Non-profits need to think about brand image as much as organizations in the for-profit world. Some non-profits diminish the importance of building a brand because they think that should only be the concern of corporate heavy hitters. They believe donors should just support an organization because the cause is a good one, not because of the brand. It just doesn’t work that way. Take the cause of breast cancer as an example.
Breast cancer’s pink campaign has been wildly successful. You can’t enter any store these days without finding pink ribboned or pink-coloured products staring back at you from the shelves. Supporting breast cancer research is a good cause but it has also become trendy and corporate sponsors are bending over backwards to get a piece of the pink action.
The brand awareness for this cause is enviable and it’s one that has allowed breast cancer research to advance considerably over the past several years. The marketing for the cause of breast cancer has been so successful, in fact, that it’s experienced a bit of a backlash from some who are questioning the myriad corporate sponsorships that often benefit the companies more than the cause. The pink ribbon as brand has perhaps become a victim of its own success. That’s a topic for another blog post.
The point is, that kind of brand recognition doesn’t happen by accident. It comes from thoughtful planning and an unwavering commitment to promoting your organization’s message in a way that people can understand, get behind and want to identify themselves with.
What do you communicate to your community about your cause?
- Do you have a logo and tagline that clearly conveys what your organization does and is passionate about?
- Do all of your promotional materials use the same language to get your point across? Is your message consistent so that people begin to recognize it as YOUR organization’s message?
- Do you use one or two narratives when making presentations or when meeting with donors that clearly illustrate why your cause is so important? These should be simple stories using real life examples of how people benefit from your work and how the donor will benefit from supporting that work.
- Do you manage donor support in a way that makes you stand out from other organizations? Do you have a unique recognition program or way of reporting how donor money is being put to use?
There are many ways to build your non-profit’s brand. To begin, think about how you want others to think of your non-profit and what would motivate people to support it (i.e. What’s in it for them and what does it say about them if they support your cause?). Working from here you can then build a communications and public relations plan to promote that message in a way that makes people feel good about supporting your non-profit.
A strong brand can motivate existing and new donors to affiliate with your cause—just as those who support breast cancer want to declare their support to others by wearing a pink t-shirt or rubber bracelet or by buying a toaster, drill or a Vera Wang mattress…
Let me know your thoughts about what leads to non-profit branding success. Leave a comment below.
If you’re thinking of engaging a consultant for your next PR campaign or other communications project, make sure you have the time and resources to take full advantage of the service. Wait, you might be thinking, I’m outsourcing the job because I don’t have the time and resources to get it done in house. While that may be true, hiring a consultant still means you have to keep track of the project and provide the consultant with the information and internal resources necessary for him/her to get the job done.
A major challenge for non-profits is finding ways to do more with limited funds. The Web and social media tactics provide a way to partly address this challenge but they add another challenge—figuring out what tactics to use and how to use them.
