When people think of branding, it is usually not in the context of nonprofits and foundations. The word ‘branding’ often sounds like something reserved for business owners, profit-making business owners. This is incorrect.

A strong brand can help all kinds of organisations build a relationship with the audience and improve their reputation. In this article, we discuss why branding is essential for non-profit organisations and the best tips to build a strong brand.

What is Branding? 

The best definition of branding I can think of is the one by Jeff Bezos when he said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

In a general context, branding is the visible elements of your business, such as colour, design, and messaging. The aim of these elements is to cultivate an image/perception in your consumer’s minds. As an NGO, branding helps you stand out and position your organisation in a way that convinces people to support you. 

Why is Branding Important for Non-Profit Organizations?

Branding may not be on your list of things to set up when building your NGO because you are not selling a product. However, you are selling an idea, and like other businesses, you need to attract attention from the public to get funding and support. If you want to set yourself apart and increase your audience reach, it’s essential to invest in great branding. Here are some of the benefits of nonprofit branding:

1: Stand Out

How do people differentiate your NGO from the thousands of NGOs out there? It is your branding! 

Branding can help your organisation stand out, be memorable, and be unique. It’s important for non-profits to invest in solid branding elements such as logos, taglines, website design, fonts, and so on. When you are consistent with these elements, people will identify your organisation better. 

2. Increased Engagement and Fundraising 

People love to fund and volunteer for organisations they can trust, and branding goes a long way to build that trust. Strong branding can increase the support you get from your audience, donors, and volunteers. 

3. Increase Awareness About Your Cause

Good branding can bring awareness about what you do and help improve your reputation. Many people are doing so many things to make the world better. It’s easy to lose count, but branding ensures you earn public support and drive conversations about your cause. Great nonprofit branding can also help you reach your long-term goals faster. 

Best Practices for Building a Strong Brand for Your Nonprofit 

Here are some of the guidelines to consider when branding your not-for-profit organisation: 

1: Get The Big Picture 

The best place to start your branding is from your big picture. It would help if you had an internal alignment to create a compelling brand. 

By big picture, I mean your vision, your goals, your mission statement, brand story, strategies, and your methods. It’s essential to align your brand with your vision and core idea. Branding may focus on outward elements like colours and fonts, but you should always start by working inside out. Understand your purpose and vision, and core idea and figure out a way to communicate that to your audience. This is a major part of branding.

2. Know Your Audience

As an NGO, you have two audiences: 

1: Your beneficiaries. For example, if your nonprofit focuses on supporting refugees, those are the audience. 

2: Your Supporters. These include donors, volunteers, and funders who support your cause.

It is essential to conduct audience research when developing your NGO because your type of audience will determine your branding guidelines. The way you brand an NGO that seeks to end hunger is different from how you brand one that aims to create awareness of cancer. Get very specific about your audience, including their interest, motivation, channels they use often, and lifestyle. 

Your audience will determine many things about your branding, including your communication channels, tone, and visual identity. 

3. Understand Your Competitors 

There are many things brands, including nonprofits, can learn from their peers and competitors. Look out to organisations doing similar work to you and identify how you want to stand out from them. Why should your audience care about what you do since someone else is already doing something similar? You need to give people a reason to support you, and an excellent way to do that is to make your branding unique and different from your competitors.

For example, if your major competitor is known as a warm and friendly organisation that supports victims of domestic violence. You can decide to be a no-nonsense organisation that fights for victims of domestic violence. 

Both of you do similar work, but your audience will perceive you in different ways.

4. Determine the Story You Want To Tell About Your Brand

What do you want your brand to be known for?

Usually, the answer to this will depend on your nonprofit and your target audience. Do you want to be known as warm and supportive of people who have experienced domestic violence? Do you want to be known as a no-nonsense NGO that fights for people who have experienced domestic violence? 

These two NGOs represent the same cause, but their language is different, and this is how branding shapes how people perceive you. 

One of the techniques to shape how people perceive your organisation is storytelling. If done right, storytelling can help you earn more supporters and donors. Touch the heart of your audience through the inspiration behind your NGO, the extent of the problem you’re trying to solve, and the impact of the work you do. Here is an article on storytelling tips to sell your brand.

5. Create Unique Visual Elements 

There is a high chance that you recognise Apple, Samsung, and UNICEF logos. Elements like logos, fonts, and colour codes set the tone for the emotional connection with your audience and differentiate you from other organisations. It’s essential to create unique branding elements that communicate your vision and align with what you stand for. 

For example, it’s not uncommon for nonprofits that focus on climate change and environmental sustainability to use green as their colour. 

6. Create Powerful Messaging

Your messages are part of your branding. What’s your tone like? Do you sound professional or warm? Is your content relatable and straightforward? 

Make sure you use relevant channels and focus on creating emotionally resonant content. You should focus on producing content and resonating messages through social media platforms and your websites. It’s also essential to try out different formats of content, including videos, infographics, case studies/success stories, blog posts, images, and data/facts. 

7. Personalize Your Organization 

Instead of making your organisation a ‘donate to support the dreams of girls in rural areas.’ You can personalise it to ‘your donation will help Dorcas stay in school.”

Dorcas is a personalisation here. It’s easier to picture Dorcas, a girl who can’t stay in school, than to picture girls with dreams. Dorcas is more relatable; Dorcas adds more humanity to your appeal and will get the attention of donors. That’s how your organisation should be. Always personalise your appeal to get the attention of your audience. 

There are many ways to personalise your organisation, and the example above is just one way. You can have donors sponsor the treatment of a patient, provide a child food for a week, or pay the legal fees of a victim of a work hazard. 

Give a face to your beneficiaries so that people can picture them as humans with stories and needs, and dreams.

8. Be Consistent

After you’ve discovered the big picture, created your visual identity and perfected your messaging, you must ensure your branding stays consistent. 

By consistent, I mean if you decide to choose green and pink as your colour, then you must stick to those colours. It can be hard to follow your organisation if you use green and pink today and tomorrow it’s black and purple. 

Also, your story should be consistent. If your NGO focuses on children, ensure you help people understand that. If your messages and story, and vision are all over the place, you may find it hard to get heard. 

9. Position Yourself as a Thought Leader 

Some of the biggest organisations you know have managed to position themselves as thought leaders. They drive conversation, create industry-standard content, and innovate new ideas. 

A good branding tip for a non-profit is to work towards being a thought leader. This will not happen overnight, but here are some tips to get you closer: 

• Conducting original research related to your cause
• Publishing and disseminating findings from your research 
• Creating great and relatable content
• Adopting innovative strategies 
• Seeking opportunities to increase press coverage 

Find a Professional to Manage Your Brand

Staying on brand while trying to communicate with donors and organising projects for your beneficiaries can be difficult. That’s why it’s a good idea to outsource your branding needs to an organisation like Astract9. 

Our company can help you manage all aspects of your branding, including website design, content creation, and marketing. You can reach out to us at hello@astract.com.