Thought: Create
Your Non-Profit Brand and Image as early as possible
Tip:
Plan
your non-profits image even before you start to promote your cause.
If you are a
new non-profit just getting started it will not take very long for
you to discover that there are thousands of non-profits in your
local area which are competing for the same fundraising dollars that
you would like to receive in order to support your cause.
Brand names are
the first thing that come to mind when a consumer is considering
making a purchase or donation to support a local fundraising
campaign. This holds true in your immediate market and is just as
important when you plan to enter an adjacent markets. Many
non-profits have a very short shelf life because they never achieve
a recognizable brand name and no one cared to support an
organization that they had not heard of or a cause that they may not
understand or believe in. In short it is your job to continuously
promote your organization and spread awareness about your cause -
all of the time...
It is interesting
to study non-profits and to understand how successful non-profits
market their causes and
promote
awareness in many different marketing formats which affords them
almost universal awareness and allows them to raise adequate funds
to support their long term goals.
I am sure that
it was never your vision for your non-profit to have to build a
brand and spend the majority of your time to educate the public
about why they should donate and help you to reach your goals.
However, there are only so many donation dollars that are available
and you are going up against larger non-profits which have had years
to formulate their systems and to build a good reputation with their
donor base.
Do not make the
mistake of thinking that
your brand will happen in due course.
While you’re
partly right that brand image takes time to build and there is lot
of hard work to do, but you must begin much earlier than you are
thinking if you are a new non-profit. Acquiring brand image requires
that your donors begin to think you as soon as you enter the market.
So here are some basics to know to plan for branding your
non-profit:
1. Donors form
an opinion of your non-profit and it's products as soon as you have
entered the market. So be careful about your message, presentation
and promises. Make sure that you are going to use the funds for
exactly the reason that you requested the donation. Be sure to be
100% accountable with your tracking and accounting.
2. Communicate
and share with your marketing and sales professionals the particular
long term image you want to create for your non-profit. Make them
your ambassadors in helping you create the exact brand image you
want to convey to your donors.
3.
Your non-profit
brand and image is your unique selling proposition - USP. How is
your non-profit different from your other non-profits who are
operating in the same industry? Why should donors donate to you
instead of another non-profit? How do you treat them before, during
and after they make a donation? Be sure that your non-profit is
distinct and that the quality of your organization is
distinguishable from other non-profits in the market.
4.
Creating a
proper non-profit brand is like planning a cross country trip. You
must know, when you want to go? What do you want to do? Where do you
want to go and how will you get there?
Proper planning
and promotion will create a winning strategy that will serve your
non-profit!
To your
successes,
Chris Manning,
CEO
Community Fundraising Books
by Americana Ventures, LLC
www.CommunityFundraisingBooks.com
Bio: Chris Manning is the CEO of
Americana Ventures, LLC. He administers the Community Fundraising
Book programs across metro Atlanta Georgia which were designed to
help churches,
non-profits, schools, clubs, and youth groups
to raise critical funds to support their programs year round. |
