by Robert I. Evans and Avrum D. Lapin With the thoughts about the Purim holiday, we are reminded of the many “masks” that nonprofit organizations wear and some of the institutional games that we play, and at least one of the messages that we get from reading the Megila. The mandate: rather than hiding one’s identity, be forthcoming about who you are and work diligently to identify your goals and vision. One contemporary lesson from Purim: the more a nonprofit is aware of and framing its image, the more successful it will be in maintaining and attracting financial and passionate support, along with successful brand recognition. Nonprofits of all sizes need to regularly redefine - and reaffirm - their positions within the Jewish marketplace. We acknowledge that the nonprofit arena is … Continue Reading
Rebranding David: Lessons Learned in Transforming a Jewish Organization
by David Bernstein Last week, I received a call from an old acquaintance in the pro-Israel community. “I just want to congratulate you on re-positioning The David Project,” he said. “I was recruited for your job, and decided not to pursue it because I didn’t think it was doable.” Eighteen months into it, my team at The David Project has indeed managed to rebrand the once perceived hard-nosed, take-no-prisoners advocacy organization into a perceived moderate, thoughtful, and strategic advocacy organization operating in the pro-Israel mainstream. No doubt we have a ways to go, but many of the people who matter the most for our purposes are now fully aware of the change in direction. In the course of this past year and a half, we made numerous mistakes, but somehow seemed to have … Continue Reading
Resource Links
If you are not familiar with our Resource Library, have a look. We developed this section as a way to assist you in connecting with others, reaching a greater audience and keeping current on the newest tends. We also encourage you to check back often as new links are added on a regular basis. Some recent additions: IRS Tax-Exempt Status Newly revised, the process for dealing with the IRS to obtain tax-exempt status (October 2010) Finding the Right Transparency Today, more than ever, the public and government agencies are demanding nonprofits to be transparent. But concerns about having a realistic picture of internal operations, where money is going, and the effectiveness of the programs are countered by concerns of overburdened staff, increased administrative costs, and an invitation to … Continue Reading
Introducing Change: Lessons from Branding a Jewish Federation
by Howard Adam Levy Recently, I had the opportunity to work with one of the 157 local Jewish Federations on helping them remain relevant to the changing needs of their community and develop a marketing theme and materials to attract new donors. The lessons learned may be informative for other organizations grappling with change. Here are five steps to consider when changing your brand: 1. Do your homework. Before you can address any issue, you need to know what your audience thinks - and it's not necessarily what you expect. To understand donors, we conducted a Community Opinion Survey asking about people's beliefs and values, giving habits, and awareness of the Federation's programs. The findings were startling. Even long-time donors (who had been giving for 6 years or more), were … Continue Reading
Things That Should Scare Fundraisers
from Future Fundraising Now: Halloween special: Things that should scare fundraisers In honor of Halloween, when we seek that thrill of tiny fingers on the back of the neck, here are some things that should scare the heck out of fundraisers: Branding experts. These guys are the marauding, brain-eating zombies of the fundraising world. If they show up at your door, slam it. If they get in, run away. They are going to devour your fundraising program with their grand abstractions and faddish design. After the branding experts have come and gone, many organizations are stuck with a drop of up to 50% in fundraising revenue. Be sure to read the complete post for more. … Continue Reading
Building Brand Equity, or Not
from The Wall Street Journal: Charity Brawl: Nonprofits Aren't So Generous When a Name's at Stake Trademark turf battles characteristic of sharp-elbowed corporations are erupting across the typically amicable world of nonprofits. Charities raising money for the same cause are getting into dust-ups over fonts, logo designs and other branding minutia. Nonprofits say the details are no small matter. Some groups contend they have lost sizeable donations when donors mistakenly wrote checks to another charity with a similar name. … Continue Reading
Brands That Beat the Recession: Lessons Learned
The DOW just passed the 11,000 - signaling (if you believe the prognosticators) that the long recession is officially behind us. Lots of people learned some tough but important lessons during these difficult months and many of us changed our behavior in the process. In looking at the most recent Millward Brown Optimor BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Brands 2009 Report, I was struck by ten key takeaways they note that gave the top brands the edge needed to survive and thrive during the recession. Here are their ten key learnings and my take on how they apply to the nonprofit sector. With thanks to the folk at Millward Brown. Brands Still Matter. Even in difficult economic times, people still make purchases of things they value. For nonprofits, that translates into knowing that maintaining your … Continue Reading
Seriously, It’s No Joke: You Need to Manage Your Personal Brand
I am not sure exactly when personal brand building became the powerful force it is today, but I do know that the growth in social media coupled with consumers love of smart phones and PDA's (not sure which fueled which) gave everyone a no-cost way to create and build their own personal brand. Creating and maintaining a strong personal digital presence has become an important priority for lots of people for all kinds of reasons. If you are looking for that next job, have an expertise that others might value, are involved in things or have interests that might connect you to new and also interesting people, you should think about and carefully shape and nurture your personal brand. On the other hand, if all you want is attention, be forewarned that you might get what you seek but at a cost you may … Continue Reading
Your Brand: A Valuable Asset
Today, most nonprofits know that maintaining strong, positive brand positioning is as important to their health and well-being as are their activities aimed at keeping donors informed and engaged or their staff members motivated. Yet, like so many things we have to worry about, understanding what it takes to maintain brand excellence is markedly different than it was just a few years ago. Today, with so much of a brand's identity is channeled through informal social networking and other web 2.0 user-directed interactivity rather than paid advertising and traditional media coverage, how do you protect and nurture your brand? What and who do you measure to understand brand impact? And, does it make any sense to try to measure brand impact in traditional ways when influence and brand value have been … Continue Reading
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