1. Our logo is our brand.
It’s no wonder this confuses people: The word brand originally referred to the identifying mark put on livestock to show ownership of the animals. Additionally, for centuries, artists and craftsmen have used their signature on paintings or marks on pottery to identify them as the maker. That eventually crossed over into putting labels or distinguishing marks on consumer products to indicate the name or kind of product.
With this history, it’s easy to see how people come to the conclusion that when we talk about branding, we’re talking about a company or organization’s logo. However, branding has evolved into something more complex and less tangible:
Your brand is what people think and feel about your organization. It’s the sum of their experiences with your organization.
A logo is an important part of your brand because it is a symbol — something that stands in for a bigger idea — but a logo is only as strong as the organization it points to.
Think of the symbol of wedding bands. They aren’t the marriage or the commitment to the relationship, but they point to those concepts. Accurate impressions or not, the design of the rings a couple chooses tell you something about the couple and their relationship.
Rings extravagantly encrusted with diamonds signal wealth (or debt as the case the may be!) And simple gold bands may indicate a couple is down-to-earth and enjoys the simple things in life or it’s all they can afford (which would also point to their wisdom not to live beyond their means). Bands made from foil might signal they were made on the spot as part of a spontaneous elopement.
A logo is like the wedding bands: it’s not your brand, but it tells people something about you. It adds to their perception of you formed from other points of contact. Because of this, it’s important that your logo aligns with who you are as an organization so it doesn’t convey the wrong message about you.
Terminology around branding is confusing because so many people misuse the terms:
- A brand is the sum of the thoughts and emotions a person has when they think of your organization.
- Branding is the process of forming your brand in people’s mind. It happens when they bump up against your touchpoints: a phone call, social media post, billboard, your facilities, something a friend mentioned about you, etc.
- Branding strategy is a plan to intentionally form the perceptions of your organization by aligning the core of who you are (mission, values, uniqueness) and your messaging (words and visuals) to create consistently positive experiences that resonate with your target audience.
2. Our brand is our visual elements.
Having said that, it’s vitally important to remember this: design matters. First impressions are formed in milliseconds based on what we see. People use visual elements to make split second judgements about things like credibility, likability and competence, whether meeting a person for the first time, visiting a website or pulling your direct mail appeal out of their mailbox.
3. Branding is for consumer products, not nonprofits.
It’s true that brands have traditionally been a priority for consumer products, so it’s understandable that some think since nonprofits don’t produce a tangible product, branding isn’t essential. The truth is, however, that because you don’t have a product that people can experience with their five senses, branding is even more important. Branding is necessary to convey credibility, authenticity and strength in order to build trust.
4. Authenticity doesn’t matter.
These days, people — particularly Millennials and Generation Z — have been trained to be suspicious of brands that are projecting “Photoshopped” images of themselves. They can spot fakes a mile away.
Strong relationships with donors and the people you serve are the lifeline for nonprofits. Being inauthentic doesn’t just chip away at the foundation of trust, it demolishes it.
Have you ever been in the market to find a new church, maybe after a move, and decided to visit a church based on the impressions you gleaned from a website, only to discover they were nothing like the projected image?
Maybe the site touted a come-as-you-are, relaxed atmosphere, yet when you walked in wearing your casual shirt and jeans, the greeters were dressed in suits and ties and gave a forced smile as they reached out to shake your hand.
Chances are, that awkward experience was enough for you to walk out and never go back. When there is a disconnect between the projected image and reality, brands pay a steep price. Being authentic matters.
5. Branding is the domain of the marketing department.
Since branding is the perception your audience has of your organization and every connection point communicates something about you, everything you and your staff do feeds that impression: every phone call, visit to your facilities, ad, social media post, direct mail appeal, grant application, website, and face-to-face interaction at an event.
Therefore, branding involves EVERYONE in the organization, from the receptionist to the CEO and the communications director to the janitor or volunteer.
Branding is sustained through aligned decisions and behaviors across the organization. You amplify your brand and have greater impact when everyone in your organization tells the same story, providing a consistent, positive experience with your organization.
6. We control our brand.
Your brand lives in the minds of others, so you can’t control it. But the good news is, you can nurture the impressions you want people to have.
When you know your mission, identify your audience(s), demonstrate what you say you care about, understand your uniqueness, and consistently convey your personality and brand maxim throughout every connection point, you go a long way to help people form the right impressions about you.
7. We don’t need branding, just a logo.
You may think that because you don’t have a logo, you don’t have a brand, and all you need is a logo to get you started. But, if you’ve connected with anyone on any platform about your nonprofit or ministry, you’ve made some kind of impression with that person — and, remember, that’s what a brand is. “All-out branding” is what you are already doing as you serve people, bring awareness to issues and raise funds — because all of those activities involve connecting with people and every connection makes an impression.
The problem is, if you’re not intentional about maximizing the impact of those impressions you’ll end up wasting resources, missing opportunities and creating perceptions of a weak brand.
By aligning all of your activities and communications with your mission, values, uniqueness, personality and brand maxim in ways that resonate with your audience(s), you’ll cultivate the targeted impressions in people’s minds and reap the benefits of a strong brand.
8. As the leader, our brand strategy is determined by my preferences.
If you’re an organization’s founder, it’s easy to think that branding is all about you and your preferences — after all, you gave birth to an idea that God planted in your heart. It’s especially confusing when your ministry is built around your own writing, preaching or teaching.
But your brand isn’t really about you — at least not completely. Because brands live in the minds of other people, you need your brand to resonate with the audiences you want to reach. It may be that those audiences are a different generation than you and have different preferences and needs. A solid brand strategy will consider both what reflects you and what captivates your audience.
9. Branding costs too much.
It’s tempting to think that branding is only for the big players with big budgets, but in reality much of the branding process can and should be hammered out with your nonprofit’s leadership and board of directors.
By asking the right questions and surveying the landscape of peer organizations, you’ll be able to define much of your brand, with or without the help of a consultant.
And, while you may need to hire a professional designer to create an identity package for you, you can keep costs down by sharing a clear creative brief that outlines for him or her your mission, core values, audiences, uniqueness, personality, and brand maxim.
Beyond that, it costs nothing for you to consistently tell your well-crafted story and give people a positive experience when they connect with you.
When identity and experience align, organizations move faster and with greater credibility. If you think your church, ministry, or nonprofit needs a full brand strategy (and then maybe a new visual identity), give me a call and we can talk about next steps.
