At its core, branding is all about differentiation. It’s about identifying what makes you unique and then showing that off to the rest of the world. At a time when funding and grant money is increasingly harder to secure, differentiation is a nonprofit’s greatest tool.
Hopefully (as an exercise in self evaluation) we’ve all asked ourselves some variation of the question: Why should a foundation or donor or volunteer give their time or money to your organization over another?
If you’ve followed any of our workshops or writings, you should know the answer to this. If not, here’s another freebie: your brand is your promise. It’s not just a logo or a flashy website or a nice color palette paired with attractive type. It represents the soul of your organization. It tells your story. It evokes an emotional (albeit sometimes subconscious) response from everyone who encounters it. It gets people involved and connected to your work.
So when someone cares about keeping oceans clean and wants to make a donation to the cause, you want to ensure that they are going to chose your organization. You’re the one that’s different, the one that connects with them. You have an added value that no one else in your field has, and your showing it to them. You’re making them feel it.
Research has shown the impact that successful branding and marketing has on a nonprofit’s fundraising, and it’s impressive. Nonprofits with the largest operating budgets are spending the greatest percentage of their budget on branding and positioning compared to others in their field. This correlation is not a coincidence. They are doing something right. They’re spending on these strategies is paying off, and they have the track records to prove it. (attach Lipman Hearne article)
When budgets are tight, it makes sense that intuition tells us to conserve, and give every last penny to our programs. Trust us, we understand the concern of not delivering to your beneficiaries. After all, that’s the bottom line, right? As it should be. But you’re not going to be able to deliver anything to them if your funding has dried up by the third quarter in 2010. Branding is an investment, but differentiation these days is priceless.
So go ahead, give yourself an edge over competitors (yes, competition exists in the nonprofit world too, and no, it’s not a dirty word). Stand out. Set yourself apart. Fly your freak (think individual) flag as high as you can. If ever there was a time to invest in branding, now is it. Your organization’s survival may depend on it.
Another resource: Branding Matters, by Social Edge
The Obama Brand
Funding: Patterns and Guideposts in the Nonprofit Sector (The Bridgespan Group)
And, finally, how important is an organization’s brand when it comes to accessing certain types of funding?
This study found that the largest organizations in youth services and environmental advocacy tend to be funded predominantly by individual donations and membership. These organizations are generally well established and very well known at a national level, which suggests that their public ‘brand value’ is important in raising money from individuals. The importance of brand could be good or bad news for small to medium-sized organizations that want to grow to a large size, depending on what is driving the brand value. If brand value is driven by the fact that these organizations are old and well established, then it will be very challenging for young organizations to make the leap to substantial individual funding. However, the experience of a few of the organizations we’ve observed, such as the National Wild Turkey Federation and the Make a Wish Foundation, suggest that it is possible to establish a national brand even if you are a relatively young organization. Other examples of non-profit and for-profit companies that have been able to build their brands quickly in a cost effective manner could also be illuminating for nonprofits.
No comments:
Post a Comment