Building a Strong Brand: Lessons from Nonprofit Leaders
Tim Sarrantonio
Generosity Experience Design | Empowering nonprofits to build a community of generosity
Yesterday I asked for some recommendations of "doers" that inspire folks. These are the nonprofit practitioners putting the work in day in and day out. Over the past several months, I've had the pleasure of interviewing several "doers" and wanted to spotlight a few of them and pull out some practical advice on how nonprofits can conduct a similar process to mine.
Thesis Building
During my interviews with Amanda Stone of Camp River Run, Ellen Kehl, CNP and Adam Bratton The Nonprofit Partnership, and Cheryl Lasher of RISSE, I learned that developing a core Big Idea is crucial to your nonprofit's success. You need to know what your organization stands for, what you want to achieve, and how you will get there.
To develop your Big Idea, I suggest conducting brand messaging interviews with donors and supporters to get a better understanding of what resonates with them. Here is a checklist of questions that you can use during these interviews:
Brand Story Development
Once you've developed your Big Idea, pair it with a compelling Brand Story. During my interviews with Heather Hutchison of CREATE, Andrea Ferrero-Haggerty of Pocket Change, Chris Warren of Dothan Houston County Library System, and Jeff Collignon of Cornerstone Hospice Foundation, I learned that a clear and concise story that connects with your audience is crucial to success.
To develop your Brand Story, I suggest using the StoryBrand framework by Donald Miller. This framework helps you develop a clear and compelling story that connects with your audience. Here is a link to the StoryBrand website where you can learn more about the framework.
Thesis Validation
Thesis validation is the next step. There was a practical point in my process where I knew I needed to stop doing the structured interviews and intake survey and shift to outlining my thesis in a way that was easy to digest.
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This is where you test your brand story "in the wild" with actual people. Using a mix of formal and informal discussion formats with folks like Mark P. Fisher of Inspiring Growth, Ian Adair, MS, ACNP of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and Kerrie Wolf-Piechota of Habitat for Humanity Schenectady County, I learned that providing your audience with the necessary tools and resources to "learn the brand" and become brand champions is crucial to success.
To test your brand story, I suggest providing employees and board members with the necessary tools and resources to "learn the brand" and become brand champions. Here is a link to "Living the Brand" by Nicholas Ind and Simonetta Esposito, which can help you with this.
Internal Campaign
Finally, I want to emphasize the importance of focusing on an internal campaign alongside any external work. Building a strong brand requires everyone in your organization to be on board and aligned with your messaging and positioning.
To build an effective internal campaign, invest time and resources in training and empowering your team to be effective brand ambassadors.
If you're interested in supporting more interviews like these, I encourage you to participate in the upcoming #GenerosityRoadshow. I'll be will be kicking off a series of immersive learning experiences that will feature insights from FEP reports, Giving USA, and data commons participants.?
Each stop will feature a fun interactive game for attendees to play and win prizes and exclusive copies of new sector research. All of this is absolutely free to any attendee, thanks to the generosity of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project.