[Music] welcome to the nonprofit podcast i'm
kara fundraising coach at donorbox thank you for joining us sometimes we don't know
what we don't know as non-profit leaders founders and fundraisers we are often good at
delivering on our mission but a little lost when it comes to even knowing where to begin
when it comes to marketing and communications some of the most savvy nonprofits learn by
watching what works well in the marketplace or in retail and one thing the corporate world
does well
especially right now is branding in this episode we will look at branding purpose
and the value it can bring to every organization regardless of budget and expertise today i'm
joined by two branding experts here at donorbox who will help us understand how we can apply the
concepts our favorite corporations use we can learn from their investment and apply it to grow
our organizations jenna is non-profit advocate for donorbox and works directly with our organizations
and often hears firsthan
d what's on their plates she represents donor box through youtube social
media and in the public always focused on finding positive solutions today jenna is sitting in
the seat of the nonprofit looking at branding from the perspective of a small to medium-sized
organization that is really questioning the value of investing hard-earned funds into brand building
when there are always pressing mission-related needs that show immediate return it's going to
be interesting to hear her in that rol
e i think she's joined by one of our behind the scenes
wizards from donorbox ronald pillay who serves as director of brand communications his background is
in psychology creative development and programming and that gives him what he needs to lead branding
efforts he has a critical eye plus sensibility and a heart to serve this is a big topic and we'll
only deal with the fundamentals in this interview and we'll leave with some takeaways that can
be applied to organizations of every size i'm
eager to learn from some pros here thanks
kara it's going to be a slightly different take for me today instead of having the answers
i'm going to be voicing some of the questions i get from nonprofits around the basic what
why and when a branding to ronald my go-to guy here at donorbox for any and all questions
brand related so welcome ronald can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into
working in brand development thank you for that uh really kind intro my background b
ehind
ending up where i've ended up over the last decade i've worked in brand development brand
strategy and brand marketing throughout the advertising industry in johannesburg south africa
i've worked as creative director art director i've done tons of work developing video
content and that sort of thing and all of those things led me to working on on
brand development and all of these things led me to where i am today and brand marketing
for donor box company i absolutely adore as a kid
i grew up with social anxiety and
throughout my school in korea i was always the i struggled just you know speaking to people
you know being able to pick my head up and have conversations with strangers and i could
not understand what made people cool and what made people not cool why did some people have
so much influence why did some people not have any why did some people get picked on why do
you why were some people so rude and yet they got the prettiest girl in class so i set
out to u
nderstand what makes human beings human beings why do they think the way
they do why do they what what makes them tick what makes them speak what is confidence
is can it be learned can you just download it over the course of a week and i took a deep dive
into psychology i did dive into social dynamics it led me to my career in neurolinguistic
programming and just taking the deepest type possible into understanding how the human brain
works why people make the decisions they make jumping rig
ht and then ronald a basic question
but an important one what is branding is there an actual definition is it more than a
logo or name recognition and the big one for today is there any significant difference
between commercial and non-profit branding okay so non-profit branding and traditional
branding are pretty much the same thing just for the different context right so various people
across across time and across industries have defined branding in various different ways okay
so some p
eople define branding as a perception some people define branding as what your customer
or your audiences about you when you're not alone some people see it as branding is not what you
say you are but what others say you are it's also seen it's also defined as a emotional
connection that people have with a particular product or service or organization none of them
are incorrect they're all 100 valid and they all give us a closer and more precise idea of what
this intangible thing called a b
rand actually is what we do then how we do it and some
people may have considered why they do it now with the with the evolution of branding if you
look at the most popular most successful brands those are the ones where have evolved
with the times and actually flipped that structure because the brands
will actually start with why then they'll talk about what they do and then
maybe they'll consider telling you how to do it what is the importance and value of branding to
a non-profit organi
zation what can having a brand do for those who are you know working to serve
others and relying on others uh generosity to help them with their mission it is absolutely essential
because it is your best foot forward most most non-profit startups have their foot forward
very few actually present their best foot forward and actually present themselves in a way that's
attractive to others and in a way that not just tells people that hey this is a good place
for you to either you know donate y
our money or give your time but it actually shouts that of
course nonprofits have all different levels of branding some have really great branding some uh
no branding really exists at all um but what i see a lot is okay i'm a small organization branding
is for the big guys isn't it um what do you think about that sure good question branding is for the
biggest of the big and the smallest of the small unleash maximum fundraising potential
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manager donorbox premium helping you help others we live in a world that turns on b
rand recognition
and influence from what we wear to what we eat branding and the carefully crafted strategy that
sits behind it has somehow some way informed our decisions the fact that we as non-profits are
focused on social impact rather than commercial gain doesn't change the fundamental reality
branding is relationship driven and we need to look at it like we do any other influential
and important relationship understanding what we are getting into and what we want to get out
of it wha
t's the desired outcome for nonprofits is my brand clear when people look at my
messaging or look at my logo do they 100 immediately understand what we're about
who we are and the work that we do okay next question when people look at your brand
when they look at this logo or your donation page or your website is the perception that this is
a credible non-profit so when people actually look and counter the brand at any given touch
point does it look like a credible non-profit okay next ques
tion when people encounter
your brain when they read your about us section when they look at your purpose
statement you know why your what is the reason for your nonprofit's existence do they
get a sense of do they fully understand what your purpose is as a non-profit a brand what
do you stand for okay then next question when peop when you look at your brand as a whole is
your brand positioned properly in the non-profit industry when people look at your messaging when
they look at your don
ation page uh when they look at the kind of colors that you that you're using
um is your brand positioned properly to the point where it comes across as authentic so if you're a
non-profit supporting ukraine and your colors are predominantly let's say pink and lilac okay the
colors of the ukrainian flag are blue and yellow that's a good way to position your non-profit in
in the whole current situation of ukraine and with all the attention it's getting your mission to
help those people is ex
tremely crucial okay so making sure that your nonprofit is correctly
positioned looking at your brand as a whole taking into consideration all the touch points
all the visual marketing collectors you have all your colors looking at your messaging looking
at your donation page looking at your website is this brand elevating your organization
is this brand elevating your mission is your brand being authentic and genuine and
telling the story that it should so you do the hard work you interrog
ate your purpose and start
the brand journey with your team the question then becomes how do you get your brand and essentially
your authentic mission statement out there absolutely the first question i always get
kara competing for attention with larger organizations and commercial enterprises is a real
challenge for smaller or startup non-profits so what are your go-tos for smaller
less well resourced organizations ron when it comes to the costs
associated with the with the branding ther
e's lots and lots of tips lots of
tricks lots of hacks where you can it's just you know starting with the basics of
your brand with your your name and your logo there's tons of free online tools to to help you
get a good visual logo for yourself a good visual look um a good there's lots of ways to make sure
that you've got a good name behind your non-profit there's tons of free resources
online to make sure you've got the right color combinations that sort of thing so whether it's a startup
whether it's
medium-sized org rails and fog that's been around for a long time or a really short time
branding is absolutely essential if you're gonna if if you're on the quest for for
sustainability in your non-profit you can start at any point in an ideal perfect
world you'll start off strong right off the bat but if you're a founder of a non-profit 100 of
your attention is going to be focused on the need and if someone helps you out
by designing a logo for you that's great if they don'
t you're going to get
stuff done you're going to meet that need anyway so it's great to have to have your brand
start up strong but whether you're five days old or five years old or even 50 years old
like everything um that has to evolve with time so as brand non-profit leaders have a lot
on their plates right they're constantly working to make the world a better place
and it seems like it's not a small task so um when it comes to branding it can be
pretty daunting on top of everything els
e and it can be tempting to just say
it'll come later so my question is are there any bite-sized steps a non-profit
leader can take in starting to define their brand what do they need to examine know and be
aware of as they begin this process getting the groundwork done and actually figuring out what
the purpose of this non-profit actually is [Music] is there a story behind it the first
thing that that non-profits can do is take a really close hard objective look at
their brand from a thir
d person's perspective whether it's business like in corporate or
whether it's a non-profit to the founder that's the that is the reason why they wake up
every single day and as a non-profit executive or founder you have to be objective
enough to entertain the idea that maybe i didn't get my branding right as much as you
love um a logo with an elephant and a rainbow and um a fighter jet next to it maybe it resonates
with you there's a very strong chance that it's it's not putting your missi
on's best foot
forward so taking a really really hard sober objective look at your branding both from a
visual perspective and from a holistic perspective where if you look at what your brain's
story is and how you're presenting yourself how you um you know how you're actually showing
up in the world take a close look at all your brand touch points everywhere a supporter could
encounter you whether it's online in real life everywhere and it does help to ask the
opinion of someone who's com
pletely objective someone who's who doesn't let's say it's
a non-profit for elephants speak to someone who who just doesn't even bother about elephants who
is more concerned with cards find someone who's got a completely fresh perspective and get their
opinion ask them what do you think of of the brand what is your perception when you take a look at
my donation page what do you see what do you feel does this the logo next to the dollar
amount that should the donate button does that affect y
ou in any way and then
tell your brand story tell the reason why you you started your non-profit and then see
if their perception of your brand changes and if the if you change that person's perception
then you know your branding is muslim then you know you've got to get some work done and there
are tons of resources um brand consultants are upper on the pricey side
especially the especially the good ones and that being said there's still tons of free
resources online if you look if you ju
st youtube search what is a brand how to grow a brand how to
tell your brand story there are tons and tons and tons of resources out there thank you so much
for that ronald uh that opens the door to the first steps in getting your brand strategy moving
for so many of our community do you have anything you want to add for this interview because we are
definitely going to have you back for a follow-up it all comes from a place of just being
wanting to be able to put my best foot forward and b
eing in the position i am now with
john box working on our brand marketing it brings me such joy to be able to work on
our brain and literally very simply just put our best foot forward thank you both for putting
those fundamentals in place today they may seem like small bites but that's how you eat an
elephant and that's what a brand journey is a long steady build no matter when or where you
start branding is more than colors and images it's more than a buzzword branding is essential
if y
ou're on the quest for sustainability it's as essential as having the right
tools and the right people in place and here is why some of the payoffs include a
more sophisticated looking organization that is easily recognized among all the noise in this
world and a clearly defined purpose or why that energizes a donor base and volunteers
the process that goes into branding can identify goals and targets and provide all
that it takes to deliver a clear message all of these help you do what you
do and do it
well so you can sustain your mission in this world if you have any follow-up questions for ronald
or jenna please reach out to us at spotlights donorbox.org we also have a great article
that will help you develop a checklist and guide you through getting your brand
journey off to a rock solid start it's on our non-profit blog and the link is in
the show notes and while you're there hit the notification bell to make sure you don't
miss a beat until next time stay inspired the
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