Promoting Your Non-Profit in Social Media: Organizational, Cause and Personal Branding

COMPELLING BRAND IDENTITIES IN PRINT & WEB

ID ENTITY

P R INT

P UBLISHING
Your Brand Online:
Personal, Organizational & Cause
WEB

Visible Logic, Inc.
142 High Street
Suite 615 2010 Blaine House Conference on Volunteerism
Portland, ME 04101
207.761.4230
visiblelogic.com

Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

Emily Brackett
President
Visible Logic, Inc.

Graphic Design & Branding:
Logos, Web Sites, Print Marketing, Book Covers & Interiors
Brand Positioning & Strategy

Introduction Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

Social Media Overview
Branding: On- and Off-line
Identifying Yourself
Tips for Using Social Media


Social Media
Overview

Social Media Overview Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

Major Social Networking Web Sites & Media
The major web sites and media

• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, FourSquare

• Blogging

Other media

• MySpace, Gowalla, Plaxo, etc.

• Email marketing

• Forums

• Face-to-face networking


Facebook
What’s On Your Mind?

Individuals

• Set up personal profiles

• You become friends with other people, and it’s reciprocal; the other person needs to OK you as a friend

Non-Profits

• Set up “company” pages (you can choose non-profit as your type)

• You can “like” a company, and it’s more of a one-way street. Gets your updates into someone’s news feed

Cause

• Could set up an “organization” type of company page

• You can “like” a company, and it’s more of a one-way street. Gets your updates into someone’s news feed


Twitter
What’s happening?

All accounts are individual

• There is only one kind of account with one user name & password

• Because they are individual accounts, there is some sense that tweets are coming from
an individual, but this is changing

• There are services which will allow more than one person to use an account
(and append initials, for example, at the end)

• You can follow as many others as you like, and it’s not automatically reciprocated


LinkedIn
Network Updates

All individual accounts, very resume-like way of presenting yourself

• There are company listings in LinkedIn, (still labeled as beta) but you still only link with the
employees (You can follow companies)

• You are encouraged only to connect with people you know, then the connection is two-way

• The Q&A section is a good way to break out of the resume structure, prove your expertise, connect
with those outside your sphere

• Groups are forum-like spaces, and are also a good way to connect with others


Blogs
Company sponsored or individual

Blogs can be completely personal, or can have a corporate mandate

• Multiple authors can contribute to a company blog and therefore have their own voice and persona

• Commenting on other blogs is an individual activity


Why Use Social Media?
• It’s free

• It’s where your volunteers are

• It’s a way to stay connected and top-of-mind

• It’s a great channel for sharing stories


Branding:
On- and Off-line

Branding: On- and Off-line Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

Your Brand is a Combination of:
The Identity you build and

The Perception / Messages that come from others
An official “face” (Exec. Director, Founder, etc.)

Volunteers

Donors

Recipients / Beneficiaries

The Cause


Volunteers

Recipients
Beneficiaries

The Cause
An official
Organization “face”
(Exec. Director,
Founder, etc.)

Donors


Organization
Identification Organization’s (Non-Profit) name / Logo or logotype

Visual Position Colors, imagery, typography and graphics that are applied to Web sites, marketing
materials, packaging, uniforms, corporate identity, also Twitter backgrounds, etc.

Voice May be dictated by corporate standards,
may be screened by marketing, lawyers, etc

Reputation Built by employees, volunteers, donors, beneficiaries, etc.

Social Media The organization should claim their own identities.

An organization’s brand may or may not be well developed.
There is sometimes concern about spending money on branding.


Founder / Director / Publicity
Identification Your own name, but talking about an organization or cause

Visual Position Everything under the organization, but also your personal look

Voice May come across as from the organization or from the individual

Reputation Personal reputation mixed with organization’s reputation

Social Media A well-known face of the company should be identifiable in social media

In a grassroots organization the founder’s brand may be critical to the organization’s brand.


Volunteers
Identification Each individual is unique, but may be part of an external organization

Visual Position Looking to the organization for guidance

Voice Will be their own unless otherwise directed

Reputation They should be role models / spokesperson

Social Media Some of your volunteers are very active. Learn how can they “work” for your organization

Volunteers are seeking your guidance on brand standards. Give them the correct brand identity
materials and the voice (content, message) they need.


Donors
Identification May be individual or corporate

Visual Position May want to influence this, or may step out

Voice May want to influence this, or may step out

Reputation Involvement may be very personal or very affected

Social Media Some of your donors are very active. Learn how can they “work” for your organization

An important, large-scale donor may have goals for using donations as a way to build their own
brand (naming rights, etc.)


Recipients / Beneficiaries
Name Generally individual

Visual Position Looking to you for support

Voice Has their own story. Help them get it out.

Reputation The recipients reputation reflects back on the organization’s

Social Media Some of your recipients and beneficiaries are very active.
Learn how can they “work” for your organization

This group can really be brand evangelizers. Like volunteers they are looking to you for brand
identity guidelines and maybe for content/voice.


The Cause
Identification May differ across organizations, groups, demographics, etc.
A few have their own brand identity

Visual Position Usually needs a brand identity (from a non-profit group) to hang on

Voice Has their own story

Reputation A string of personal stories

Social Media A cause may have a social media presence.
Learn how can it “work” for your organization

The cause is often what gets someone involved with your organization. But your organization may
not always be the beneficiary (some causes have the support of many organizations).


Does your cause have a brand identity?
Causes may or may not have their own brand identity. Generally, if a “cause” has a well-defined brand
identity it’s been the work of an organization who launched the brand.

A good example of a cause’s brand identity is the pink representing Breast Cancer. This is such
a universal phenomenon it can be found on everything from t-shirts to Kitchen Aid mixers.

Most causes do not have such a strong brand identity.
Causes that generate news also have a sort of brand perception (ie Hurricane Katrina,
Earthquake in Haiti)


Identifying
Yourself

Identifying Yourself Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

Online Specific Branding Elements

Domain Name and Handles

• Grab your name on all the major social media sites

• Grab your name, even if you won’t use the site immediately

• Consider creating multiple names if you use an acronym, or for key people



Avatars, Favicons & Headshots, Key Visuals

• Have reduced the idea of a “logo” to a small, square icon.

• Use these consistently: Set up gravatars (globally recognized avatar), or recreate case-by-case on
different platforms

• Key personnel should use consistent and professional headshot photos

• Customize any areas that you can with your brand identity (ex: Twitter background)



Content Rules... so Voice is More Important than Ever

• What topics will you discuss

• Is the message coming from an individual or from the organization?

• How can you make stories from multiple sources sound consistent?

• How can you encourage people to tell their story?


Are you large and established or
small and grassroots?
Can you afford to look “well branded?”
Connect on the personal level.
Be authentic.


Promoting as a large, established organization

Positives Negatives

Larger geographic reach Overhead, bureaucracy

Stronger infrastructure Slow to react

Can work on a bigger picture Answering to multiple donors, board, grants,
etc.
Can survive turnover

Lobbying, etc.

Larger net of connections


Promoting as a smaller, grassroots organization

Positives Negatives

Local, personal Lack of resources

Fast start-up Can they survive long term?

Direct benefit, immediate needs Dependent on a small handful of dedicated
people
Hands on
What happens when key person leaves?
More deeply motivated connections (?)


Promoting on a Personal Level:
Founders, Volunteers, Beneficiaries

Positives Negatives

Individuality, personal stories Can be overwhelmed keeping up with
social media
Personal, human touch
Lack of consistency
Unique, one-of-a-kind
If the one person is the “face”, what if
they leave?


Promoting a Cause

Positives Negatives

Calls on people’s emotions The benefactor may not be
your organization
Can connect on both personal and
organizational level


Tips for Using
Social Media

Tips For Using Social Media Your Brand Online: Personal, Organizational & Cause

How to cultivate your
Organization’s brand using social web
Maintain a consistent brand presence:

• Register your business name on all major sites

• Use your business name (with or without your own name in addition)

• Use a logo, rather than a photo for an avatar

Don’t go too far and be too impersonal or stiff


How to connect personal stories to your
organization’s brand on the social web
Encourage individuals to connect to your brand

• Have Facebook status updates built into event registration

• Have your social media icons visible in all materials

• Give people a reason to connect (matching donation, etc.)


How to integrate your cause’s brand with
your organization’s brand identity
• Connect with other non-profits to cross-promote (ie retweets, posting to each other’s wall, etc.)

• You can have multiple accounts.
(ie non-profit page and cause “organization” page on Facebook).


Compounding Effect
Social Media should be used to increase the effectiveness of all channels:

• Offline: connect in-person events before, during and after

• Online: Cross promote between your different channels

• Partners: Cross promote with other organizations that have ties to the same or similar causes


Questions to Ask Yourself
• How can personal stories build your organization’s story?

• How does social media fit into my volunteering, fund raising or marketing plan?

• What am I doing outside of social media that needs to complement my online brand?

• How are my potential volunteers and donors using the social web?

• What kind of social media policy will we need?


Emily Brackett
Visible Logic, Inc.
visiblelogic.com
visiblelogic.com/blog
twitter: @VisibleLogic
facebook: facebook.com/VisibleLogic
LinkedIn personal: linkedin.com/in/emilybrackett
LinkedIn company: linkedin.com/company/204702

Promoting Your Non-Profit in Social Media: Organizational, Cause and Personal Branding

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