Episode 59: What Is Your Organization Known For? Building a Nonprofit Brand

A company's brand is its identity. What consumers recognize and competitors fear. Why clients and funders choose you over your competitors.

As a nonprofit, your brand should reflect a Public Charity (inclusive). Learn how to build a brand that best represents your organization.

LINKS
B Generous
Project World Impact

NONPROFIT SPOTLIGHT: Easterseals

Podcast Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):

Welcome to On Air with Amber Wynn, where nonprofit leaders learned to fuse passion and commitment with proven business strategies to create long-term funding, impact, and sustainability. And now here's your host and resident Philanthrepreneur, Amber Wynn.

Speaker 2 (00:29):

Hey fam, you're on air with Amber Wynn, and today we are going to talk about building a nonprofit brand. What is your organization known for? What is your reputation in the community? That all comes down to a brand. And yes, nonprofits have brands. I can't tell you the number of times when I've said, Oh, do you know about this nonprofit? And they're like, yeah, because they don't have a good brand. Or have you heard about this nonprofit? Yes, they are amazing. That is your brand. That is your reputation. And today we're going to talk about building your nonprofit brand because in a lot of situations, fam, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And when you have a bad reputation, you may be missing out on opportunities. When you don't look the part, you may miss out on opportunities. And so sometimes, most times, I hate to admit it, but most times it's not just about the work that you're doing in the community. It's not, I'd love to say that's it, but because you are competing for resources, cream rises to the top, right? And people want to, Funders want to connect with organizations that are viable, that they believe are trustworthy, that they believe they're going to get a return on their investment on. And that has a lot to do with your brand. So when we come back, we're going to talk about What is a brand and why it's important for nonprofits to have a good one.

Speaker 3 (02:16):

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(02:59):

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Speaker 2 (04:02):

Welcome back to On Air with Amber. And today we're talking about building a nonprofit brand. And the question that we led with is, What is your organization known for? A brand is a company's identity. It's what clients and consumers and funders recognize, and it should be what a competitor fears because it's that thing that you have that sets you apart from everybody else. In the funding sector, you may notice that a nonprofit is constantly funded, when they're funded then other people fund it. And you're like, why do they get all the money? It's typically because of their brand. It's easier to fund a nonprofit that's been funded because number one, as a funder, I know that another funder trusts that organization. It's easier. If you trust them, then I'm going to trust them. And the funding space is really small. So you want to build up a brand of trustworthiness.

(05:11):

You want to build up a brand of professionalism. I'm going to give you an example. Working with nonprofits. It's not uncommon to have someone who says, Oh yeah, my cousin created the logo, and their cousin was not a graphic artist. So you can imagine what that logo looks like. It's important that with your branding, that it's professional, that it represents your mission. It's important that what you have out there, whether it's your website and if the website is not professional, if it has a whole bunch of stock photos, that's your brand. Do you even have real clients? What is the work that you're doing? So it's important that your exterior, your client, your funder facing persona represents your organization. And then the other thing about brand is culture. What is the culture of your organization? Is your staff friendly? Are they compassionate? What is your reputation?

(06:22):

I have gone to organizations and the person at the front desk had the worst stank funk, and you're like, really? I thought you're supposed to be here to serve the community. So those are things that you can control. Those are things that you can check because that is your brand. You can't have people representing your nonprofit organization and putting negativity out into the space because that is your brand. So when you're training your different nonprofit employees, you want to say, this is who we are in our community. We are compassionate, we are understanding, we are loving because that is our brand. That is what we want to be known for. We don't want to be known for being rude and being angry and dismissive. That is your brand. So why is it important for a nonprofit to have a good one, meaning a good brand?

(07:15):

Because sometimes your reputation proceeds you. And in the branding, if for example, your program officers like, This nonprofit is amazing. They're in a room with other program officers having conversations and they're like, really? They're like, yes. They always turn their reports in on time. They always give me amazing stories to present to the board. They invite me out to their events. Their finances are tight. That's your brand, that's your reputation, and it's being discussed with other funders. So when they have money, they're going to go look for you. And that's why nonprofits that get funded, continue to get funded. Now, the minute that you make a mistake, don't get it twisted. That's your brand, right? If you're turning in reports late, if your finances aren't being managed properly, that same conversation that they were having, they're going to have it about that. Oh yeah, we're having so much trouble with this organization. Really, I saw them out there. They were, no, you don't want to mess with them. They don't turn in their reports on time. They don't show up when we have required training. You don't want to mess with them. That is your brand. How do you start off with creating a brand? You start off with creating a brand by creating your colors. What are the consistent colors that identify you?

(08:44):

Mine are teal, tomato red, cream, and ceridian blue. So whenever you see Amber Wynn, you're going to see my business colors. You're going to identify my business colors with me. If you don't have a brand kit, meaning you don't have the colors that identify you a logo, you don't have a font. If you change your font every time you create marketing materials, you don't have a brand. The first thing you want to do is create your font, your branding colors. You want to make sure that your logo is consistent and that it's professional. You want that to be something that when they identify you, oh yeah, that bright red, that's Girls Inc, right? Or that blue, That's Boys and Girls Club. That is the brand, and they can identify you based off of that. If you change your colors to match the pictures on your website, you have no brand, right?

(09:48):

Also, your mission should drive your brand. If you are out there and you're talking about what it is that you do when a person goes to your website, it all should be mission driven. If you're talking about cleaning up the world, it should tie into your brand. So it's important that as a nonprofit, when a Funder looks at you, they understand who you are. They understand that you're professional, they understand that you've done the work to be a business. So you have a professional, have a professional logo, you have a professional email, right? Not Gmail. Gmail is a personal email. You should have.org, Amber@BrightHorizons.org. That is your brand. Your brand says, I understand who I am as a business and as a business you're not .com. Dot com stands for .company. Dot org starts for .organization. You are a nonprofit organization, so that is a part of your brand. As a funder, all things considered, I have you and I have another organization and you guys are both doing the work.

(10:58):

How do I make that determination? I'm going to look at your brand. If I go to your website, the information on your website is six months old. You have a logo that was designed by your cousin and you have .com. It says to me that you're not a professional organization. You don't understand what a nonprofit is. The other organization, they have .org for their email, for their url. They have pictures of their clients, they have branded colors, they have a professional logo. It says to me, oh, this is their brand. Their brand is professional. They're representing themselves. It's a forward facing representation of them. All things considered, you could be doing the same amazing work, but I have to make that determination. And based off of how you look, I have determined that this would probably be a more reputable organization. So your brand is really, really important.

(11:56):

So I want you to think about that. And if you aren't sure where to start, Canva is an amazing place to help create branding. They have a brand kit where you can go and you'll pick the colors. And so every time you create any type of document, any type of video, whatever, it automatically brands it. A flyer, it automatically brings your colors into it. You click the template and it'll automatically use your colors. You can create a logo on Canva, all of the things that you need to create a professional brand. Start with Canva. And Canva has a free service, and as you generate more money, you can go move up the level; Pro and all of that. But start with creating a professional representation of your organization, which is your brand. All right, we're going to pause now, but when we come back, we're going to jump into Ask Amber. All right, see you in a bit.

Speaker 4 (12:56):

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Speaker 2 (14:09):

Welcome back. You're On Air with Amber Wynn, and now we're moving to the segment where if you have a question, then I have an answer. It's called Ask Amber, and you can ask me whatever question you have. It may be a follow up to one of the episodes. Maybe I didn't go deep enough, maybe I just touched the surface, or maybe you just have a question that I haven't yet covered. If you have a question, you can reach me on any of my socials. I'm on Facebook, you can check my website. I have an email, Twitter, wherever you feel comfortable reaching out to me, I'm on Spotify, Anchor. You can leave an audio. And that leads us to today's Ask Amber. Let's listen to the question.

Speaker 5 (15:02):

Hi, Amber. I came across one of your video clips on LinkedIn, and I've been binge watching your podcast all week. I'm on the episode where you say funders won't fund volunteer-led nonprofits. No, you didn't say they wouldn't fund them. You said they're less likely to fund them. They're more likely to fund an organization with paid staff than the all volunteer organization. That's so wild to me. Can you go a little deeper and explain to me why a funder wouldn't want all their money to go to the client? Oh, this LJ from Escondido, by the way, I'm really learning so much for your podcast and I appreciate it. Yep. 

Speaker 2 (15:45):

Hey, LJ. So yes, I'm, I'm glad you clarified it. I didn't say that they wouldn't fund. There are plenty of volunteer-led organizations out there. Here's the distinguishing factor. You can have a volunteer-led and a volunteer driven organization. What I have been saying is a funder is not just giving away money. A funder is investing money. They're looking for a partner to help them accomplish their funding goals. The funder's purpose is not to give nonprofits money. That is a misconception. The purpose of a funder, so Bill Gates and the Amman and any funder out there, Coca-Cola Foundation, their purpose is not to fund nonprofits. Their purpose is to accomplish their giving mission. If their giving mission is to help reduce the number of women experiencing domestic violence, that's their mission. How do they accomplish that? By partnering with reputable nonprofits to do it. And so that makes a difference versus the Funder’s goal is to just write checks out to a nonprofit.

(17:03):

With that said, they want to be able to assure that they're going to get a return on their investment. How are they going to do that? They're going to partner with the reputable nonprofit. What makes you reputable? You have processes in place that can demonstrate that you're going to do the work that you say you're going to do. You're going to do the work that you say you're going to do. If your organization is staffed by all volunteers, can you guarantee me, because they're volunteers, that they're going to come back next week? Because they're volunteers, you really can't. Yes, they've given their word, but they're volunteers. And the reality, as a Funder is, if everyone on your staff are volunteer, tomorrow, they may not show up because they're volunteer. There's a higher likelihood of me getting results with an organization that has paid staff. There's a higher likelihood of me being able to get a report on the money that I've given you if there is paid staff, because I know that I can reach out to that person in three weeks and say, Hey, I need a report.

(18:15):

However, if everyone on your staff is volunteer driven, there is a possibility that they won't show up because there's nothing that's going to keep them there outside of their commitment. And their commitment may be strong, but the reality is there may be something outside of your organization that has a priority, and so they may not show up next week. So when I say that you should at least have one paid staff member, because as a Funder, I know that there is some accountability. I know that there's somebody in your organization that is getting a paycheck and therefore will show up every week because there is a reason they have a paycheck versus a volunteer who may be committed today and they'll be committed tomorrow. But something more pressing may come up and then they don't have to show up because they're volunteering. Does that make sense?

(19:08):

So the expectation from nonprofits is that you think a Funder would be more likely to fund you because all of my money is going to the client, and the response to that is not necessarily. The response to that is, as a Funder, I want to be able to report out on the money that I'm giving you. I want some accountability. So my recommendation is that you have at least one paid person who can be responsible for providing a Funder with that sense of security in terms of being able to respond, being able to provide documentation, and being able to demonstrate a return on the investment. All right, LJ, I hope that that answered your question, and now we're going to move on to the most exciting part of the episode, and it's when I get to spotlight my nonprofits. Today's nonprofit is the Easterseals. Easterseals have been around for quite some time. They lead the way to full equity, inclusion and access through life-changing disability and community services, and they've been around for more than a hundred years. Let's check out the Easterseals.

Speaker 6 (20:25):

One in four Americans today are living with a disability. I'm one of them. People with disabilities are extremely talented, resilient problem solvers that have so much to offer, and we've got a trusted ally on our side, an organization we can rely on. Easterseals. Easterseals is leading the way to full equity inclusion and access to healthcare, employment, and education for people with disabilities, families and communities. That's my Easterseals. Make it yours.

Speaker 2 (20:55):

And if you want to check out the work that the Easterseals is doing, volunteer or support financially, reach out to them at www.easterseals.com. All right, so we're going to keep it moving. If you've enjoyed this episode, be sure to subscribe, share it with someone in your community. We're going to move to the part of the episode where I share my thoughts. It's called Mindset Minute, and it's just a minute. So sit back and listen as I share with you about creating your narrative. This episode has been about building a nonprofit brand and a part of your brand is what you're known for. I am going to encourage you to spend some time to come up, some people may call it your 30 minute pitch. I'm talking about creating your narrative. What is it that you are known for? What sets you apart? So for example, the narrative that I've created around my brand is that I have 30 years of nonprofit experience in every role of the nonprofit.

(22:08):

My competitive advantage over other consultants is they may have grant writing experience, they may have leadership development experience, they may have program development experience, but I have it all. I've been a grant writer, I've been a Board Member, I've been an Executive Director, and I've been a Funder. And I leverage that experience, insider knowledge to help my nonprofits create long-term sustainability. That is the narrative that I've created. So when people say, Oh, what do you do? I'm like, I'm a nonprofit consultant, and they're like, oh, okay. What makes you difference than any of the others? I have created my narrative so that when people share, let me pause, let just let me pause because I was about to lie. I was about to say, when people share who I am, they say, but they don't. They say, Oh, do you know a grant writer? And they're like, Oh, yeah, Amber Wynn. I am not a grant writer. I have done grant writing. I've been successful at it, but it is not what I choose to do anymore, but I will be a monkey's uncle if they don't say, Oh, yeah, Amber wins a grant writer. No, I am a nonprofit consultant and I focus on fund development.

(23:26):

All that to say, and I'm just keeping it real. The narrative that I put out there, not necessarily the narrative that people share, but I'm getting people there when they call me and say, Hey, I heard that you're a grant writer. I say, no, I'm not a grant writer. I've been a successful grant writer in the past. Right now, I focus all my energy on helping nonprofits build their infrastructure, because without an infrastructure, you don't even qualify for grants. So I help to shape that narrative, and you have to do the same thing. When people say, Oh, what is it that your organization, what do you do? And you tell them, we help seniors and we create, create a powerful second act for our seniors. What is your narrative? What do you do? What is your brand? So that starts with how you describe yourself, that starts with how you distinguish yourself from your competitors, your narrative.

(24:20):

And listen, if you don't create your narrative as I have just demonstrated, people are going to create it for you. If I don't say, I am a fund developer and I focus on building infrastructure, people have defined me as a grant writer, and I have to reshape that narrative. So I'm like, no, that's not what I'm about. What I'm about is X, Y, and Z. And they're like, oh, I get it. So it's important that you shape your narrative because if you don't, people will shape it for you, and it may not be what you want it to be. I'm a witness to that. All right, so that is it for this week's episode. Building a nonprofit brand. We want to make sure that you create the narrative for what your organization is known for. If you've enjoyed this episode or any episode, you can share any of my episodes. I'm on YouTube, I'm on Spotify, Anchor. Share with your community, right? Because we want our nonprofits to have the most accurate information. There's so much misinformation out there, and our founders end up floundering because they think that they can do this, because functioning off of misinformation, we need our nonprofits in our community, people. So we need them to have accurate information, and you can help by sharing this podcast with people in your community. All right. That's all I got for now. I'll see you next week.

Speaker 1 (25:50):

Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave a review on iTunes. Head over to www.amberwynn.net/podcast for the links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. See you next time.