5 Ways to Improve Your Nonprofit’s Local Brand

Whether you are a new nonprofit or an older nonprofit still having trouble getting your ‘footing’ when it comes to increasing your nonprofit’s local brand reach, GrantWatch wants to help! For this reason, below is a list provided by GrantWatch of five ways to improve your nonprofit’s local brand recognition.

1. Word of Mouth

One of the best ways to improve your nonprofit’s local brand is through word of mouth. Let your neighbors, friends, family and coworkers know about your nonprofit and what it does. Make sure to speak with passion, but don’t be too overbearing. You want to tell them about all the good your nonprofit is accomplishing. This will make them more likely to tell others they know about your nonprofit, which should in turn help increase your brand awareness.

2. Press Releases

Press releases can be another great avenue to attract attention for your nonprofit. Maybe your nonprofit is holding an event, or has achieved a specific accomplishment you want to share. This could be the perfect time to reach out to your local tv stations or newspapers and send a press release with more details. Who knows, your press release could be one of the ones chosen to receive some – free and needed – publicity!

Getting your nonprofit seen on a local television channel or in the local paper will increase your brand’s reach. It will also add to your nonprofit’s credibility as an official organization. Most television stations and papers also put their feature stories online. So, this will allow you to share the coverage on your own social media and gain even more prominence.

Press releases are usually quite simple to put together and do not take much time. If your nonprofit hasn’t ever had a press release written on its behalf, there are many resources available online that provide a template for how to write one. Here are some of GrantWatch’s own press releases that the company has sent out in the past. These might give you an idea of what needs to include in a press release.

3. Unique Logo

When creating a name for your nonprofit, one of the next logical steps is to create a logo for your organization. This step can be a big part of how successful your nonprofit’s brand will be. You want to make sure to make a logo that is unique and will stand out, rather than some tired design that has been done before. Decide on what colors you want to associate with your brand and incorporate them into your logo. Make sure your logo is a design people will likely remember. This will help with your brand awareness.

During this process, you might also want to take some time with your team to think about other organizations or companies that have been successful with their logos. What did they do differently? How can you learn from them?

If your team does not have much graphic design experience, you may want to consider hiring an outside designer to help you with your logo. This will save you a lot of time and stress.

4. Community Outreach

If you want your nonprofit to be a household name in your community, it is crucial that you take an active role in your community. This means participating in community outreach activities whenever possible. What is community outreach? Well, community outreach can take shape in many forms. For your nonprofit, this might involve helping a certain disadvantaged group in your community, such as the unhoused, the hungry, or minorities in need.

Community outreach provides a great opportunity for those representing your nonprofit to get out and actually meet local residents face-to-face. This will help the local community see what it is your nonprofit actually does and make them more likely to want to support you in the future.

5. Organization Partnerships

Another way to ensure your nonprofit’s local brand reach is as strong as it can be is to team up with other organizations in the area. This can be a great way to get your nonprofit noticed by your community, especially if you reach out to an organization that already has established roots within the community. Not only can they connect with others in the community, but they will probably have useful tips for you that they have learned during their years of involvement in the community.

In addition, having a partnership with a well-known organization could also be useful when hosting events or fundraisers. Having their name associated with functions you sponsor will likely give you a better turnout, and can open you up to a whole new audience that might be interested in your mission.

Hopefully, these tips will help your nonprofit succeed and have a strong, positive impact within your local community. For more articles like this one, keep checking back with GrantNews for fresh content daily.

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