Our “aha” moment.

The founders of Brand Fundamentals came to a startling realization: almost every nonprofit organization develops its brand in a vacuum. Executive Directors and Board Members go through the same learning curve, make the same mistakes, and suffer the same pains.

The solution: The Brand Fundamentals Report.

Brand Fundamentals helps nonprofits become more effective brand stewards, paving the way to better performance, greater impact, and savings in time and money. The report is tailored to the needs of your organization. The Brand Fundamentals Report for Nonprofits includes 3 components:

1. Brand Brief

Using proprietary research methods developed by us, the Brand Brief identifies and documents essential attributes of your organization’s brand. We work with key stakeholders inside and outside your organization to capture important data, then distill and organize it in a framework that is clear and easy to understand. The Brand Brief can be used in a number of ways:

• Share it with new and existing board members and staff to promote mission awareness, facilitate understanding, and reach common ground.
• Use it to guide strategic and tactical decisions.
• Share it with marketing and creative professionals when developing print and electronic materials.
• Use it as the basis for an identity program.
• Use it to inform fundraising efforts.
• Share it with allied organizations to clarify similarities and differences, and to promote mutual interests.

2. Evaluation

This section of the report looks at the core components that make up a brand:

• Essentials (principals and characteristics that define what the organization is and what it does).
• Identity (what the organization presents to the world).
• Image (what the world perceives).

We review existing print and electronic communications to assess how well the organization is delivering its message. We offer details about what is working and what is not working, especially in terms of clarity, continuity, and connection with target audiences. Finally, we offer actionable recommendations for strengthening the brand and increasing impact. The Evaluation can be used for:

• Clarifying brand messaging.
• Developing and refining identity materials.
• Improving fundraising effectiveness.

3. Key Recommendations

Because some actions are more important than others, we highlight Key Recommendations—usually 4 or fewer. Key Recommendations are ideal for:

• Providing context and guidance for strategic plans.
• Establishing priorities and determining action steps.
• Establishing benchmarks and metrics for organizational goals.