Over the years, we have had the pleasure of working with a number of Foundations. Ranging from supporting off-the-beaten-track artists, to visual storytelling for youth organisations, to championing global social impact leaders to support young women across Scotland. From start-ups to glow-ups.
What’s great about these organisations is the common thread of doing good – at scale: A shared vision of community building, relationship and connection and shared resources. They all come from a place of distributing resources and collaborating in achieving collective success.
One thing that comes up is, do they even need a brand? Aren’t they doing enough ‘good’ as it is to rally awareness on its own? Do they need storytelling? Do they need to invest in creating a platform for themselves as well as supporting others?
Over time, we’ve seen a huge shift to answer ‘yes’ to these questions.
Why?
Well, let’s look at what brand does for foundations:
- Clarity – of message, positioning, who you serve, why and how. Whilst offering resources and funding is incredibly noble and worthy, it’s rarely scatter-gun. There’s a deep-rooted purpose and meaning behind why these organisations have been set up and why, where they see the resources going and to what end. Getting clear on these points helps those seeking support to know they’ve found the right place, and also serves as valuable markers for the team. This is essential in a world where missions often overlap.
- Relationships – built on trust are essential to work across the multitude of stakeholders, from community leaders, grantees, policymakers, and even peer funders. When there is an authentic, transparent and clear mission, these relationships become easier to navigate.
- Impact – to increase influence and reach. Following on from Clarity, a foundation is often started to address a cause, issue, topic area or group. Positioning the foundation as a thought-leader in their area of focus can help shape public discourse and draw attention to these critical issues.
- Transparency – and demonstrating accountability, impact and evidence through telling stories, conveying metrics and progress in their work, all help to build trust and credibility.
- Collaborations – become far easier with a clear, reputable brand that can lead to partnerships, co-funding, co-investments and innovative collaborations.
These powerful reasons go far beyond a simple logo, website or branded pen at an event – it plays a role in developing deep connections, opening possibilities and increasing impact over time. The roots of which can begin with core brand principles.
And that’s what we’ve begun to see – from the all-singing-and-dancing, highly public foundations with huge social presence to the behind-the-scenes, stealth and quiet grant-makers – they all need to have a clear, strong position, message, clarity of mission and emotional connection with others.
We love working with these organisations that don’t initially feel brand is ‘for them’ and by the end, the energy shift, the momentum and drive are exponentially increased.
And we’re here for it – supporting those doing the Good Work so more good can become of it.
So, if you’re a philanthropic organisation that’s fledgling, looking to sharpen their position, or well-established and looking for a new chapter, we’d love to hear from you. We understand foundations evolve, and their brand should evolve with them.
If you want to be inspired by those supporting some of the world’s most incredible change-makers, check out some of our foundation client work:
