{"id":1738,"date":"2012-11-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-29T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=1738"},"modified":"2024-05-08T17:45:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T17:45:27","slug":"sarah-durhams-tips-on-nonprofit-branding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/sarah-durhams-tips-on-nonprofit-branding\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Durham&#8217;s Tips on Nonprofit Branding"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/assets\/sarah-bio.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1740\" title=\"sarah-bio\" src=\"https:\/\/causevox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/sarah-bio.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"536\" height=\"323\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recently, we had a chat with Sarah Durham, founder of Big Duck, a marketing consulting firm that focuses exclusively on nonprofits.&nbsp; Sarah is also the author of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/gp\/product\/0470527536\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brandraising:&nbsp; How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say, she knows her stuff when it comes to nonprofit branding.&nbsp; Here are four tips to help you kick start branding:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Branding happens whether you like it or not.<\/strong>&nbsp; The first time your nonprofit communicates with the world, whether by flyer, email, webcam video, or impassioned plea to your parents, the branding process has begun.&nbsp; The goal then becomes to ensure that the brand is carefully monitored, thoughtfully crafted, and deliberately leveraged to meet the goals of your organization. &nbsp;Therefore, be purposeful in the brand you create with your communications.&nbsp; Don\u2019t let branding be something that \u201chappens\u201d to you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Each project is an opportunity for branding.<\/strong>&nbsp; Have you ever supported a friend that was doing a run\/walk\/ride for charity, but had no clue what the charity was about?&nbsp; That organization likely missed a chance to connect with you.&nbsp; The lesson here is to avoid brand fractures across multiple projects and campaigns.&nbsp; Make sure that each one ties back to the main brand, so that your organization isn\u2019t doing \u201ccatch and release\u201d fundraising.&nbsp; It\u2019s fine to build and rally mini-communities for different projects, but provide an opportunity for supporters to become more broadly engaged with your organization at the same time.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t re-brand when major foundational issues are unsolved.<\/strong>&nbsp; If your organization is still figuring out exactly what it\u2019s mission is, or what major areas of strategic focus should be, now is not the time for a re-brand.&nbsp; The tail would be wagging the dog.&nbsp; First, get your core strategies nailed down, then take on the task of re-branding.&nbsp; Periods of leadership change are also bad for re-branding.&nbsp; Save it for a time when you can confidently state which direction your organization is moving in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Take your time with branding.<\/strong>&nbsp; This process is too important to rush.&nbsp; Moreover, your brand will be with you for decades (if you\u2019re lucky) &#8211; do it right and do it once.&nbsp; Time is needed not just to brainstorm, select, and refine ideas, but to get key constituencies involved and supportive as well.&nbsp; Leadership, staff, partners, volunteers, donors, and others must all be considered.&nbsp; This being Earth, not everyone will be 100% satisfied with the final result, but the importance of making authentic, long-lasting brand connections with these groups is key to the success of your mission.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>To learn more about branding, check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bigducknyc.com\/blog\" rel=\"noopener\">Big Duck Blog<\/a>, or attend a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bigducknyc.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Big Duck Workshop<\/a> to give your branding a boost.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, we had a chat with Sarah Durham, founder of Big Duck, a marketing consulting firm that focuses exclusively on nonprofits.&nbsp; Sarah is also the author of Brandraising:&nbsp; How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications. Suffice it to say, she knows her stuff when it comes to nonprofit branding.&nbsp; Here are four tips [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Olivia Hosey","author_link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/author\/ohosey\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}