Do your supporters know what your organisation stands for and the objectives that you are trying to achieve? Do they understand just how their donations and other forms of support help your NFP be able to create positive change in your community?

If you don’t have a firm grasp on your organisation’s values, and the mission that it’s trying to achieve, you will not be able to clearly convey these terms to others in your NFP’s messaging. A weak, or negative, brand identity is often the result of miscommunication, or conflicting messages.

When your brand is poorly defined, others don’t truly understand the reason why your organisation’s work matters. Without this understanding, most individuals will have trouble connecting to your cause, which will harm your ability to fundraise as well as recruit volunteers.

Do You Know the True Strength of Your Brand?

Organisations that have a strong, positive brand identify typically don’t have a lot of issues meeting their fundraising targets, and recruiting the number of volunteers that they need. If your organisation is meeting these objectives, it’s likely that others have a positive image of your NFP. Your brand could still have room for improvement, however, regardless of the success of your fundraising and recruiting efforts.

Independent Surveys

Independent surveys are a great way to uncover areas where you need to strengthen and develop your brand. To conduct one, you will need to have an unbiased observer to ask others what they think of when they see or hear about your organisation.

When conducting the survey, it’s important to be able to determine if your nonprofit is at, or near the top of the list when others think about nonprofits, as well as the specific cause that your organisation seeks to address. Ideally, the survey results will answer the following questions.

Did the surveyor need to provide prompts, or did your organisation’s name come up unprompted? Were respondents able to identify your organisation solely on its logo or tagline? What specific feedback did respondents provide about your organisation? Were they able to identify your values and mission? Did they like the design of your logo, and the words used in your tagline?

Tips to Strengthen Your Brand

To strengthen your brand, it’s important to eliminate any mixed messages that your organisation has been sending. Look for ways to simplify, and clarify your messaging, including your logo and tagline. Avoid designs that are too complicated, and taglines that are too wordy and difficult to remember.

When creating your NFP’s messages, try to view things from the perspective of your target audience. Have you explained, from their perspective, what’s “in it” for them if they support your nonprofit?

It’s human nature to want to connect and bond with others that we feel are similar to ourselves. How do your core values and goals align with theirs, and are you helping them draw this comparison with your messaging?

Do they have concerns that are holding them back from donating, volunteering or advocating on their behalf? How can you reassure them and ease their fears with your messaging?

What is it that you are trying to communicate with your messages, what do you want your supporters to know about your nonprofit and its mission? Are you using their preferred means of communication to send messages, and, are you making an effort to keep the conversation going?

The more that you can strengthen your brand, and help your target audience to identify with your mission, the more successful you will be in generating support for your NFP.