Nonprofit Branding: Key Branding Strategies That Nonprofits Must Adopt

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30 Apr, 2024

nonprofit-branding

Introduction

Do you struggle to meet the right people for your nonprofit organization?

There are multiple nonprofit organizations around the world and this makes it challenging for your organization to win hearts, assist individuals, or simply stay on the top. Nonprofit branding is one of the best strategies to overcome this challenge. 

An effective nonprofit branding strategy plays a huge difference in brand positioning and how people perceive it. 

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Often, there are misconceptions that these kinds of branding services are required for top-notch private companies. However, the fact is that branding nonprofit organizations are equally essential as that of any other company. 

In this article, we would like to share all you need to know about branding a nonprofit organization effectively:

  • What’s Nonprofit Branding?
  • Universal 4-Steps For Branding A Nonprofit
  • Incredible Live Examples For Branding A Nonprofit

What’s Nonprofit Branding?

Nonprofit branding is a medium to let your potential audience know about you and your contribution to society. It is a commitment to partners, participants, and supporters to build trust within your services and activities. 

A distinct nonprofit branding strategy helps you stand out from other organizations. 

For instance, when you hear the name McDonald’s you unknowingly visualize either a big M in your mind or a burger. Now that Big M is a part of branding. 

Mcdonalds

In simple words, nonprofit branding is a unique way of sharing your story with strangers. Nonprofit branding can be classified into the visual or written form of who you are and what you stand for.

With an appealing nonprofit branding strategy, you can showcase the cause and your innovative approach to that cause.  

This nonprofit branding story that you portray is based on multiple elements. For instance, your brand color defines whether you have a modern or a conservative approach to your work. On the contrary, the font you use reflects whether you are a caring nonprofit organization or a nonprofit for healthcare, education, and other services. 

While you may have several goals for your nonprofit organization, the prominent question hovering in your mind would be, is it necessary to invest resources in nonprofit branding?

The answer to this is yes, it is important to invest in nonprofit branding services to differentiate your brand from others. 

In a cluttered and competitive sphere of nonprofits, branding a nonprofit becomes the need of the hour. This can be the best medium through which you can differentiate yourself from others to collaborate with ingenious minds and attract donations. 

Regardless of the color or font, if you can gauge your audiences’ attention, then you have an opportunity to lead them further to connect with your brand. 

Universal 4-Steps For Branding A Nonprofit

Nonprofit branding guidelines play an integral role in your nonprofit branding strategy. While a nonprofit branding strategy is a comprehensive roadmap to building a perfect brand, nonprofit branding guidelines are a subset of it.

These nonprofit branding guidelines can guide you with design, fonts, color palettes, and fonts. They further assist you with the language to use and how to communicate about your organization. 

Step#1 Create Your Brand Story

The first initiative while creating your branding strategy for your nonprofit organization is to list down all the prominent qualities or USPs of your brand. This is one of the finest ways to understand your nonprofit branding idea and share it with others. 

Create a nonprofit branding checklist of all traits and qualities that you would like to be known or appreciated for. Use these qualities as a form of description in the simplest form. 

For example, you could be an organization that encourages child education and needs branding services for the same. One of the best nonprofit branding services can guide you to showcase the warmth and compassion you have for children. 

On the other hand, if you need strong branding strategy services for women, then you need nonprofit branding that can inspire women to raise their voices against any abuse on them. Both of these brands need nonprofit branding services but the nonprofit branding strategy for them would be different. 

This is where you realize whether the branding services company that you have hired is appropriate for your niche or not. Always try to look for branding professional services that can match the tone of your brand and reach the right audience. 

Step#2 Choose The Right Color And Font For Nonprofit Branding

Good nonprofit branding services can understand what your brand needs, they can pick the right brand fonts and colors that reflect you. 

Branding nonprofit organizations understand that different colors represent different emotions and they recommend colors, words, and fonts that are in sync with your brand.

For instance, as per nonprofit branding guidelines, blues and greens are mostly associated with healthcare, environment, and cleanliness-related nonprofit organizations. When you look at other organizations and analyze their nonprofit branding, you will notice that these authoritative colors are best suited for these verticals. 

On the contrary, if you have a friendly organization, then your nonprofit branding services expert may suggest shades and tints of orange and red as they are warm. Your branding services want to highlight your caring nature to your potential audience.  

Sharp fonts with pointed edges are suitable for bold and strong nonprofit branding. While fonts with flowing lines and smooth corners are apt for branding nonprofit organizations that cater to children and others. 

At the same time, the nonprofit branding checklist comprises a logo that represents your brand. Your nonprofit branding idea has a dynamic impact on your brand logo and your logo eventually presents you on all professional platforms. 

For instance, the branding of Government services has to be carried on with utmost precision as the logo represents the brand on private and government platforms.

Step#3 Drafting Your Nonprofit Branding Guidelines

Your nonprofit branding guidelines help you to communicate through the right medium and quote precisely that is apt for the organization. Most organizations incorporate a custom-built template in their nonprofit branding guidelines as this makes it convenient to draw an outline and share a mission statement. 

These nonprofit branding guidelines further assist you to participate in the right social events and gatherings that can bring you better collaborations and stability. It is therefore essential to prioritize nonprofit branding guidelines and choose the right social media platform, and channels that shape your brand as per the nonprofit branding idea you had always imagined it to be.

Step#4 Customized Brand Kit As Per Nonprofit Branding Guidelines

Once you have a clear nonprofit branding idea, and checklist, and then the next step is to create a brand kit to enable uniformity and consistency of your nonprofit branding across all channels. 

Customized Brand Kit

This kit is a key to your nonprofit organization where all important branding elements represent your nonprofit services. It has been observed that consistency in nonprofit branding guidelines can lead to a 23% boost in your revenue

Your nonprofit branding guidelines can assist you to design and share an ideal brand kit to win hearts.

Incredible Live Examples For Branding A Nonprofit

SickKids

This nonprofit works for the noble cause of childhood illness, where they have conducted in-depth research on childhood illnesses and children’s experiences. Based on their profound research on childhood illnesses and child behavior, they organize camps that help children with remarkable experiences. 

As a research institution, they concentrate on children’s health improvement, simultaneously, and have invested in nonprofit branding services. With their innovative nonprofit branding strategy, they have not just improved children’s health but facilitated niche experiences that they cherish and cannot find elsewhere. 

Bottom Line: While branding a nonprofit ensure that you carry out thorough market research. 

Tapestry Capital

This nonprofit organization facilitates capital to support those who find it difficult to borrow funds through financial institutions. They use their existing case studies and examine their success stories to facilitate capital stability. Reviewing past records guides you to skip the common mistakes and encourages you to look for the right resources and at the right place. 

Their niche brand is one of the rare nonprofits in the social finance sector, where they transform dreams into a reality with the best financial resources. 

Bottom Line: Study success stories and case histories to create a nonprofit branding strategy. 

Teach For Canada

This nonprofit organization encourages quality education for First Nations and Northern Communities. They have an exceptional nonprofit branding strategy to unify mentors, teachers, and community leaders for the cause of equal education. 

They use visually appealing designs and branding elements to stay ahead of their competitors. Ingenious minds inclusive of teachers and others come together to design these elements. There are different visually appealing designs such as GIFs, videos, carousels, infographics, etc. that you can use for branding and grab your audience’s attention. 

Bottom Line: Include eye-catchy visuals in your nonprofit branding guidelines.

Take Away

Branding a nonprofit can be challenging when you do it all by yourself. However, branding nonprofit organizations can be an easy task for a branding services company. Branding services have the professional aptitude to mold your brand just the way you imagined and the best way your audience can reach out to you. 

Meet JanBask Digital Design’s branding services experts to improve your brand positioning. 

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M

Maximiliano Jackson

It’s really insightful!

J

Jackson

I had no idea branding could be so vast.

J

Jax Williams

This really helped my brand.

A

Amari Jones

How do I learn more about it?

Z

Zane Brown

What else should I know about branding?

E

Emilio Davis

Thanks for that amazing article!

K

Knox Miller

Thanks for sharing!

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Adonis Smith

I am glad I came across this article.


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