Branding Resources

If you need a research resource for ideas on creating an effective brand for your organization, then the website "All About Branding" should be helpful. It contains a number of excellent free articles and other tools that provide insightful guidance.

Although the site is focused on for profits, with a little imagination the resources should be easily adapted for use in a nonprofit organization.

To access the site, just click on the title to this post.

Fundraising Tips for Turbulent Times

Jerry Panas has created a weekly series of tips to help nonprofits with their fundraising during this time of economical turmoil. The series is entitled “Economy Response.”

According to Mr. Panas’ website:

“ECONOMY RESPONSE is our answer to the turmoil the economy is in these days. The good news is that many organizations are actually raising more money now than they have in the past.

There’s a reason for this. In tough times, people actually give more. But here’s the rub. They only give more to organizations they care about. Those that are lower in their philanthropic priority will receive less or are dropped.

Your response to all this is to be scrupulous in your stewardship... get in front of your donors on a regular basis...make your case more dramatic and compelling, and more urgent... show how your institution is more distinctive— a mission without parallel... demonstrate that your delivery is more effective than ever... let them know you are cutting all expenses that don’t provide better service...and you are touching more lives than ever before.

That is what this series is all about. Each week, ECONOMY RESPONSE will offer a special message to help you get your friends and donors into your institutional hug, a lasting embrace.”

To access the series, just click on the title to this post.

Values Based Branding

An organization’s marketing and communications efforts can be substantially enhanced by creating an effective branding strategy. Here’s a video about a values based approach to branding:

Fundraising During Challenging Economic Times

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) makes available free resources on its website, particularly on the “Resource Tools” page found under “Resource Center” on the left menu bar (www.afpnet.org).

One such resource is a recent article written by Derrick Feldmann, which provides suggestions about building stronger ties with donors during tough economic times. Mr. Feldmann provides suggestions centered around being proactive, involving donors and communication.

To access this helpful resource, just click on the title to this post.

Marketing- Search Engine Optimization

An effective marketing program for your nonprofit or educational institution requires optimization of search engine results. In other words, you want your organization’s site to appear as near as possible to the top of the results list when someone does an applicable query in search engines like Google or Yahoo.

Here’s a video to help get you started: