Is Your Nonprofit a Power Brand?
July 7th, 2009
The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 report recently published by Cone and Intangible Business, analyzes the top 100 nonprofit brands in the U.S. The most powerful brands were selected based on a combination of overall revenue and brand image, the latter determined by a consumer survey.
While most of us won’t be found among the top 100, the analysis is useful for every nonprofit: Does your brand image correspond to your mission and institutional objectives? Is your online presence enhancing your brand image? Does the general public have mainly positive, negative or indifferent associations with your organization?
To get a feel for how the public perceives your brand, there are a few low-cost steps you can take: 1) conduct a random informal survey at a place your constituents might frequent; 2) do extensive Internet searches of both blogs and news to see where your organization is coming up, who is talking about you and what they are saying; and 3) send out a quick survey to your email list and ask your stakeholders for some honest feedback.
Whether you need to do some serious work to strengthen your brand or simply maintain your current image, the report offers 10 excellent tips on how to enhance your brand power:
1. Engage fresh constituencies. Segment your communications and activities to appeal to people beyond your traditional constituents, and use sub-brands to tailor your message to new groups.
2. Adopt new currencies. Expand the scope of sponsorships, volunteer opportunities, merchandise, or other in-kind products and services so that you can continue to engage constituents even as giving power decreases.
3. Modernize fundraising. Donor behavior is shifting, and younger demographics are increasingly involved in giving online. Tap into these potential donors, and streamline your fundraising efforts with new tools.
4. Deliver crisp communications. Clearly state what you do in either your name or a prominent tagline. This significantly enhances brand recognition.
5. Establish (and adhere to) brand guidelines. Protect your brand’s equity by establishing clear guidelines for consistent use by staff, volunteers, media partners, and other entities. All institutional communication (online, print, audiovisual) must adhere to these guidelines.
6. Build brand stewards. Your employees, volunteers, and board members are all extensions of your brand. As such you should encourage and empower them to clearly express (in both words and actions) the organization’s mission and values.
7. Develop quick reflexes. Be fluid, give people an opportunity to engage with your brand around current events or new trends.
8. Build corporate partnerships. Identify companies who share your values and have appealing relationships and resources, then recruit them to serve as catalysts to broaden your mission and as stewards to your brand.
9. Create dialogue with brand ambassadors. Participate in social media venues to not only increase visibility, but to connect with a broad base of supporters and engage in a dialogue to let them know you are an active member of their community. Listen to and participate in the conversations where they are happening, don’t just push information.
10. Issue a rallying cry. Shift your approach from that of a recipient of funds to a driver of engagement, inspiration and action. Move from a focus on giving discrete donations to joining together in pursuit of a bigger purpose, and help evolve your contributors’ perceptions of their role as donors to that of a community of supporters. Mobilize your constituents around a common cause, which can energize your brand and strengthen loyalty.
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