Nonprofit Expressions

We needed a place for all of our sister companies to live! Check out our newest endeavors at www.expressions-lab.com!

One of the most common challenges that nonprofit organizations face is being able to clearly define what they DO.

Can I get an Amen?

Please don’t misunderstand, I do not mean that what they do is not important, but simply that they do so many important things that it is difficult to distinguish a purpose.

I used to coordinate grant writing trainings for SAMHSA, and the trainer (now director of Compassion by Design) used to ask “the million dollar” question: “If you had to compete for 1 million dollars in one sentence, what would that one sentence be?”

How does this have anything to do with branding?

It has EVERYTHING to do with branding! A brand is much more than a logo (although images is a huge part of it). A brand is the overall impression that an organization’s audiences have about that organization.

Just stop a second… what do you think about when you hear your organizations name?

It should be clearly defined, distinguished and one-sentence worth!

We can relate

Nonprofit Expressions is currently undergoing a lot of change. A LOT of change. We moved into a new office (Amen!), are starting a PC repair business, digging into the local web design market, and are having to re-define our purpose!

Our passion is still churches and nonprofits, but we have branched out to small businesses and individuals. So now what? “Nonprofit Expressions” isn’t going to cut it anymore. And when asked… “what do you do?”… it is hard to even know how to respond without spouting out a thousand verbs at once.

But with launching our new sister businesses this May, this is the perfect time to begin defining our brand.

Check out our new all-encompassing website: www.expressions-lab.com

So how can we begin clarifying our brand?

Start with a communications audit. Have a professional look at all of your communications materials: print, online, broadcast, etc. This will help evaluate your organization’s current capacity or performance of essential communications practices. It will tell you what is working well, what’s not and give you some important recommendations for next steps.

Next, define your publics: who has influence on your organization, and who does your organization influence (staff, members, customers, stakeholders, etc).

Then, do a survey (something simple). You can use surveymonkey.com for free, for example. Send the survey to a variety of key publics and ask them to define your organization. You will get to see your organization through the eyes of the people who matter. They might even have some great suggestions on improvement!

Other steps in this process can be a full situation analysis and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and even some strategies you can implement to improve your brand.

For more information on a communications audit or survey, contact Jennifer!