This happy dog has  story behind it, a story which is at the end of this post. The story does include how sometimes it can be very difficult to get the 'branding' and the identity that you need but hopefully the links I've shared below will help you make the most of showcasing what you do, in print and physical presence and in what you do digitally.

 

Hopefully there is something in the main link (below) for charities of any size, plus two links which give addition advice about images and structure. There are lots of ways you can use these links - and lots of reasons you can say 'not for me'. The first (of the latter - reasons not to use) is that they are all written for a 'commercial' audience, by experts who don't promote any of their work for our sector.

 

This main link - 7 Must Do Steps to building a Brand Identity that Really Stands Out - is just that, seven headings to seven sections and in each section, the author gives a number of questions you can answer, or at lest try to. There are some explanations of what branding and brand identity actually is and why they matter and for us, they really help in creating as many 'touch points' as possible so that when we speak to people, or they search online for what we do, there are as many opportunities as possible to 'convert' them into a supporter, a donor, a volunteer - and especially someone that we can help with the services or support we have.

 

Its a bit funny - in my last post I gave one link to an article about 'selling' and NO ONE clicked on it. It was clearly labelled as such (this is about 'selling') but no Charity Connect member decided that it was worth reading. My response - the link was from an expert in a field where if you do 'sales' as a job, you have to sell or you don't earn any income, you don't have a job,  the business you work for doesn't survive. Yes there are still high pressure sales techniques going on and people are 'ripped off' but 'selling' has changed beyond all recognition. Our sector can hardly say that some of its fundraising techniques have been any different from the above aggressive commercial happening.  

 

'Selling' is now much more about listening and watching for buying intent signals (people seeing lots of touch points) - just as is fundraising - and its about building relationships so that people don't actually need to be prompted that often. Yes Children in Need (and every other national programme) always makes that 'ask' at the end of every story they will show us, but Children in Need etc are long established huge brands (in their own right) and they are competition to each other and to everyday fundraising activity for all other charities and community groups.

 

This main link can be a step-by-step process or it could be a framework you work with, doing what you can when you have the time (and resources). It also can give you some expert validation for trying to approach others for help. Say you want to look at your brand (and identity) but you've no funding/resources for the design etc. If you use this article as part of the evidence you approach say a local college or business with for help, showing that you've worked through what you can but highlighting where you need them, then people can clearly see you've been transparent (Step No 7 on this article) and will be much more likely to say yes (to your 'sales' pitch - sorry your 'ask' for support) ...

 

These are two links that can go with these '7 Steps'. This one is about what is called the 'Golden Ratio' of design. It is for anyone (not just people who already have skills) and includes a link to a free graphic design course for beginners.

 

Then there is this link, to a guide on how to take better  pictures on your mobile phone. Its comprehensive and covers using features that most mobile cameras have (not just those on the latest I whatever you might have).

 

I can't stress enough that even just one photo, on your web site, on a social media post, or on a leaflet or poster - it can transform what people think of you in general, or for a specific campaign. Do though let people take things in when you use the best imagery you can (or have special content). In the horrible 'commercial' world, companies test everything and one key finding they often have is that the splash page (the box that comes up over a web site when you are browsing); it needs to appear after someone browsing has had at least a little time to see what they came for. So, if you make a donation ask as soon as a page launches (any page on your web site), you may be losing out. Yes you can always have a side bar which is there to ask for donations as soon as your web site appears, but if you instantly hide your rich brand content behind a fundraising 'ask', you will switch some people off from a journey that could make them a very valuable long term supporter, not just a there-and-then and possibly one-off responder to a funding request.

 

That said, the 'Golden Ratio' and phone picture articles both do have pop-ups that appear very quickly - but they don't cover the whole page and are much more like chat bot services (loading to the bottom RHS of the screen). Here are a couple of bonus links I've found - the one about getting back to  basics (for fundraising) and this one about 3 Best End-of-Year approaches for monthly donors. If you share either link, see how long it takes for the splash page advertising the 2018 P2P Study to appear (centre screen) for you and your friends. 

 

 

I'm personally not one for graphics with a word or phrase on them (to illustrate a message or for a presentation), so I could have used 'Branding' in big say red letters to lead on this post but if you've read any of my other posts they usually show you the bridge that our team is trying to make accessible to everyone. It's old enough that William Shakespeare may well have used it (its in Stratford-upon-Avon and the original version was made of wood - not the concrete one that's now in place!) so I could have used the Bard's image somewhere.

 

The fact that our surveying shows that, on a very average week tens of people with no chance to use the bridge - people in wheelchairs or those using mobility scooters etc - have to turn back, is the lead for our campaign but people have known about this for decades. In other consultations, people who live in the town said they don't use the bridge because they know they can't get up the steps so its perfectly reasonable to say that those we saw turning back are some of the many visitors Stratford has, people who have started on a beautiful riverside walk then come to an obstacle ...     

 

1000s of people a week cross the bridge and some are dog owners and some of them are retirees whose pets are their only companions. Little legs, let alone those holding the lead but with their own bit (a lot) of stiffness, find the steep steps difficult, so we did a '1000 paws' promotion which worked very well. A small dog, sitting on the top of a concrete step which is evidently steep, produced some of the best engagement we've had but our branding work has been very complex and intertwined with history and politics, plus other user group interests.

 

People in wheelchairs and using mobility scooters pictured at the bottom of the steps didn't work when the campaign for the bridge first started. Using young people to tell a story hasn't worked (yet).

 

As the group supporting the campaign, we've tried to be as professional as possible and speak in different ways to different interested people, and spent a year collecting together as much evidence as possible to justify that everyone should be able to cross the bridge. Maybe our next approach could be to ask Ben Elton to include us in the next series of 'Upstart Crow' (his wonderful life of Shakespeare comedy series that has just finished on BBC2). Its been hard to find the complete 'brand identity' that we need ... I'll read that article again for more tips ...