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Branding is your nonprofit's face to the world. Your brand is much more than a logo--it's who you are and what you do. In many ways, it's like the first sentence of a rich story that you tell to each person that you're cause is trying to reach.

And, as we all know, that first sentence is critical to hooking the reader. It's important that your brand hook us into your cause. Here are a few reasons why branding is an important investment for your nonprofit.

It's What You Are and What You Do

Your brand is often our first exposure to your cause. Your brand should communicate who you are and what you do. Like the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, the same can be said about your brand.

If you are a nonprofit arts organization for kids then your brand should be something that kids can identify with. The brand should be artistic and creative and should try to reflect the type of experience the organization delivers to kids. With this case especially the brand needs to be exceptional so that the organizations ability and art know how isn't in question.

Happen's Toy Lab is part of a nonprofit organization that brings parents and children together through art. At Toy Lab (for whom I've had the privilege of working) kids get to build their own toy out of recycled toy parts. The logo is instantly appealing to kids while incorporating the experience of building your own toy. The feeling and message of the logo is further echoed within the store and all the branding to create a complete and cohesive brand.

Your Nonprofit's Unique Message, Quick and Succinct

A fingerprint is a unique mark that identifies us as individuals and is a component of what makes each of us unique. With thousands of organizations out there, your brand is the easiest way for people to recognize and distinguish you from the others.

Shelter's logo is simple yet delivers a powerful message.

Shelter not only has great logo, but they also have a wonderful name that communicates what they do. That name is backed up with well-written copy that completes the brand. Logos should be simple and the same can be said for your copy.

Shelter's mission statement is a good example of simple and powerful copy that adds context and meaning to the logo and furthers the brand.

"Shelter is a charity that works to alleviate the distress caused by homelessness and bad housing."

A Professional Nonprofit Should Look Professional

If your brand looks amateur, then so will your nonprofit. A poorly executed brand makes creating trust, connecting with donors, volunteers, and the community more difficult.

Using donors as an example, it can be hard to convince them to donate their time and money to a cause they don't believe in. In other words, your brand is your opportunity to excite and inspire potential donors and volunteers to take on your mission and help build a long lasting community that supports your nonprofit. 

Your Brand is Your Name is Your Mission

Your brand and mission work together to make each other stronger. A strong logo can say volumes about your mission in ways that text can not. In conjunction, your mission can add value and long lasting context to your logo.

A great example of incorporating brand and mission can be seen in Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure logo and website. Their mission is to achieve a world without breast cancer through their race for the cure.

The logo communicates their mission and what they do in such a great and simple way. The pink ribbon is instantly recognizable and is synonyms with breast cancer awareness. The clever part is how they took the ribbon and turned it into a running person, effecting a sense of action.

The ribbon as a running figure brings brand and mission together nicely.

Branding is an Opportunity for Self-Analysis

If anything, the investment in branding creates the opportunity to take an honest look at who you are and what you do. It's easy to get aspirational and try to represent yourself as who you want to be. But branding can't be aspirational.

Manna wanted to be known mostly for thier cupcakes

Make sure your brand is an honest reflection of your organization. I'm currently in the process of branding my family's yet-to-open Manna Cupcake Cafe . Since it's a cafe, we wanted the brand to reflect the many offerings that we have. Trying to incorporate all of those offerings started to flatten our overall message. We took a moment to think about who we are and the impression we wanted to make with our customers. Ultimately we decided that out of everything we offered, we were most passionate about making cupcakes. We decreased our offerings and focused our brand on just that.

For some, it can be hard to remember everything that your nonprofit does. It's best to project what you do best because that's what you want people to remember.

Closing

Branding doesn't have to cost tens of thousands of dollars to be effective. The concepts and meaning behind that brand are what truly matter. When creating your brand, make sure it reflects who you are, what you do, and, most importantly, what you stand for. Keep it simple visually but complex in meaning. After all, a good brand is timeless, and your nonprofit should be as well.