Non-profits aren’t selling products or services like other organizations. They’re selling a mission, a goal, or a belief in a cause. This can create a branding challenge for NPOs — which also usually operate with smaller budgets. Here are some branding tips for non-profits that maximize their strengths while keeping costs low.
Aim for the heart, not the head
I agree with fundraising platform Classy‘s suggestion to make emotional appeals to your audience. This doesn’t just mean showing the “victims” that your non-profit is trying to help. It also means showing the satisfaction people get from supporting the cause. Classy lists such content as donor testimonials and blog posts that highlight volunteers and supporters, to “show your audience that helping your cause is emotionally rewarding for donors too.”
As with consumer branding, creating an emotional appeal may require research to determine the exact emotional bond that exists with your donors, and to possibly change it to the bond you want to create. Notice how the SPCA International shows far more images of dogs licking their owners’ faces far than wrenching photos of animals in distress. No facts or figures here; it’s all about forming a loving connection with the SPCA’s mission.
Brand everything consistently
Constant Contact points out the importance of consistent branding across all a non-profit’s communications, including emails, website, social media, and print materials. This can be difficult, as different departments don’t always share assets, and some materials are updated more often than others. But branding – by definition – means a coherent, consistent voice. That means all communications should look, sound, and feel the same.
Constant Contact spotlights Possible, which provides healthcare in some the world’s most impoverished or dangerous places. That NPO uses different images for its website, Facebook, and Twitter, but they’re united by the common theme of helping people in Nepal. Its distinctive blue and red cross serves as its profile icon on social platforms and is used throughout its website. This effort costs virtually nothing but is important to creating a branded tone and feel for a non-profit.
Tell stories
Storytelling is an increasingly popular idea in branding and marketing, and I’ve advocated it for years. Nonprofit Hub reinforces this philosophy, advising NPOs to share stories not only of their beneficiaries but also of their donors. “Nothing generates buzz better than a story about a changed life or someone who benefited from your organization,” writes Nonprofit Hub blogger Randy Hawthorne. People love to share feel-good content on social media, so any success stories an NPO provides can turn almost anyone into a brand ambassador.
For example, the Sierra Club’s website features expected information about retiring coal plants and protecting wildlife habitats. But the organization also writes a blog, Outdoors, that features stories of outings and adventures in the environment that it strives to protect. A recent post followed a group of veterans going river rafting as a form of therapy. It’s a heart-warming story that seems ready-made for social sharing, and which strikes a different chord than a chart of statistics on, say, solar energy.
Be true to yourself
This last piece of advice comes directly from me: Make sure your branding is an accurate reflection of your mission, vision, and values. Branding derives from the heart and soul of your organization, so it must be genuine. Don’t change your logo or color palette just because you want a new one. And don’t create a new tagline and mission statement without doing research to determine what your brand really is, and what connects with your ideal audience.
One non-profit my agency re-branded was the Epilepsy Foundation of Long Island. Our research included interviews with board members, surveys of employees, and discussions with the people the organization served, along with their families. We realized that each party of the NPO was extraordinary: the people being helped were remarkable and unique, while the staff was dedicated in a way I’ve rarely seen. We turned these two ideas into a new tagline: “Extraordinary People In Care,” which refers to both groups. The first letters of those words spell Epic, so we re-branded the EFLI into EPIC.
Brandemix can help
My agency has a decade of experience in creating marketing, branding, and recruiting communications for non-profits. If you found these tips helpful and want to learn more, or you’re ready to get serious about branding to expand your donor base, contact me. We offer special rates for non-profits and know how to maake the most of a limited budget.
Jody Ordioni is President of Brandemix.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jody Ordioni is the author of “The Talent Brand.” In her role as Founder and Chief Brand Officer of Brandemix, she leads the firm in creating brand-aligned talent communications that connect employees to cultures, companies, and business goals. She engages with HR professionals and corporate teams on how to build and promote talent brands, and implement best-practice talent acquisition and engagement strategies across all media and platforms. She has been named a "recruitment thought leader to follow" and her mission is to integrate marketing, human resources, internal communications, and social media to foster a seamless brand experience through the employee lifecycle.
