ensure those problems don’t re-occur.

A Radical Proposal

I have a radical proposal toward that end — limit the lifespan of new nonprofits to a certain time frame – say 10 years. This would focus new organizations on adopting innovative ideas in order to actually solve a problem, rather than in merely providing services.

The organizations would be empowered to employ creative thinking, risk-taking, research and advocacy to accomplish their mission of putting themselves out of business at the end of 10 years. It would free them to attract top talent who relish a high level challenge. It would encourage spending in technology and marketing to galvanize people around the cause, and would inspire donors to contribute as they see annual progress toward a larger goal.

At the end of the ten years, the organization would have to document all their research and work toward solving the problem, share it with the general public (including other nonprofits and NGOs, government, businesses, and social entrepreneurs) so that another party can use that information to address the issue. The nonprofit would be allowed reapply for nonprofit status with a new focus based on their learnings and a new time frame. If they do not have any learnings to share or a new perspective or approach on addressing the problem, their application would be rejected.

Bold Thinking is Needed

The nonprofit sector needs this type of bold thinking to break the cycle of merely providing services while the problems grow larger, to break the poverty mindset that stifles innovation, to break the status quo of founder’s syndrome, and most off all, stem the insane growth of competition of small nonprofits vying for the same pool of resources, none of which is going toward solving the real problems.

What do you think? An idea worth considering, or entirely crazy? Let’s start the discussion.

Thinking of starting a nonprofit organization? Don’t do it.

We get a lot of calls from well-intentioned individuals wanting to make a difference in the world. That’s great. We need more caring people making a difference. We don’t necessarily need another nonprofit organization to do so.

Consider this, there are currently over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. To put that into perspective, the population of the United States is 300 million, so that’s more than one charity for every 300 people.

That means that if you have an idea for an organization, it probably already exists. So start by finding out. Do a Google search for your cause and see what shows up. You can also check CharityNavigator.org, which rates nonprofits in different ways, and GuideStar.org, which features information, including tax returns of nonprofits, so you can examine organizations in detail. After all, if other well-established organizations exist with a similar mission, then do you want to be competing against them for funding? And what chance do you really have?

Generally, our recommendation to people looking to start a nonprofit is not to do so, unless

• You have a very clearly defined mission that addresses a very specific problem and is unique, memorable, and inspirational.
• You have a specific, well-thought out means of addressing the problem, ostensibly, one this is unique as well.
• You have a strategic plan that addresses the goals and strategies for the organization.
• You have a method of funding that will sustain the organization for the long-term.

You’re Facing an Uphill Battle

Now consider the requirements to start a nonprofit — you need to have a board of directors, incorporate as a charity, register in every state in which you will be doing fundraising, and meet auditing and reporting requirements.

And then consider what is necessary to run the operation and make it successful — knowledge of the issue and how to address it better than it is currently being addressed, operations management of delivering services effectively and a means of measuring their effectiveness, attracting staff with the right skills, building a board of directors, managing volunteers, managing finances, having the right technology and donor systems in place, developing your brand and promoting the organization, and most of all, fundraising – because if you don’t have money, you don’t have an organization — you just have an idea.

The fact is, that 85% of all nonprofits never make it over $250,000 in annual revenue and have a difficult time sustaining their organizations. And in this recession, even the government is late in paying nonprofits the money they are owed. As a result, many organizations have folded or merged in recent years.

Put Your Passion into Action in Other Ways

If you are looking to do good in the world, that is very admirable and there are a number of things that you can do:

• Start by volunteering for a nonprofit organization to learn what it is like and learn about the specific issues.
• Serve on a board of directors to learn the responsibilities of running a nonprofit.
• Work for a nonprofit to get experience on the inside.
• Participate in mentoring, training, and partnership arrangements.
• You can also donate goods and services, help charities organize fundraising events, and spread the word.
• Also consider how a socially-responsible business or other format (such as galvanize other people around the cause) can address the issue.

Resources

To research nonprofits, visit:

• CharityNavigator
• GuideStar

To find a volunteering opportunity, visit:

• Volunteermatch.org

To find out more about serving on a nonprofit board, visit:

• BoardnetUSA
• BoardserveNYC

If your organization is considering changing its name, there’s a lot to think about. A new name can provide a renewed sense of vigor for the organization, but it can also be a frustrating process if not handled correctly. Keep in mind these factors for creating a successful outcome.

1. Recognize that developing an effective name is difficult. With 1.6 million nonprofits in the United States, plus those overseas (accessible everywhere online) and millions of businesses, many good names (and URLs) are taken. Understand that it’s not as easy as it seems to come up with the right name that perfectly expresses what your organization stands for, and is available.

2. You need a clear process. From egos and office politics to the creativity needed generate a great name, there are myriad of aspects of the name change process that need to be managed. To ensure that everything goes smoothly, you need a rigorous process that clearly defines all the steps.

3. Understand why you are changing the name. Changing out of necessity or opportunity will dictate different approaches. See this article for a list of reasons.

4. Involve the right people. Your name change is an opportunity to galvanize people around your shared vision, so be sure to include a the appropriate cross section from your staff, board, donors, partner organizations and other key constituents. The challenge is incorporating all perspectives so that everyone feels heard and managing the expectations that not all needs can be met.

5. Know where you stand. Your organization is not operating in a vacuum. Conduct research to assess the level of brand recognition, positive and negative attributes, and audience perceptions of the name. What do people think of your name, and will they care if you change it?

6. Prepare for change. Understand your organization’s propensity for change and have strong leadership to usher the organization through the process and build consensus. It’s important to consider people’s potential responses to the name change and to be able to pro-actively address any resistance to change.

7. Know your target. Before you start generating names, you need to know what you are aiming for. It helps to develop a Brand Statement that expresses that you want to convey, and to establish criteria for the new name. For example, does the name need to reflect your organization’s mission, respect the organization’s history, etc. What are the practical considerations, such as words that must be included or excluded, a tagline that must be used, a certain length, legal issues, chapter, parent or international affiliate considerations, or other expectations or limitations. Also consider the tone you want the name to convey.

8. Go wide. In developing potential names, it pays to think outside the box and generate hundreds of potential possibilities. Cast a wide net to get the best ideas, and then edit them down based on your criteria.

9. Respect nuances. Understand the subtle differences between words that can effect the perception of a name and what is acceptable. For example, the words “network,” “clearinghouse,” and “association,” all have to do with the exchange of information, but they all have different connotations.

10. Be creative. Nonprofit names don’t have to be mundane — they can and should be appealing. So aim for one that will capture the imagination of your staff, donors, and clients, not merely describe your services. Which would you rather support: Jumpstart NYC or the New York City Small Businesses Administration Program?

11. Field test. Before settling on a final name, see how it works in various contexts, for example, on a business card, on your website (how it works as a URL), on interior and exterior signs, when answering the phone or on voice mail, in directory listings, etc.

12. Look smart. Your name will usually not live alone, but must be represented graphically. Consider how the name works with the logo or develop a new logo to go with the name. If you are going to change the name, take advantage of the opportunity to create a positive impression with a professional logo design.

13. Connecting with the old name. Consider if the old name should be recognized in some way (such as “formerly…”) and how that should be done (with the old logo, or just a line of type, how prominent, and for how long, etc.). Having this plan beforehand, can help you make judicious decisions regarding the best way to roll out the new name and in replacing old stationery and materials and updating your website.

14. Spread the word. It’s typically best to have a plan for informing your different audiences appropriately in a timed sequence, for example, starting with the staff and board and moving out toward large funders and donors and partners before announcing it to the public. Your plan will depend upon the size and nature of your organization and its board (or multiple boards), and other constituents including size and type of donor base, funding sources, organizational partners, and clients served. Also take into account the connection between the old and new name — whether the new name is completely different or uses some part of the old name, and how different the old and new logos are.

15. Implement smartly. Consider the full scope of what needs to be changed and have a plan for managing that. For example, you may have a hard launch in which the new name is introduced on a certain date, or a soft launch in which older stationery and materials are used up and the new name is introduced when new materials are created (within a certain timeframe). And plan for staff training on how to and when to use the new name.

A great name can give your organization the recognition it needs, so take the proper steps to plan appropriately for success.

Download a pdf of this article here.

• If you feel that your organization’s name is not as effective as it can be, contact us to discuss the options.

Doctors Without Borders is a successful name. But what about other organizations that copy the name like Lawyers Without Borders or Engineers Without Borders? Is that a smart strategy? This article provides an answer.

Names Provide a Shorthand for Understanding

Since many nonprofits missions are complex, the name of the organization can act as shorthand in helping people understand what they do. The name Doctors Without Borders does this very well. You get a clear picture of doctors personally helping other people regardless of nationality, politics or religion.

So it is understandable that other organizations, such as Lawyers Without Borders, Engineers Without Borders, and other organizations using that naming formula, would want to capitalize on that same shorthand to explain their mission. After all, why go through a lengthly description what you do, if there is already a frame work that people are familiar with?

A Strong Name Is Essential for Recognition

It’s a very busy world, and there is a lot of competition – with about a million nonprofits registered in the United States, the public has a difficult time distinguishing between groups with similar missions or similar names. Nonprofits need to do everything they can to stand out. Lacking large marketing budgets for advertising or online promotion, an organization’s name plays an important role in catching people’s attention, distinguishing the organization, and conveying its mission.

A Memorable Name

What makes Doctors Without Borders a strong brand, is that its model was innovative and compelling when it was founded nearly 40 years ago. The concept of flying doctors into another country to help people in need captured people’s imaginations. It exemplified the best of humanity and selflessness. And with its uniqueness and memorability, it is no surprise that it became a very strong brand.

The Problem of Copying a Unique Name

The problem with other organizations that borrow the nomenclature, is that they are not the first group to use that approach, and so they can’t really capitalize on that uniqueness. Being the first organization to create a new model for service counts for something. People like to donate to leaders. So while organizations that copy that model gain the advantage of easily conveying their mission, they lose the ability to claim uniqueness and a leadership role. And as a result their fundraising appeal is not going to be as strong.

Part of the fundraising appeal is the relevance of your mission. Times have changed since Doctors Without Borders was created. The concept of helping people across borders is no longer unique. The internet allows people to assess and help people in other countries directly.

Emphasize the Organization’s Impact

An organization founded more recently should take this into consideration. People like to know what impact their donations have, so a better naming strategy would be to emphasize the impact that the organization achieves (for example, emphasizing how the lawyers and engineers are changing people’s lives).

Search Engine Considerations

Another consideration these days, is how names appear in search engines. Using part of the name of another organization limits the unique words that are searchable. For example, searching for “without borders, nonprofit” in Google, delivers pages of results, all vying for attention, and the one that started it all (Doctors Without Borders) is lost in the mix.

> Download a pdf of this article here.

If you feel that your organization’s name is not as effective as it can be, contact us to discuss the options.

There are many reasons for nonprofit organizations to change their name. Whether out of opportunity and the desire to express the mission better and attract new donors, or out of necessity stemming from external factors. This article describes 15 reasons that prompt nonprofits to change their name.

1. Length is too long. It’s common for nonprofits to have Descriptive Names. But these tend to be long and are often referred to by their initials. The abbreviation loses the meaning for those not familiar with the organization and undermines the concept of having a Descriptive Name to begin with.

2. Services have changed. Faced with changing needs or demands by their audience or funders, many organizations evolve by evolving their services or scope beyond their original mission. At some point, the name no longer represents what the organization does, and mismatch becomes too great enough to prompt the new name.`

3. Geographic area no longer applies. When an organization expands beyond the geographic scope specified in its name, or is planning on offering services beyond that area, a name change may be needed.

4. Outdated terms are used. Since society’s sensibilities and language changes over time, words like negro, Indian, retarded, and geriatric can be politically incorrect, have negative connotations, or simply no longer be effective. United Negro College Fund is now UNCF, what was the Association of Retarded Citizens is now The Arc.

5. The name no longer works. In some case the organization’s name no longer reflects what the organization does or is inaccurate in some way, or conveys a misperception about the organization. Real Estate Advisory and Development Services (READS) is a nonprofit organization serving other nonprofits, but its name made it seem like a business. To address this, they took the unusual tact of using their tagline, Build with Purpose, as their organizational name, and adopted a new tagline, “Real Estate for Social Change.”

6. No one refers to the actual name. Organizations such as the YMCA (which used to stand for Young Men’s Christian Association), and the JCC (Jewish Community Center), are referred to informally by their members as “the Y,” and “the J,” respectively. Recently, the YMCA (which is a distinct organization from the YWCA, by the way) is taking advantage of that and referring to itself as “the Y,” introducing a new logo, which has the small letters YMCA on the side of a large Y.

7. The name is embarrassing. When the Child Development Center was first established 30 years ago, it was among the first special education facilities in New Jersey. Now, with hundreds of competitors, the name is both inaccurate, since it is an accredited school, not a center, and embarrassing for teenager students who would refer to the school as CDC. The name Westbridge Academy instills pride and fits into the students’ and parents’ expectations.

8. Confusion with other organizations. With the proliferation of nonprofits over the past several decades, there are now nearly 1 million nonprofits in the United States making it confusing for the public to distinguish between groups (and businesses) with similar missions, messages or names. Where once, a local charity was the only one of its kind, it must now compete with many other groups with similar missions, and a distinctive name can help it stand out.

9. Program is more prominent than the organization. For some organizations, their signature programs are more well-known than the parent organization. This might represent a lost opportunity for funding or increasing participation in the organization’s other programs. That was the case for the Council on the Environment of New York, the group behind New York’s noted Greenmarkets. This prompted them to change their name to GrowNYC. When the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s yellow wristband reading Livestrong gained massive recognition, the organization’s name was changed to the Livestrong Foundation.

10. Inconsistent use of the name. In some cases, organizations have an official name but use it inconsistently or interchanged with other elements. For example, a public radio station sometimes uses its call letters as part of its name, sometimes identifies itself as a public radio station, and uses different taglines to convey different aspects of its message. Developing a single use of the name, or new name, can address these issues.

11. To remove the religious connotations. As organizations once founded on religious principles attempt to appeal to wider audiences for funding, some are changing their names to remove or minimize the religious aspects. Another reason that Christian Children’s Fund had in changing its name to ChildFund International, was the ability to work in Muslim countries.

12. To signal change. Organizations that want to signal a new direction for the organization, choose to change their name. When the Solomon Schechter Day School Association wanted to pro-actively signal a new brand positioning for the Jewish Conservative Day School movement, they changed their name to Schechter Day School Network and introduced the tagline: Engage the world.

13. To hide from malfeasance. After advocacy organization ACORN was embroiled in a scandal, the negative ramifications rained down hard. Several of the organization’s statewide chapters renamed themselves to distance themselves from the problem. Other organizations, such as the American Red Cross, and the United Way, have stronger brands, allowing them to overcome scandals.

14. Legal action. Whether perceived, threatened, or actual, legal action from another entity claiming naming infringement or other violations may prompt an organization to change its name.

15. A merger. When two or more organizations form one entity, sometimes one organization’s name is adopted, and sometimes a new name is developed, often a combination of the two names.

16. Donor requirements. A large donation, request from a funder, or special requirement or bequest may prompt the organization to incorporate the donor’s name into the organizational, program or facility name.

Based on our experience with organizations looking to change their names, this is our list of reasons that we have seen. If your organization needs to change its name for another reason, please let me know, and I’ll add it to this list.

> Download a pdf of this article here.

If you feel that your organization’s name is not as effective as it can be, contact us to discuss the options.

As nonprofits continue to reconsider their strategies in the face of difficult economic conditions, many organizations are changing their names and rebranding to remove religious connotations, allowing them to appeal to a broader audience.

The underlying reasons for the name change vary, since various types of nonprofit organizations face different issues according to their religious affiliation, audiences, or community they serve.

International Organizations

When international aid organization Christian Children’s Fund changed its name to ChildFund International, the goal was to position the 70-year-old organization for future success. They reacted to both internal and external factors, such as new constituent needs, adapting to local markets to be more effective in executing their mission, and clarifying the relationship with their funding organization, ChildFund Alliance, a network of 12 charities from which the group receives a third of its budget. Also, removing the word Christian from their name helps to reach a wider donor base.

The name change is part of a larger shift in strategy. Anne Goddard, the charity’s president, said the group will tailor programs to children and place a greater emphasis on the relationship between poverty and children’s well being. Also, it will enable the charity to work in countries not predominantly Christian, such as Afghanistan.

There are some challenges, however, with the name change. ChildFund International will lose some donors who believed they were supporting a religious organization, Ms. Goddard said. Yet the charity’s new name allows it to pursue grants from corporations and foundations, which had not supported the group in the past.

As organizations consider changing their name, it’s critical to earn internal support for the brand. ChildFund International engaged employees and donors in the process. The charity conducted focus groups with donors, contacted people who received help from the charity overseas, and discussed the idea with board and staff members. When trustees voted to change the organization’s name, ChildFund International sent mailings to supporters explaining the decision and welcoming questions. Also, staff members participated in a contest choosing the name of the child’s figure in the group’s new logo.

National Organizations

On a national level, associations that represent religious organizations hold a particular responsibility in representing and promoting their members’ wide-ranging needs when considering changing names.

In the Jewish world, The Solomon Schechter Day School Association, an umbrella organization of 49 schools in the Conservative movement, has rebranded itself as the Schechter Day School Network, with a new marketing strategy and logo. The change was in response to issues of shrinking enrollment and competition from newer community day schools as well as Hebrew charter schools.

Their challenge was highlighted in the findings of a 2008 UJA-Federation study called “To Go Or Not To Go,” revealing that many liberal Jews in New York area were unaware of the differences between Orthodox day schools and non-Orthodox ones, perceiving both as “insular” and weak in secular subjects.

As a result, Schechter unveiled a new tagline: “Engage The World,” that positions them in a more secular way, as well a bright red “rose compass” as a logo meant to evoke a Star of David to keep some reference to Judaism. The new branding helps to emphasize that Schecter schools are open to Modern Orthodox, Reform and secular families as well — and the differences between them and community schools are not always especially noticeable.

Local Organizations

Local organizations face similar issues. In Greenwich, Connecticut, the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy rebranded itself as the Carmel Academy. In this case the name change references the Carmel Mountain range in northern Israel, to highlight the school’s connection to the country. “Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy really talked a lot more about location than the vision and the character of the school,” Head of School Nora Anderson said. The new name shifts the emphasis from the specific focus on the Hebrew language to a more general approach of teaching Jewish values, which appeals to a larger potential audience for the school.

Instead of changing their organizational name, some nonprofits are addressing the religious connotations of their name in other ways. For Incarnation Camp, the oldest camp in America which is funded in part by the Episcopal Church, changing the name of the camp was not a viable option. Instead, they emphasized division names like Pequot and Sherwood, which have the cachet of a traditional overnight camp. The organization’s logo still appears on the camp’s marketing materials, but in a less prominent way. This is part of a longer term plan to transition to using Pequot and Sherwood more predominantly to attract new campers, while keeping the identity of the camp recognizable for alumni.

Regardless of the type of change, effectively communicating the organization’s strategy and receiving input from staff and donors is important in getting buy in and ensuring the success of the initiative. Understanding people’s changing opinions about religion and the role of nonprofits in society is essential if individual nonprofits and the sector as a whole are to remain relevant.

> Download a pdf of this article here.

If you feel that your organization’s name is not as effective as it can be, contact us to discuss the options.