Here are six steps you can take to give your brand a boost!
1. Own Your Differentiator
What makes your nonprofit brand different from the rest? In the rare case that nobody else is fighting for the same cause and your mission is a relevant one… Well done, you! However, there are likely other nonprofits or charities in a similar space with a similar mission. So, is there something that makes your nonprofit stand out from the competition?
A great place to start defining what makes you unique is your purpose. Not necessarily what you do, but WHY you do it. If you haven’t listened to Simon Sinek’s famed TED Talk on Finding Your Why, you should! Perhaps your differentiator is HOW you go about doing good in the world or the experience you deliver to your supporters. Once you land on what makes your brand special, that differentiator should be firmly embedded into your brand identity and messaging. One note of caution – we don’t recommend being different just for the sake of being different. What makes you unique should be authentic, meaningful, and proven consistently.
2. Prioritize Consistency
When establishing or maintaining brand credibility, consistency matters. Your nonprofit’s visual identity, tone of voice, and messaging should be consistent throughout all channels and touchpoints. Consistency is essential to building trust and positive brand experiences. Brands that are sloppy and inconsistent are forgettable and unlikely to produce loyal supporters. At Blue Lotus Creative, we are HUGE advocates of developing brand guidelines. A brand or corporate style guide ensures clear and consistent design and messaging, keeps all the pertinent details in one handy place, and is a real time-saver for anyone creating content for your organization.
3. Publish High-Quality Branded Content
As a nonprofit, branded content that resonates with your audience is particularly important for creating experiences and extending your reach. Branded content should tell a story that showcases your organization and your differentiator in a way that elicits emotion. Get them to FEEL something! (Ideally, what they feel is a meaningful connection to your brand!) Unlike a content strategy designed to support a particular marketing or fundraising campaign, branded content is about making your brand memorable and connecting through shared values rather than selling.
4. Focus on Experiences
Successfully managing a nonprofit or mission-driven organization requires the ability to focus on the experience of multiple audiences. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you had an army of brand advocates telling your story? That’s what happens when you think strategically about the experience you want people to have when interacting with your brand.
Whether it is a sponsor, donor, volunteer, or individual your nonprofit serves, how your brand makes them feel is everything. Will they return to volunteer again? Will they donate to your next campaign? Will they tell someone else about the important work you are doing? Did the person or family who received a helping hand feel empowered? Do your volunteers or employees feel involved, appreciated, and like they are making a difference? Every communication and interaction with your audiences is an opportunity to bond and strengthen your connections. When you build a brand that people are emotionally invested in and nurture those relationships, you can develop loyal brand advocates. Loyal advocates of your brand can become some of your greatest marketing assets – generating buzz and enthusiasm for your work, helping you gain momentum, and growing your organization.
5. Request Feedback
Asking for feedback goes hand-in-hand with prioritizing experiences, but it’s important enough to stand alone. No matter where you are on your brand development journey, regularly asking for feedback should be an ongoing priority. You likely have fewer resources and more audiences to garner input from as a nonprofit, but this piece is critically important. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the weeds of day-to-day work and only see things from one perspective.
Gathering insights directly from clients, customers, sponsors, volunteers, and donors can be a gold mine of info. Requesting feedback can shine a spotlight on problem areas you were unaware of, generate great ideas by simply gaining a different viewpoint, etc. And let’s not forget – by asking for feedback, you are demonstrating to your audiences that you CARE about their experience and want to improve on it. (Refer to Step #4!) Finally, don’t forget to be responsive to the feedback you’ve gathered. When appropriate, put those ideas into action!
6. Leverage the Power of Testimonials
Suppose you are working to support your mission, putting energy into creating great experiences, and are responsive to feedback from your audiences. In that case, the odds are in your favor that you have some opportunities for testimonials from your fans. While people are unlikely to trust a new brand quickly based on marketing alone, they do tend to trust recommendations from their peers. According to research from Nielson, 92% of people will trust a recommendation from a peer, and 70% of people will trust a recommendation from someone they don’t even know.
Simple, authentic testimonials highlighting an advocate’s personal experience with your brand can be incredibly impactful. A story told in an individual’s own words helps others better understand your organization and increases trust and credibility. In addition, when real people share their feelings about your brand, it humanizes your brand and creates more opportunities for others to feel an emotional connection to the work you do. Added bonus: hearing positive feedback about the difference you are making can also boost your team’s morale!
Your brand influences how people perceive and interact with your organization. While you can’t control those perceptions, you can most certainly take steps to influence them. Putting these six simple strategies into action can help elevate your brand without an enormous branding budget. Most importantly, the idea is to build awareness about the great work you are doing so that you can keep doing work that makes a difference!
