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CLIENT: The Jewish Education Project

We created this logo for a Jewish Education Project initiative, which asked children to give up one night of their Chanukah gifts for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. This logo and accompanying flyer utilize the existing visual brand identity of the organization, while maintaining a unique, independent identity.

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200th Anniversary Logo

We also created the logo for their 200th Anniversary fundraising campaign logo to tie into the organization’s main logo.

Brand Manual

We developed logo files in numerous formats for print and web use. To help the organization know which logos to use in different circumstances, we developed a Brand Manual that shows each of the logo formats and their uses.

Links

• See more logos.
• See full brand case studies.
• Learn about Red Rooster Group’s Brand Development Process.

Red Rooster Group is a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites, and marketing campaigns to increase your visibility, fundraising, and communications effectiveness. Contact us.

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In addition to serving as the key identifying mark, your organization’s logo can tell people a lot about your organization, its values and philosophy. And if your logo looks outdated, unprofessional, or otherwise no longer represents your organization accurately, it can be time to change it. Once you’ve gone through the process of updating your logo, you’ll need to incorporate it into your website, newsletter and other marketing and fundraising materials so that you can take full advantage of your new investment. However, the solution is not as easy as slapping the logo on all your materials. Here are some of the key steps to effectively start using your new logo.

Update Your Materials

Once your new logo has been decided, you’ll want to use it on your stationery, brochures and website. But first, you’ll need to determine your strategy: Will you be updating all of your materials all at once (and discarding the old materials) (often referred to as a hard launch) or phasing in the new logo as materials are used up (a soft launch)? 

How do you decide: First conduct an inventory of the materials that you have. Then determine what materials are crucial to making a difference immediately (such as your website, email signatures, and business cards or key brochures). More costly items such as signage, can perhaps wait if cost is a prime factor. Consider items that are going to be used together, such as letterhead in a folder–you’ll want those to match, otherwise your organization will look fractured and unprofessional. Also consider how long it will take you to use up your current stock, and the cost for replacement for what you’ll need going forward (you’ll need to get quotes from a printer).

From there, you can determine a phase in plan so that you can use up more costly materials that are not crucial. Just don’t let your phase in plan be too long, otherwise you’ll undermine the reason for updating your logo in the first place. Immediately to 3 months is good, 6 months might be acceptable, but using old materials after a year of introducing your new logo is not going to help your organization.

Have the Necessary Tools

How do you know how to use your logo–does it go on the left side of the page, or the right? What typefaces and colors do you use? A brand manual (prepared by a branding agency or graphic design firm) provides guidelines that will help you use your logo and other brand elements consistently. Typically, brand manuals contain information on the correct and incorrect use of the logo, colors, typefaces, and templates for stationery items, email signatures, brochures, newsletters and publications, websites and other marketing materials.

Staff Training

The brand manual can be a strategic tool for building the value of your organization’s brand, but only if it is used. That’s where staff training comes into play. It is a good idea to educate your staff on what your new logo means for your organization’s brand, and how crucial it is to maintain consistency when developing communications materials—and how they can actually do so, especially, your development and communications staff. The goal is to have everyone in your organization become a “brand ambassador” who can use your logo correctly and spread the word about the value that your nonprofit is creating.

Establish Protocols

Your organization needs have a procedure in place for launching your new logo. Establish an implementation plan so that appropriate staff understands when they need to be using the new logo and creating or using new materials. The division of tasks needs to be clearly communicated so that responsibilities don’t overlap. If there is an outside agency involved, decide on what needs to be done in-house and what will be outsourced to ensure efforts are coordinated. Designate one person to oversee the effort and answer any questions that arise.

Track Results

Smart organizations understand which aspects of their marketing have the most impact so they can build on those strengths year after year. Setting marketing goals early on will help you measure the results of your marketing efforts, so that you know which tactics are effective and should be increased, and which are not. It can also give you an idea of where to allocate your resources to get the most bang for your buck.

Once your new logo has been introduced and materials have been updated, your efforts cannot stop there. Maintaining your brand is an ongoing process to ensure the long-term viability of your organization. In large part, the success of your marketing efforts depends upon how well you are communicating your brand—your vision, values and personality—on a consistent basis. If done well, you can form deep and lasting bonds with your donors. Your new logo is just the start.

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 first appeared on CharityChannel.com May 26, 2011.

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We refreshed the logo and brand for this nonprofit organization — the Jewish Community Center of Mid-Westchester to present them as the hub of the Jewish community. The visual identity system provides a more dynamic look and the flexibility that allows staff to create a range of marketing materials with maintaining a consistent look.

Program Guide

The Annual Program Guide introduces the new look with photos emerging from the logo. A redesigned Application Form divides the sections with colors and makes it easy to register up to 4 people simultaneously.

Agency Brochure

The agency brochure is organized around thematic topics rather than the traditional departments. This helps donors as well as members to understand the underlying values that the JCC believes in to help people connect with the organization on a deeper level.

Program Branding

To create an independent look for the Bendheim Performing Arts Center that is still related to the overall JCC branding, we use the overlapping chips to create a spotlight effect and introduce a magenta color to the organizational color palette. Use of the same typefaces maintain consistency with the organizational brand. The Performing Art Center is able to maintain its own identity but still connect with the JCC.

Event & Sponsorship Marketing

We also create a suite of marketing materials to promote recruitment and fundraising for the Maccabi Games, the Olympic-style event for Jewish teens. See the award-winning campaign we created for the Maccabi Games.

Links

• See how we developed the JCC’s award-winning event promotional materials.
• See other examples of nonprofit branding.
• Contact Red Rooster Group to learn about branding and design for your organization.

Red Rooster Group is a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites, and marketing campaigns to increase your visibility, fundraising, and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.

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Red Rooster Group Principal, Howard Adam Levy, served on the Executive Committee of Hazon’s New York Bike Ride, the signature program for the largest Jewish environmental organization in the United States. As the Marketing Co-Chair, he was charged with attracting participants to their bike-a-thon and to help them fundraise.

Strategy

In order to have an effective, campaign, we knew that we would have to coordinate all marketing activities around people who were not accustomed to fundraising. The overall strategy included:

1. Developing effective recruitment materials including postcards and posters that would appeal to a broad range of people.
2. Creating a 28-page Ride Guide that described the 4-day event / 2-day ride and gave detailed tips and checklists on how to fundraise and train for the ride.
3. Producing a fundraising clinic that helped riders overcome the fear of asking sponsors for money and train them on the Kintera / Blackbaud fundraising system.
4. Developing a team to encourage recruitment for the ride and foster friendships.
5. Using social media to fundraise and encourage interaction among the team.

Recruitment Materials

The outreach materials were designed to convey the excitement of the three day event and appeal to a broad spectrum of people. The event attracts people from all walks of Judaism including the unaffiliated. The posters, postcards and pocket cards showcased the diversity of people on the ride and the excitement of the ride experience. To make it easy for riders to promote the ride, we created business card-sized promotional cards and that are easy to keep in the pockets of a riding jersey or small bike pouch. To show riders that they are appreciated, we created cards explaining how to change a flat tire, which were distributed at the ride.

Fundraising Guide & Clinic

Since a good portion of the participants were riding and fundraising for the first time, we created a 28-page fundraising and training guide. The booklet contained an overview of the event and what to expect, a guide to fundraising, including sample letters, and a training guide with charts to help riders get in shape for the event. We also produced a fundraising clinic to explain how to overcome the fear of asking for money, who to ask, and to answer their questions.

> Download PDF of the RIDE GUIDE

Social Media & Events

To galvanize participants, help them fundraise and train, and develop a sense of community, we created a new team — Team Brooklyn. The team kicked off with a house event that attracted 20 people and was soon followed by a series of other in-person events as various team members volunteered to host dinners in their apartments.

Social media was used to keep the team together and fundraise. A Facebook page as established for the team to foster interaction and communicate team events. Blog posts and email were used to solicit sponsors for the event.

Tracking & Monitoring

All team activity was monitored including maintaining an active list of all participants and what events they have attended. To boost the recruitment efforts, we collated information from riders who had participated in the past several years so they could be included in outreach efforts.

Results

1. In a year that donations to charities in the United States decreased 10%, the Hazon ride kept pace with last year’s giving levels. The Ride Guide is now being used for Hazon’s other rides in California and Israel.
2. The new team which was formed, became the largest team on the ride and raised $28,000, about 10% of the entire ride total.
3. We were successful in our goal of using the team to foster a sense of community. We had 4 events that brought together 50 people. Team members formed lasting relationships, and as a testament to this, a year after the team was started, team members have continued to voluntarily host dinners at their homes.

Award

• To acknowledge the successful results, Red Rooster Group principal, Howard Adam Levy was named Hazon’s 2009 Person of The Year.

Links

• See other nonprofit marketing case studies.
• See other nonprofit fundraising projects.
• See our commitment to the environment.
• Contact Red Rooster Group.

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Challenge

With non-Jewish pre-school teachers providing the first school experience for pre-schoolers in Jewish schools, there was an opportunity to create a stronger Jewish foundation for these students. So the Board of Jewish Education and Suffolk Adult Jewish Education Services came to together to develop a training program to help educate teachers about values so that they could impart them to their students.

Solution

With a limited budget for promotion, we knew the logo needed to convey a lot of information, and do so quickly. We developed the logo around the concept of interaction between the teacher and students. The logo was well received for its human aspect and positive emotional quality. We then adapted it to business cards, and event promotion — which was very successful.

This project was done as a pro bono project under the UJA-Federation’s Management Assistance Program (MAP), and was featured in MAP’s 25 anniversary celebration.

Links

• Howard Adam Levy and Red Rooster Group are proud to be a part of UJA’s MAP. Read about how UJA-Federation MAP Program Celebrates 25 Years.
• Howard Adam Levy was a featured volunteer for UJA’s MAP program. Read the spotlight here.
• Red Rooster Group has donated more than 3,000 hours of pro bono services to nonprofit organizations. Read more about our commitment to the nonprofit sector.
• See more of our work for The Jewish Education Project.

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