The power in and need for brand consultancy for nonprofits and foundations – a look at some amazing insights from the social impact world.
I recently came across a paper by Building Movement last year, entitled Meeting the Need: Building the Capacity of Community-Based Organizations.
It was full of incredible insights from a diverse group of community-based organisations and nonprofits, reflecting on their biggest challenges and pain points, their experiences with everything from wellness to strategy, culture to representation.
Reading through this brought a few key insights to light about how we, as an agency, deliver valuable and needed services to these organisations. Here are some highlights:
“Small nonprofits like ours run bare bones operations… All of our money goes to the programs and not staff, but this puts us at a disadvantage when it comes to the splashy impact that funders are looking for.”
—WHITE WRITE-IN RESPONDENT
>> This speaks to me about the tension point of investing in branding, design and campaigns for that ‘splashy’ impact funders love to see and the reality of where the funds are most needed. This is a common ‘battle’ we witness in organisations where donors want the funds to go directly to the impact, where funds also need to go to publicising the work, storytelling and engaging with audiences. The growing trend in unrestricted funding and organisations supporting visibility activities (such as The Elevate Prize Foundation and Four Friends Foundation) are instrumental in addressing this tension point, brava!
MOST COMMONLY EXPERIENCED CHALLENGE – 65% said “TIME FOR STRATEGIC THINKING”
>> This demonstrates the power of a dedicated resource and time to strategic thinking, having a trusted thought partner and outsourcing this accountability. Consultants and coaches are a great solution for this. We do our best work when we are present and engaged with the overarching strategic direction for the organisation and brand, ensuring the foundations are robust to support decision making through growth and navigating change, on an ongoing basis. By being the champion to the leadership team, and a trusted thought partner, it improves confidence, efficiency and progress. Win win.
“I’m not a big fan of consultants because I find time and again that I pay a lot of money for them to tell me what I already know.”
—WHITE FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANT
>> A common, and frustrating, experience with consultants. Totally understandable, we’ve seen it, experienced it ourselves. There is another way to consult and connect with organisations – those that are truly passionate about the cause, the impact and long term sustainability of the organisation. When your success is our success, we’re not only invested and care deeply, but it’s in our interest to keep things fresh, bring new perspectives and a challenger mindset to keep things moving forward and upwards.
“Excellent experiences have occurred with a service provider [when we established] an iterative relationship to ensure they understood the nuances of our mission, organizational culture, programs, and our accompanying business model.”
—BIPOC SURVEY PARTICIPANT
>> I love this insight so much – this truly demonstrates the long-term view of relationship building that brand is all about. Understanding the nuances of an organisation, its challenges, culture, offerings and business model really takes time and, when looked at alongside a brand consultant relationship, works in perfect harmony.
If your foundation is looking to enter a brand exercise, refresh or in search of a thought partner to steer the brand through challenges and change, then we’d love to hear from you. It’s a true honour to be part of these incredible missions and support you and the team through your impact. We have to pinch ourselves on the regular!
Get in touch and start the conversation today.