There are many reasons why a nonprofit might wish to rebrand. Change is usually the primary motivator for rebranding. For example, if the primary focus and mission of your NFP has changed, rebranding might be the best way for your followers to learn where to turn when they need help with an issue that aligns with your new direction and goals.

Rebranding is also a good idea if your nonprofit has experienced a major shakeup in leadership and your corporate values and vision are shifting. Finally, if your current brand isn’t working to raise awareness about your nonprofit’s mission and goals, an update is a good way to motivate your supporters and prompt them to renew their commitment to your cause.

The following is a list of ideas to help well-established NFPs rebrand.

Does Your Brand Just Need a Little Polishing, or is a Complete Rebrand in Order?

To get started, you need to define what steps you need to take to successfully update and improve your organisation’s image. What do you need to update or otherwise amend?

Take the time to thoroughly examine your current brand logo and tagline. Do you know what impression is made when your brand is seen or heard? Is it a positive one? Is it in line with your NFP’s values, mission and goals? What message is conveyed visually by your logo – is it still relevant in today’s world?

At this stage, it’s important to determine what is, and is not working for your NFP before you scrap everything and start with an entirely clean slate. If your organisation’s brand simply needs to be refreshed rather than completely replaced, making too radical of a change may alienate existing supporters. When updating your brand, you want to be careful to preserve any positive associations that exist with your current brand.

Do Your Homework and Get Everyone Involved with the Rebrand

Once you decide what needs changing, it’s important to involve your key stakeholders in the rebrand. Talk with your NFP’s board about what truly is your primary focus. In addition to the board, seek input from others directly involved with your nonprofit, especially volunteers, donors, and service recipients. What does your NFP stand for in their eyes?

With this information, create a slogan that defines the impact you make and clearly defines what your organisation is all about. Using a new tagline more prominently, such as in conjunction with your logo, will help call attention to the service that you provide to your community.

The shapes, images, colours and overall designs used in your logo should all work together to draw attention to your nonprofit and the work that it does in your service community. If your organisation will be using an outside concept artist, ensure that they completely understand what it is that your organisation stands for when you ask them to modernise, streamline or otherwise update an existing logo.

If you’ve decided to completely redo the logo, try to involve your key stakeholders in this process as well. For example, your organisation might have a contest and invite the public to submit design ideas for the new logo. You could have your concept artist create multiple images and let the public vote on which best expresses your mission and impact made by your organisation.

Update Messaging so that it is Aligned with the Rebrand

Going to the time and expense of rebranding will mean very little if your organisation isn’t committed to the rebrand. Take the time to develop a new brand guide. Update all of your messaging including your website, social media posts, newsletters and direct mail literature, so that all visual representations of your old brand have been removed and replaced with your NFP’s new logo and tagline.

Prominently use your logo and tagline in all of your communications going forward, especially your fundraising campaigns. Don’t forget to publicly thank your supporters and service recipients for the help they have provided during the rebrand process.