Breakthrough NONPROFIT BRANDING At a time of intense competition, low barrier to entry, and lightning-quick brand recognition, leading nonprofits are building more value-rich branding programs. They are proactively creating business models that bring their brand to life in the hearts and minds of their stakeholders. Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding demonstrates how a constituency-focused, compelling brand can revolutionize an organization and the way people view and support it.
As practiced in real life, most nonprofits define “branding” as their visual identity produced to aid in awareness and fundraising. However important logos and trademarks are, this limited perspective leaves a significant amount of value on the table. Visionary, mission-driven organizations recognize brand as a bigger canvas for their work. To them, branding is the daily expression of their purpose and a way to communicate their promise to stakeholders. Their brand is their trust mark—their commitment to consistently deliver on who they are, what they stand for, and their unique benefits.
Drawing on their combined seventy plus years of experience in the nonprofit and corporate sectors, the authors studied eleven visionary nonprofits to reveal the seven principles for transforming a brand from ordinary trademark to strategic competitive advantage. The groups profiled reflect a variety of sizes, breadths, regions, and issues. The common thread is that their brand work has resulted in greater social impact and vibrant growth.
Through the use of case studies, Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding reveals how:
A nonprofit put its renewed brand to work to propel its organization forward—despite inconsistent community support
Renewed brand meaning heightened stakeholder commitment, stabilized an organization’s financial position, and empowered it to weather a roiling economy
A small organization’s brand campaign resulted in exceptional growth
A re-brand transformed a nonprofit, enabling it to expand from a regional to national footprint
One of the largest nonprofits lost momentum and regained direction through a revitalized brand process
Breakthrough Nonprofit Branding shows you how to create a brand that creates unique value, builds deep relationships, fosters loyal communities, and increases social impact. It offers a practical road map and essential tool for nonprofit leaders, board members, and volunteers, as well as communications professionals, development consultants, marketing agencies, academics, students, and all those interested in catalyzing dynamic results for the organizations they serve.
Author Biography:
JOCELYNE S. DAW has over twenty-five years experiencein the nonprofit sector, most recently as Vice President Marketingand Community Engagement at Imagine Canada. Jocelyne isa recognized pioneer in the evolution of business-communitypartnerships and the integration of branding, corporate citizenshipand social purpose. She speaks internationally on thesetopics and is author of Cause Marketing: Partner forPurpose, Passion and Profits (Wiley, 2006). She guidesleading business and community organizations in building innovativecitizenship and social purpose programs that deliver stand outbrand identity, strengthen relationships and power results. Carol Cone has over 25 years of experience creatingsubstantive public-private partnerships that advance solutions forsocial issues. As founder of Cone, Inc., she led the development ofinitiatives for Avon; ConAgra Foods; Chevrolet; ITT; PNC FinancialServices; Procter & Gamble; Reebok; Western Union; and theAmerican Heart Association, helping raise awareness and more than$1.2 billion for causes. In 2007, PR Week called her arguably the most powerful and visible figure in the worldof Cause Branding. In 2010 she joined Edelman tocontinue her journey guiding groundbreaking corporate citizenshipefforts as managing director, Brand and Corporate Citizenship. Kristian Darigan Merenda is an acclaimed cause expert andfuturist whose work is featured in President Bill Clinton sGiving, Philip Kotler s Marketing: Improving theQuality of Life, M. Cass Wheeler s You ve GottaHave Heart; PR News Top 100 Case Studies in PR,and The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, as well aspublications produced by Harvard Business School and the UnitedNations, and among others. She has pioneered approaches to creatingglobal corporate citizenship platforms, nonprofit signatureprograms and next-generation cause branding. Her work has beenhonored with more than 75 industry awards for its unprecedented,shared business and social impact. She is a senior vice presidentat Edelman, Brand & Corporate Citizenship. Anne Erhard consults corporate and nonprofit clientstoward industry-leading results in the areas of cause branding,cause marketing, social responsibility, marketing communications,and public/private partnership development. Her work has beenfeatured as best-in-class in industry books and case studies aswell as recognized through dozens of awards, including: PRWeek s Campaign of the Year, Cause Marketing Forums Golden Halo, PRSA s Silver Anvil, Holmes Group s GoldSabre, among others. Anne is a vice president at Cone, working withclients such as The American Heart Association, Boys and GirlsClubs of America, L Oreal, Dunkin Brands and JockeyInternational.
