Branding for Bigger Gifts
November 2006
branding, fundraising
Big Duck's principal and founder, Sarah Durham, published an article in the October 2006 issue of FundRaising Success Magazine. An edited version of that article follows.
Make it different but make it the same.
Many organizations worry that their capital, endowment or mixed campaign will "steal" support away from operations. They worry that donors will miss the distinction between the special campaign and the regular appeal. Worse, donors might support the campaign and neglect operations.
If you're cultivating a major donor through personal contact, there should be ample opportunity to explain the special campaign's unique features and make the case for continued operations support. But with mid-level and smaller donors, you'll have to rely on great writing and design to explain the difference when there's little or no personal contact.
If your special campaign materials are written and designed just like your regular appeals, they may get lost in the shuffle.
But before you get excited about using that wacky new typeface or color, there are also risks when you brand that campaign too distinctively. If you go too far, donors won't recognize that it's you, and new prospects to your organization won't be building their recognition and familiarity with your core brand.
Consider, then, creating a unique logo for the campaign, but one that uses the same color(s) as the organization's logo. Add a new secondary color to your usual palette, perhaps, but be sure all materials reflect and support your existing brand.
Building the organization's brand
A strong brand will create a platform on which all communications about the organization can be built. It will create name recognition, generate income, and establish credibility swiftly and elegantly. A poorly developed brand communicates instability and a lack of professionalism. All organizations have a brand, whether they admit it or not, and examining or changing it can be a painful process. It requires time, money, staff and board participation, and lots of patience.
Two core elements create a successful nonprofit brand: visuals and messages. Visual elements include your logo and the colors, type, images and graphics you use consistently with it. Messages include your mission statement, tagline, key messages and the standard (or 'boilerplate') copy you use to articulate your work and its value.
Most successfully branded organizations develop a style guide, which defines both the visuals and the messages and how they should be used. Many organizations also train their staffs how to use the brand.
Please bore me with your brand
Once the brand is built, the goal is to use it as extensively as possible. Use the same colors, logo, images, mission statement, and tagline over and over and over again. Some staff members may get bored using the same elements all the time, but it's what works.
Consistency saves time spent rewriting or redesigning each new piece. Donors receive so many messages every day that what may feel like repetition to the organization feels like stability and consistency to the typical donor.
Whether your organization is embarking on a major fundraising campaign or looking to build and sustain operations, a strong brand is good business in today's increasingly competitive and sophisticated fundraising climate.
Building the brand
Is it time to re-examine your organization's brand? Here are few suggestions to help you get started:
- Look (or, rather, plan) before you leap. Before you begin, design a process that gives staff, board, volunteers, members, donors, etc. a chance to participate. Involving them will generate great ideas while building their buy-in. The more the executive director, senior staff and board feel actively engaged in the process, the more likely it is to succeed.
- Remember that less is usually more. Develop a color palette with 2 core colors only, and as few logos as possible. In most cases, separate programs, short campaigns or anniversary years won’t need their own logos.
- Define the hierarchy of your messages. What are the top 3 things you must communicate to articulate what your organization is and why it deserves support? Figure out how to communicate this ‘big picture’ first most donors won’t want to hear, at least initially, about all 16 programs in depth.