3 Tips for Improving Your Non-profit’s Brand Messaging

Creating the foundation for your brand’s message is a challenge (as we discussed in a previous article HERE). But what if you’ve done all of the foundational work and you’re still struggling?

Don’t fret. We’ve got 3 tips you can implement today that will instantly improve your brand’s message.

1. Emphasize your brand’s mission statement

This may sound like a no-brainer but you’d be surprised how many non-profits hide their brand’s mission statment. Most of the time a non-profit will place their mission statement on their About Us page or at the bottom of a press release and leave it at that.

But, you can’t expect potential donors to have to search for that information. Instead, you need to have your mission stated multiple times so donors don’t miss it.

Here are the places we recommend to have your brand’s mission statement:

Near the top of your website’s Home page
On your website’s About Us page
On your website’s Donation page
On every printed collateral that’s standard paper size or larger

In the end, your mission statement is what potential donors are looking to connect to. When they understand your non-profit is aligned with their values they’re more likely to become a donor.

2. Clarity over cleverness

This one sounds easier than it is to implement. Your brand’s message should be:

Easy to understand
Easy to remember
Easy to repeat

But what do those mean? Let’s take a deeper dive into each one.

Easy to understand

A potential donor should immediately have one takeaway after seeing your messaging. So, what is the one thing you want people to remember about your brand?

Easy to remember

When your messaging is easy to remember it should only take hearing once to remember it. To test this out, explain your brand’s message to someone you don’t know. Can they repeat it back to you after only hearing it once?

Easy to repeat

This goes hand-in-hand with the ‘Easy to remember.’ In the end, can others repeat your brand’s message without modifying it. What you’re trying to avoid is the ‘Telephone Game’ effect where your brand’s message changes as people hear and it repeat it back to others.

3. Speak about your donor’s desires

The most effective non-profit brand messages don’t talk about themselves. Instead they talk about their donors — specifically their donors’ desires.

Even if a potential donor resonates with your brand’s mission statement they are unlikely to take action. In the end what compels them is the ability to fulfill a desire they have through your non-profit.

So, think about your ideal donor and their desires. What changes are they wanting to see in the world? And, how does your non-profit allow them to participate in that change?

Conclusion

Even though there are other ways to improve your brand’s message, we suggest starting with the 3 tips above.

However, if you’re still struggling to improve your brand’s message you can reach out to us to setup a free consultation. We’d love to hear about your non-profit and how we may be able to help you.