For-profit companies have embraced and continue to embrace branding for a myriad of reasons.
Branding is, after all, a story about a company that wants its customers to experience, connect with, and understand. Companies don’t always have that “personal” connection, so branding fills that gap. An amazing thing about nonprofits is, so many personal stories already exist. Yet more times than not, nonprofit organizations (particularly smaller ones) are reluctant to invest time or money into their brands.
What Will the upper echelon Say?
Let’s face it, budget is usually always a concern for nonprofits and if not for lack thereof, then the concern is that you won’t appear fiscally responsible. Branding might seem to be a frivolous use of donor funds....… but, is it?
No Mascots, Please.
The amazing thing about nonprofits is, the stories are there. They are there in the form of the people, places, or achievements. So the role of branding in your case, is simply to frame those stories.
There is no need to make up a story (I don’t help those kind of organizations).
In fact, for nonprofits, what they are doing is educating and communicating rather than “advertising”. Branding helps people understand who nonprofits are and what they do.
While its true, your nonprofit is the least likely to harness the power of branding, you are the most likely to benefit from it.
What can I say? I guess I like a challenge!