Giving Compass' Take:

• Strategic branding can help nonprofit organizations to increase their impact, cohesion, and capacity. However, there are a few roadblocks on the path toward developing internal branding that organizations need to face first. 

• How is internal branding important nonprofits in order to thrive? How can nonprofits adopt this mindset to budget for their own branding? 

• Read about the shift to values-driven branding for nonprofits. 

Imagine you work at a nonprofit or a foundation with a decent-sized staff (a few dozen to as many as a hundred Branding is important to the success of any organization, but it's particularly important for those in the nonprofit sector. Social impact work is complex and often abstract; results can be more difficult to measure (and achieve) than in the for-profit world, and the temptation of new opportunities for impact (and the funding that comes with them) means mission creep is always a concern.

The ultimate goal of strategic brand development should be more than just a new logo and improved communications materials. The real goal should be to dramatically increase an organization's ability to lead in its area(s) of focus by increasing its cohesion, capacity, and impact.

So what are the roadblocks to developing a brand that significantly improves your organization's capacity to lead on the issues it cares about most?

  • EBB (External Branding Bias) Syndrome: External branding is how organizations manage their relationships with people, and it's how people relate to them. Every external brand experience — online and in person — contributes to generating (or reducing) trust in, support for, and action on behalf of an organization.
  •  It's What's Inside That Matters: We tell our children not to judge others by how they look (or sound). But we're social and visual beings, and appearances do matter. Brands use design and messaging to turn what's on the inside (ideas, intentions, and abilities) into something tangible that others can experience (communications and interactions).
    • The sum of those experiences is what people think of us. Assets like brand architecture, positioning platforms, and design systems are great for helping organizations influence the appearance of their brand and create meaningful experiences.

Read the full article about rebranding nonprofits by Matt Schwartz at PhilanTopic