Real poverty is almost twice what most people think it is. We helped this organization define its brand and communicate its solution to donors.

Services

• Discovery
• Brand Positioning & Messaging
• Visual Identity
• Donor Presentation

And we helped them articulate the core values that make this organization’s approach unique.

Crafting the Story for Donors

The Case for Support takes donors on a journey. It describes the problem and challenges the norms of measuring poverty, yet it is hopeful. There is a solution.

SELECTED SLIDES SHOWN

We open with an emotional hook and introduce the problem.

The solution is introduced.

Challenges

The organization needed to address the problems with its name and retain a sense of history while moving forward to appeal to donors and funders.

Discovery

We conducted a thorough Discovery process that was designed to help us uncover brand perceptions and communication issues:

• A Brand Audit that assessed all touchpoints with the public.
• A Competitive Review of other human services agencies to identify key differentiators.
• 25 Interviews with leadership, Board members, and donors.
• An Interactive Workshop with two dozen senior leaders to explore brand strengths.
• Five Focus Groups with different departments to understand their brand challenges.

Naming

The leadership, Brand Committee, and Board were engaged in a thorough process to develop and test a new name that would meet their needs around the theme of “Rise.”

After exploring more than 1,400 naming ideas, field testing for perceptions, and conducting legal vetting, the Brand Committee selected the name Rising Ground. This conveys how the organization helps people rise above adversity regardless of what they are facing. The tagline, ”Paths to positive change since 1831” amplifies the message and connects to their history.

Messaging

As part of the branding process, we updated the Mission and Vision Statements, Values, and other brand messaging.

Visual Identity

We created a new visual identity that is expressive, contemporary, and evokes the agency’s personality. The visual identity system consists of:

Website

We planned, wrote, designed, and developed a completely new website for the organization. We created a positive experience that showcases the agency’s mission of helping people rise above adversity.

Visit Website

Brand Launch

Announcing the new name was an opportunity to renew enthusiasm for the organization. To facilitate the transition, we drafted a Why We Changed Our Name document, letters to each stakeholder group, FAQs, a video, and other materials. The launch events generated lots of excitement and the name was well received by staff and donors, and garnered some media coverage (handled by a PR firm).

Outcomes

Rising Ground’s new brand eliminates the confusion with their old name, inspires donors with an uplifting message, and gives staff a clear purpose to rally around.

Most importantly, Rising Ground is positioned as a leader in the social services sector — one not known for bold changes. Leake & Watts’ transformation to Rising Ground has sent a signal to the sector that it is leading the way with bold decisions. They are seen as an attractive potential partner for acquiring other agencies, and their new brand is serving them well as in vying for attention and funding in these uncertain political times.

To raise money for renovation and expansion at this Jewish Community Center, we used a storytelling approach. We developed the theme of Intersecting Lives to show how the JCC brings together different people from the community.

Services

• Campaign Theme & Identity
• Campaign Logo & Digital Assets
• Core Fundraising Messaging
• Campaign Brochure

Challenge

We had to communicate the value of needed upgrades to the existing building as well as a new facility that would serve as a community food hub for those in need.

Solution

Our solution was to use stories to show how integral this JCC was to different populations within the community.

The brochure describes the specific improvements to the building as well as new additions planned, framed around supporting the Jewish community and putting Jewish values into action.

The hand-drawn style of the people and textured stock lend a personal touch, while a pocket contains inserts describing the various giving opportunities for donors.

A spread features quotes about how people will benefit from the capital improvements.

See more examples of capital campaign brochures and learn more about our capital campaign services on our site: CapitalCampaignKit.com

Pratham lacked guidelines for their logo, which resulted in different typefaces, colors and layouts being used, as well as inconsistent treatments for the names of chapters and affiliates.

While Pratham has a clear mission, a logo, and brochures, the organization conveys a very fractured image. This can confuse donors and represent a lost opportunity to build equity in the brand. Another factor is that Pratham in other countries convey their brand slightly differently as well, with different typefaces for the logo and different designs for the website.

BEFORE

AFTER

During the brand review, we assessed that the logo was used in a wide variety of ways in the marketing materials, creating a fractured image for the organization. And chapters were setting their names in different typefaces and colors, undermining the professionalism of the organization.

To address this problem, we developed a comprehensive brand architecture for the organization that defined the relationship of the logo and tagline, created consistency for the chapter names and their treatment in the logo, and determined how international affiliates should be styled. We then developed versions of all the logos (15 chapters plus international partners) with and without the tagline in formats for print and web use.

Brochure

We created a brochure that could be handed out widely at galas and other events for fundraising purposes. The brochure makes a bold statement about the the vast scope of illiteracy in India, and describes how Pratham is addressing it.

Annual Report

We redesigned the organization’s annual report as part of an overall brand refresh for the organization. The theme of Raising the Bar on Hope was aimed at reinvigorating interest in the organization’s donor base which was experiencing some fatigue with Pratham’s message.

Like many disease and disorder organizations, the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) wanted to increase public awareness in order to foster a greater acceptance of this condition. Red Rooster Group was called in to refresh the organization’s brand by refining its focus, evolving its name, updating its visual identity, and developing a new website.

Services

• Brand Analysis
• Website Assessment
• Competitive Review
• Stakeholder Interviews & Surveys
• Focus Groups & Brand Workshops
• Audience Needs Mapping
• Brand Positioning & Messaging
• Renaming
• Visual Identity System
• Brand Style Guide
• Website User Experience
• Website Copywriting
• Website Design
• Website Development & Integrations

Founded in 1972, the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) is the only national nonprofit organization that helps individuals and their families deal with the many issues associated with Tourette Syndrome and tic disorders. With more than 30 chapters nationwide, its main mission is to increase awareness and knowledge about Tourette Syndrome while advocating for public policy issues, and investing in medical research to better understand this little-known but widespread condition.

To begin the project, we conducted research to provide us with key information  for developing TSA’s brand. This included:

• Reviewing TSA’s internal and external documents and materials to learn more about the organization and the issues it addresses.
• Facilitating workshops with TSA staff and chapter heads to understand chapter needs and perspectives.
• Hosting a feedback table at TSA’s annual conference for in-person engagement.
• Conducting individual interviews with a range of constituents.
• Holding one-on-one discussions with TSA staff about each department’s needs.
• Conducting surveys with the TSA community, general public, and other groups.

Mission

Red Rooster Group worked with TSA to develop internal and external messages for the organization. A core part of the branding initiative was to update the organization’s Mission Statement to reflect its current focus. This included a shift in the outcomes of the medical research, being more positive and inclusive, and increasing the focus on awareness of Tourette Syndrome. We worked with organizational leadership to refine the language and get feedback from various constituents.

Organizational Name

The branding process was the perfect opportunity to examine whether the organization’s name — Tourette Syndrome Association — should be changed in any way because the name was long, it was often shortened to TSA, and consequently confused with the Transportation Security Administration. The organization was exploring ways to improve the current name, rather than develop an entirely new name.

Iterations of the name were presented and discussed with leadership. We then tested the reaction of the Tourette community to the naming options in focus groups, eliciting feedback that helped shape the decision to use Tourette Association.

Logo Testing in Focus Groups

The two final logos, as well as the shortened organizational name and the tagline, were tested in focus groups with TSA’s community in various cities. The feedback helped us gauge how people with Tourette Syndrome would feel about changes to the organizational brand as well as giving us specific feedback on each brand element. As a result of this feedback, we further refined one of the logos.

Logo Testing in Internal and External Surveys

To understand how people who were not familiar with Tourette Syndrome would perceive the logo and tagline, we conducted a survey of the general public. The following logos were tested, using the existing logo as a baseline. Option B was the winner.

Presentations for Internal Buy-In

During the course of the engagement, TSA leadership solicited input from various internal stakeholders, such as a leadership advisory team, the board, and a chapter council. Red Rooster Group created presentations showing the evolution of the brand elements so that the President could successfully pave the way for organizational changes by allowing input while addressing resistance to change and concerns about any of the brand elements.

Creating a Content Strategy

The site contained a massive amount of information but was very difficult to navigate. We cataloged the content from more than 1,000 pages and reorganized huge amounts of information so various audiences have a clear path to what they need. In addition to pages written for specific audiences, the site contains a searchable Resource Center to access a variety of media resources.

Developing a Modular Content System

The site is designed to be completely responsive for mobile, tablet, and desktop users, and has a robust administration area in the WordPress CMS to make it easy for staff to update. The unique modular block system we developed provides the ability to create interesting pages easily. Red Rooster Group handled the entire website development process including site architecture, copywriting, wireframing, design, development, and final testing.

Before

Services

• Discovery
• Brand Positioning
• Messaging
• Naming
• Visual Identity
• Consumer Testing
• Marketing Collateral
• Website

Our process began with a Discovery Phase which lays the foundation for the name, logo, branding, and marketing strategy. This provided a deep understanding of all the organizations involved in this merger and a clear picture of the potential market for the new camp. Discovery included interviews, competitive reviews, and a review of existing research that had been done for the camp merger.

Discovery Findings

The new camp has been successful in attracting campers.

In the first year, the new camp exceeded the combined registrations for the 3 camps from the prior year. The camp has received the most early bird registrations they have ever received with 205, compared with 180 the previous year.

Key Issues

• The parent name did not reflect the mission of the organization and had little recognition outside the current donor base.
• Multiple program areas had separate brand identities which confused donors and cannibalized revenue from each other.
• Combining names might result in lost revenue.

Objectives

• Re-position the parent organization while reducing the confusion caused by the many operating brands.
• Better distinguish the organization from similar organizations so it becomes the charity of choice for donations to Native American causes.
• Implement the new brand without negatively affecting fundraising efforts.

Our research phase included:

• Reviewing Existing Research: We started by assessing the fundraising base and demographics to gain an overview of how NRC raised funds through direct mail and telemarketing, and with an extensive breakdown by program type and donor analysis and trends.
• Competitive Review: We looked at more than 100 Native American relief and related organizations to understand the dynamics of the landscape.
• Brand Workshop: This session with the organization’s leadership provided the opportunity to share NRC’s history as it pertained to moving the brand forward, explore NRC’s brand uniqueness, and clarify the issues and expectations around the naming the organization.

Developing a Brand Architecture

After the names had been established, we started designing a brand architecture that unified the parent brand and its sub-brands into a cohesive brand family that could be easily recognized by supporters of all the programs. This would allow the organization to take credit for all of its programs and expand its fundraising appeal.

Given the task of building out the sub-brand logos in a way that connected them with the parent logo, we rendered the medicine wheel concept with brush strokes, allowing us to use that style for the sub-brands to create a consistent look across the organization. We then explored colors that would best represent each of the sub-brands.

By reducing the number of sub-brands that it uses for fundraising, the organization was able to consolidate its fundraising efforts, cut the amount of direct mail it sends in half, and reduce costs significantly.

“Within the first six months, our brand awareness achieved parity with our old brand that had been used for 25 years.”

Brochure

The concept, “Reflecting Your Inner Animal,” describes the way Reflexions Data brings out the best that agencies have to offer by executing their creative visions through websites, mobile apps, and other interactive outlets.

Ad Campaign

The campaign included animated banner ads that ran for two weeks on on AgencySpy, a website for ad agencies, and banner ads in AgencySpy’s email newsletter. Within this short time period, the campaign generated inquiries from this difficult to reach market.

Event Branding

A clean symbol of a dove made from three parts, each with three arcs reinforces the concept of Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

Event Microsite

To encourage peer-to-peer fundraising, we updated the organization’s fundraising platform with bold, energetic graphics, and lots of resources to help people host successful events.

Emails

We redesigned the emails to be more attention-getting and more personal, with appeals from others in their communities. Each had a clear call to action. These efforts dramatically increased the response rate.

All the emails we designed followed suit, with clear, compelling graphics that reflected the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day brand while warmly welcoming people to the community and making clear the actions people could take.

Social Media

We produced a comprehensive social media campaign to generate interest and motivate people to host events and donate.

Printed Materials

We developed a range of print materials as part of the overall marketing outreach to support people who were producing local events.

Public Relations

A vigorous public relations outreach campaign to publications, websites, and blogs achieved a wide range of local and national coverage for the organization. As a result, more than 100 events were held around the country, raising more than $200,000 for the organization.

State Proclamations

In addition, to create credibility for the cause, we reached out to state governments to declare March 3 as Triple Negative Breast Cancer Day. Eleven states issued proclamations, which we touted on social media to bolster community and awareness in those states.

Opening Bell of the New York Stock Exchange

To gain even more publicity for the organization, we arranged for the client to ring the opening bell of the New York Stock Exchange. The ceremony was covered on network and cable broadcast news, with the organizational logo featured prominently.

Results

As a result, more than 100 events were produced around the country, raising $200,000 and greatly increasing awareness of the organization and its cause.