144. Back to the Basics: Nonprofit Marketing and Branding - Jonathan McCoy, CFRE and Becky Endicott, CFRE

Donor RelationsCultivationStrategyValues

Jul 16

Written By Julie Confer

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Overview

[cue the confetti cannons and heel kicks🎉💃] It's nonprofit marketing and branding day!! aka: the only topic we love chatting about more than our respective kids and dogs. You're probably thinking to yourself, "I'm not a marketer; this doesn't apply to me." Friends. IT MATTERS! But don't feel intimidated, because we're taking your hand, and walking you through the ins and outs of building your organization's brand ethos, top marketing hacks to bring your mission's story to life, and providing that subversive We Are For Good bent to the conversation on how to stand out while still maintaining our humanity.

“Your brand is the sum of expectations and feelings perceived by people. Your brand isn’t what you say about you. It’s what others say.”

— Seth Godin

Episode Transcript

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Episode Overview

Tone setting: the attention economy (2:00)
The importance of your ethos (3:00)
Key nonprofit marketing truths (7:00)
Book suggestion: This is Marketing by Seth Godin (9:00)
We Are For Good ethos to marketing (14:00)
Rapid fire hacks (21:40)
Final challenge: 3 questions you can answer to help launch your strategy (25:00)
- Have you shared your story?
- Have you brought people to your love of your mission?
- Have you listened to someone else’s story?

Powerful quotes

“You need to invest in your marketing.” -Becky

“Your mission is worthy of this. Your brand is an asset and it sells the thing that you are and the mission you are perpetuating.” -Becky

“Give your mission a stage and a microphone.” -Becky

“There are so many competing messages, notifications, and noise. We have to get recentered on how to get people’s attention.” -Jon

“What is that special sauce that makes you who you are as an organization?” -Jon

“We don’t think about the culture of philanthropy that we are perpetuating. Your brand and the way you can bake in values, tone, and visuals are creating cultures of philanthropy.” -Becky

“If you are disrupting, you are going to step apart right away.” -Jon

“We’re in an incredible moment of time. Try stuff, and see what happens.” -Jon

NONPROFIT MARKETING TRUTHS

People matter
Optics matter
Story matters
Resonance matters
Authenticity matters
Your brand matters

WAFG ETHOS TO MARKETING

Seek to disrupt, surprise and set your mission apart.
Get a dang plan.
Real people and their stories should be the heart of your brand.
Words matter. So tell a great story.

Work toward building brand democracy
- you trust your volunteers, staff and donors to communicate their own understanding of your brand's identity.
Create a distinct voice and soul for your organization.
Design and visuals are key. Fight for this investment.
Having a digital presence is non-negotiable.
Test, survey, ask, poll, etc. Always keep your finger on the pulse of your people.
Seek to harness social media, not control it.

Marketing and branding rapid fire Hacks

Share content and stories through the lens of your values
Leverage multi-channel whenever possible
Syndication mindset is key to executing a robust communication and engagement strategy
1. Segment Data, 2. Test various messages and CTA, 3. Evaluate outcomes and pivot.
Video is king!!
Once you get people engaged, you have to inspire them to actually take action. And all of this happens primarily through digital. Always include a call to action in all digital communication.