by Dave Shaw and Jenna Oltersdorf

1. Developing and
Building a Great
Nonprofit Brand

2. Introductions
Dave Shaw Jenna Oltersdorf
Arsenal Advertising + PR Snackbox PR and Design
512-499-8009 773-715-0879
dave@GoArsenal.com jenna@snackbox.us
@TheRealDaveShaw @JennaSnacks
@ArsenalAgency @NomNomist

3. Agenda
• The case for branding
• What makes a strong brand
• Elements of a brand
• Assessing your brand
• Expressing your brand

4. Why should nonprofits care about branding?
• Branding is not just for profit
• You have a brand, choose to manage it:
o Mission drives the brand
o Stakeholders have expectations of the brand
o Strategies can strengthen the brand
o Employees, board and volunteers deliver on the brand
o Materials express the brand
• A strong brand drives internal alignment
• A strong brand builds external trust and credibility
There is a practical approach to branding nonprofits

5. What are some great nonprofit brands?
And what makes them great?

6. 2012 Harris Poll EquiTrend® Rankings for
Nonprofit Brands
Animal Welfare
Youth
Environmental
Health Social Services
Disability

7. Great Brands…
• Clear sense of who they are
• Are disciplined and focused
• Tell good stories
• Internally and externally aligned
• Stakeholders have tools, room to deliver
• Consistently meet or exceed expectations

8. Defining Brand
A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and
relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s
decision to choose one product or service over another.
- Seth Godin

9. Everything Communicates the Brand
1. Core Purpose
Why you exist
2. Programs and Services
Support the core purpose
3. Staff, Board, Volunteers
Deliver the experience
4. Online Presence
Website, social media – look and voice
5. Physical Space
Physical representation of the brand
6. Name, Logo, Collateral, Look and Feel
Creative expression of the brand

10. Levels of
Audience Interaction
With a Brand
Engagement: Action and loyalty.
What will they do?
Resonance: How do we Alignment of values.
make them feel? Emotional connection.
Relevance: Do they need us? Can they live without us?
Rational connection.
Perception: What do they know, what do they Understanding.
think about us?
Awareness: Have they heard of us? Baseline.

11. Understand Your Brand
1. Purpose and message
2. Audiences and stakeholders
3. Programs and offerings
4. Service and communication
5. Look and feel

12. Performing a Brand Audit
1. Interviews and focus groups tell you what and why
Employees Board members Donors Volunteers
2. Surveys tell you how much and how many
Donors Partners Clients Members
3. Review materials for the three “C's”:
Clarity Creativity Consistency

13. Expressing a Nonprofit Brand
1. Core purpose
2. Name, logo and brand guidelines
3. Message platform
4. Images and stories
5. Audience experience
6. Training for staff, board, volunteers

14. Message Platform
• Elevator pitch
o One or two sentences in length
o 40,000 foot view of who you are and why you’re here
• Build key messages from elevator pitch
o Limit key messages to no more than five
o Present messages in bullet list form
o Messages support elevator speech
o Each message must be concise and to the point
• Ensure all stakeholders internalize key messages

15. Protecting Your Brand
• Establish brand look and feel
• Library of approved, royalty-free stock images
• Copyrights and trademarks
• URLs, in all their variations

16. Common branding mistakes
• Four-color logos
• Logo is my brand
• Mission is my brand
• Not training the front line
• Mission creep
• Inconsistent experiences
• Employees, volunteers, board members not empowered
to deliver on the brand

17. Do’s of a Strong Brand
• Promises made and kept... over time
• Consistency in messaging, visuals
• Experiences that delight audiences
• Clear sense of what the brand stands for
• Staff, board members know how to deliver on the brand
• Not just a logo or a tagline

18. Dave Shaw Jenna Oltersdorf
Arsenal Advertising + PR Snackbox PR and Design
512-499-8009 773-715-0879
dave@GoArsenal.com jenna@snackbox.us
@TheRealDaveShaw @JennaSnacks
@ArsenalAgency @NomNomist
Thank You