Mentoring Social ventures and Startups

1
What is Non-Profits Branding For
Fundraising? Some of the NGOs we work with show
huge concern about their Brand. They are
horribly concerned that their brand is not well
known in the development sector and thus are
sceptical about the success of their fundraising
plans due to low brand awareness. When we dig
deeper into their ideas about Brand and
Brand Awareness and put some queries like how do
you define your brand, and how did you come to
the conclusion that Brand awareness is
insignificant? we realize that most of it is
linked to perceptions and physical attributes
like logo, colour and visual representation of
the NGO"s name.
The amount of time and other resources NGO
Fundraising spend on beautifying and improvising
the physical attributes of the brand is not a
joke. Unfortunately, overlooking the various
underlying core attributes of a brand, like an
experience and values, is a folly.
2
Concern about Brand awareness is a hopeless case
like running in the wilds ultimately you would
run out of breath. No organization has enough
resources to completely undertake all the
branding activities. More than the physical
constituents of the brand, its important to
recognize the experiential components. A brand is
a set of values you are ready to suffer for and
the experience which you leave with those who
come in contact with your brand. Only through
exclusive values, handling perceptions and
experience, one can develop a brand that is
unique.
3
Unfortunately, with big creative agencies driving
the development of Ngo"s brand as a product, the
focus shifts more on the pictorial and visual
aspects rather than the inherent work, value and
experience that the NGOs deliver to society. Are
you looking for an NGO Fundraising Consultancy in
India? We can help you with your fundraising
goals and objectives. Centreforfundaraising is a
cloud-based program, NGO Project Planner and
management IT solution.
4
Now, let"s dwell a little on whether a good
physical representation/ creating appealing
visual design and creatives is core to an NGOs
brand? I as an individual would disagree. The
people/ prospects/ supporters/ donors who come in
close contact with an NGO, don"t care much about
how the brand is depicted in terms of colours,
design and presentation. Neither do they care
about the colours and the fonts. What the
supporters care about is the Cause which the
NGO is championing? It"s the cause that draws
them to the NGO, and rightly so because it"s the
core differentiator about how the NGO is
positioned in their mind and perceived.
5
Recently, at one of the board meetings, I told
that XYZ organization is our competitor and
spending lots of resources in developing their
brand, and we can"t match them in
fundraising. The reality is that for an NGO it"s
futile to spend the hard-earned resources on
brand raising. In fact, you don"t need a brand
for raising funds, but your fundraising efforts
would build the brand if you are able clearly to
pitch your cause and the values you stand
for. In face to face fundraising, a typical
facer in India approaches around 120 prospects
to close a donation. So, on average, the facer
listens to around 119 Nos for every new donor
they recruit for their charity. The most
important aspect to be looked at is that all
these 120 people get introduced to your brand.
Prospective donors to a Non-profit organization
make donation decisions, based on whether the
non-profit"s cause matches their inherent need
to do something great. A well-trained
fundraising team should pitch the cause with such
passion that even if the prospect says No to
their donation request, the prospect should
leave with the thought that Today, I lost the
chance to do something wonderful. If the NGO
team is able to leave behind this feeling with
every person they come in contact with, trust me
you would never need to spend a penny on brand
building.