Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand - Motivating Donors to Give, Give Happily, and Keep on Giving

Why commercial-style branding doesn't work for nonprofits--and what does
 
Taking its cue from for-profit corporations, the nonprofit world has increasingly turned to commercial-style branding to raise profiles and encourage giving. But it hasn't worked. Written by a longtime industry insider, this book argues that branding strategies borrowed from for-profit companies hasn't just failed, but has actually discouraged giving. But why does branding--a well-developed discipline with a history of commercial success--fail when applied to nonprofits? The Money-Raising Nonprofit Brand + Website argues that commercial-style branding is the wrong tool applied in the wrong way to the wrong industry.
* Offers a real-world fundraising strategies that work in the nonprofit world
* Disabuses readers of the dangerous notion that commercial-style marketing works in the fundamentally different nonprofit world
* Written by an industry insider with 25 years of experience raising funds for many of the most successful nonprofits in the world
 
Nonprofit fundraising is a fundamentally different world--financially, emotionally, and practically--than commercial marketing. Here, the author explains why commercial marketing strategies don't work and provides practical, experience-based alternatives that do.

List of contents

Acknowledgments ix
 
About the Author xi
 
Introduction: How This Book Can Transform Your Fundraising xiii
 
PART ONE The Money-Losing Nonprofit Brand
 
How Branding Often Goes Wrong for Nonprofit Organizations
 
1 How and Why Commercial-Style Branding Can Torpedo Your Organization 3
 
Why the New Brand Didn'tWork 10
 
How Commercial Branding Works 13
 
Summary 17
 
2 Branding in the Real World 19
 
There Is a BetterWay to Brand 21
 
3 What Branding Work Can Do to Fundraising Revenue 25
 
If You Change Your Logo 28
 
If You Change Your Graphic Standards 29
 
If You Change Your Copy Standards 31
 
If You Change Your Organization's Name 32
 
If You Change Your Cause Identification 35
 
4 We're Being Brandjacked: A Guide to Survival 41
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 1: The New Brand Is Not Aimed at Your Donors 43
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 2: The New Brand Requires You to Abandon Your Donors 44
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 3: The Work Is Not Grounded in Donor Behavior 48
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 4: The New Brand Describes Your Cause in a Symbolic Way 50
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 5: The New Brand Requires Absolute Consistency 52
 
Brandjacking Warning Sign 6: The New Brand Is Design--and Little Else 53
 
5 Why Branding Matters, and Why It Makes No Difference 57
 
Aunt Edna 60
 
PART TWO Your Call to Action
 
How Your Cause Connects with Donors and Brings Your Brand into Their Lives
 
6 The Seven Elements of a Fundraising Offer 67
 
Element 1: A Problem 69
 
Element 2: A Solution 71
 
Element 3: Cost 74
 
Element 4: Urgency 75
 
Element 5: Donor Context 76
 
Element 6: Donor Benefits 81
 
Element 7: Emotion 82
 
7 Your Fundraising Offer from the Inside Out 89
 
A Fundraising Offer Is Specific 90
 
A Fundraising Offer Is Believable 95
 
A Fundraising Offer Is Bite-Sized for Donors and Flexible 97
 
A Fundraising Offer Has a Sense of Leverage 101
 
A Fundraising Offer Is Defensible 102
 
8 Great Fundraising Offers in the Real World 105
 
Child Sponsorship 105
 
Sponsorship Lite 106
 
Food Bank Leverage Offer 107
 
Shipping 107
 
Matching Funds 108
 
Catalog 109
 
PART THREE Your Fundraising Icon
 
The Image that Reminds Donors Why They Give to You
 
9 The Visual Foundation of Your Brand 113
 
Your Icon Has a Clear Focal Point 118
 
Your Icon Is a Person 119
 
Your Icon Is Focused on the Face 121
 
Your Icon Is One Person, Not a Group 122
 
Your Icon Is a Picture of Unmet Need 123
 
Your Icon Is a Photo, Not an Illustration 126
 
How I Lost My Perspective and Got It Back Again 127
 
10 How to Find and Refine Your Fundraising Icon 131
 
Step 1: Find a Hypothesis 133
 
Step 2: Put Aside Your Preferences and Winnow 134
 
Step 3: Use Direct-Response Testing 138
 
PART FOUR The Donor-Focused Nonprofit
 
How to Become Your Donors' Favorite Cause
 
11 Leprosy or Hansen's Disease? What Donors Need to Know 143
 
Five Ways Nonprofits Drive Away Their Donors 147
 
12 Communicating as if Donors Mattered 155
 
Donor-Focused Stories 159
 
Reporting Back: Set Yourself Apart 163
 
Donor Control over Communication 169
 
Appropriate Design 170
 
How to Measure Donor Communication 173
 
13 The Structure of a Donor-Focused Nonprofit 177
 
A Well-Run Nonp

About the author

JEFF BROOKS, creative director at TrueSense Marketing, has served the nonprofit community for more than 25 years, working as a writer and creative director on behalf of top North American nonprofits, including CARE, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, World Vision, Feeding America, World Relief, and dozens of urban rescue missions and Salvation Army divisions. He blogs at futurefundraisingnow.com, podcasts at fundraisingisbeautiful.com, and is the author of the popular book The Fundraiser's Guide to Irresistible Communications (2012). He lives in Seattle.

Summary

Why commercial-style branding doesn't work for nonprofits and what does Taking its cue from for-profit corporations, the nonprofit world has increasingly turned to commercial-style branding to raise profiles and encourage giving. But it hasn't worked.

Product details

• Authors: J Brooks, J. Brooks, Jeff Brooks
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.04.2014
• EAN: 9781118583425
• ISBN: 978-1-118-58342-5
• No. of pages: 256
• Series: Wiley Nonprofit Authority; Wiley Nonprofit Authority (Unn; Wiley Nonprofit Authority; Wiley Nonprofit Authority (Unn
• Subject: Social sciences, law, business > Business > Management