Nonprofit organizations can benefit from branding just as much as other business organizations for a variety of reasons. When a nonprofit is newly established or desires a fresh new image to create greater public interest and communicate a clear message, branding can be a means for accomplishing this. Branding for nonprofits can take many forms, such as designing a new local and online presence, creating a more cohesive marketing campaign, and utilizing new forms of social media marketing.
An organization can use images and ideas to create nonprofit branding that sticks in the minds of potential supporters in a positive way. Studying the activities and interests of certain demographics can help this process. In addition to the staff to run the nonprofit organization, it helps to have brand managers or marketing research firms to focus on branding.
Successful nonprofit branding efforts will convey an easy-to-understand message that is based on the mission of the organization as a whole. That can mean revisiting the nonprofit's origins, examining how it has evolved over time, and anticipating where it is headed into the future. A nonprofit branding campaign should address the goals of the organization and produce a message that anyone can relate to.
Another tip for nonprofit branding is that the message should be communicated in as many places as possible by using a wide variety of marketing resources. These resources can include a combination of direct marketing, event marketing, online marketing, and social media marketing. Getting out into the community of those who will be interested in supporting the mission takes careful planning and direct contact through all of these methods of branding and marketing.
Developing a list of keywords and images to be woven into all marketing materials and presentations that the organization produces can help accomplish nonprofit branding. Organizations can do a general search on the Internet to see what others are looking for when searching for similar nonprofits. Once this is established, the branding can truly take place as the images and keywords will be integrated to all areas of the nonprofit organization, from local efforts to online efforts.
