Feature Articles

Branding for nonprofits can be a challenge. When all you want to do is focus on “doing good” the last thing you want to worry about is your brand and voice. You’re not selling anything, why worry about it?

But with today’s super-competitive fundraising environment, nonprofits are selling something. They are selling their mission, convincing those with resources to choose them over another deserving nonprofit. NTEN’s Holly Ross had some brilliant words, and a new way to think, about branding, “A nonprofit brand is not what your organization stands for in the collective mind of your community and it's not your organization's self-image, mission or logo. It's the intersection of what's unique about the way your organization does its work and the interests and needs of your community. Building a brand means creating a consistent, recognizable, clear and unified voice or personality that conveys your organization's focus and uniqueness.”

Design and Voice

There are two components to creating your outward brand -- design and voice. No matter your design, logo or colors, YourMembership.com’s design team can work with you to shape your new site to match your existing identity. Should you want a completely new look, that’s fine too. We’ll accommodate your wishes and provide you with a professional, easily-navigated site. Our bulk email templates allow you to customize the look of your messages for a complete and consistent design theme.

Communication

Creating (and communicating) your voice has never been easier. With robust features like blogs, forums and multi-media uploading capabilities, you can communicate your mission and goals in a clear, and enjoyable manner. Since you are in control of your content, you can communicate in a personality that best conveys your message to your audience.

Calling all Volunteers

Plus we know you are not alone in your mission. We give you the tools to help spread your needs throughout the community. The volunteering needs and calls to action can be managed through our Career & Volunteer Center where our robust member management software allows members to browse categories/listings and apply directly online. Members/volunteers can also subscribe to email notifications of new needs and an RSS feed. Our NOW! feature allows you to post Twitter-like microblogs that both members and nonmembers can receive. This is a great way to let perspective members find out what your nonprofit is working on (or toward). Communicate goals, goal attainment, needs, etc.. It’s a short blast of information that even helps with your site’s search engine optimization.

Leveraging Facebook

Another way to communicate and publicize your nonprofit is through our SocialConnect add-on, which leverages Facebook Connect and enables your members to promote your organization across Facebook. Now you have the benefits and security of a private online community blended with the large numbers of a public site. It’s the best of both worlds.

Whether your brand is firmly established or you are thinking about starting anew, YourMembership.com can help you communicate your message and advance your goals through consistent design and robust membership management features. You already have the community, you just need to build on what’s out there and we can provide you with the tools in which to do so.