The Nonprofit
Brand IDEA:
Driving
Mission Impact
Background to Research
 18 month study by the Hauser Center funded
by the Rockefeller Foundation
 Interviews with 73 individuals in 41 organizations
 What is the role of brand in the nonprofit sector
and how is it evolving?
 Article in the SSIR Spring 2012, “The Role of Brand
in the Nonprofit Sector”
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Next Steps - 2013
 Book to be published by Jossey-Bass in 2013
 Take the Brand IDEA framework further
 Additional examples of nonprofit brand
management
 Brand Building and Brand Management guidelines
and recommendations
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Initial Findings: Brand and the Role of Brands
 Across sectors:
 Brand as a psychological construct
 Promise, short cut, the what and why
 Strong brands enable
 Gain resources, access, partnerships and trust
 Difference in the Nonprofit Sector:
 Role: long term social goals; multiplicity of audiences; and
internal role of the brand
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand Skeptics and Sources of Pride
Skepticism
Sources of Pride
Commercial pursuit
Mission
Top down enforcement of brand
Participatory process
Reflect leadership’s vanity or
counter organizational values
Values and Culture
Bully Brands
Partnerships
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Nonprofit Brand Cycle
 Brand plays key internal and external
roles (Identity and image)
 Clear brands build cohesion internally
and trust externally
 Cohesive, highly trusted brands result
in greater capacity and impact
 Capacity and impact reinforce identity
and image
 Nonprofit brand reflects and serves the
organization’s mission and strategy
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand IDEA Framework
 Integrity
 Aligns mission, identity, and image
 Democracy
 Trusts stakeholders to participate in building brand identity
and communicate the brand
 Ethics
 Reflects core values of the organization
 Affinity
 Attracts partners and shares credit and space, rallying
around a bigger goal
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand Integrity
• One of WWF challenges is how to convey the
breadth of the organization’s work in a way
that is coherent with the powerful image it
holds with the public
• To address this WWF simplified its vision and
mission statements and introduced a set of
story themes that helps aligns the
organization’s identity with its image
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand Democracy
• In 2006, Amnesty International took on the
challenge of developing a clear, global identity.
• The outcome is captured in a Little Yellow
Book which articulates a unity of purpose
across Amnesty International, while
encouraging translation and adaptation to suit
a variety of contexts
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand Ethics
• Publish What You Pay (PWYP) global campaigning
coalition of many diverse NGOs whose mission is
to increase revenue transparency in the
extractive industries
• Creating equitable, transparent governance
procedures and establishing common
membership standards across the broad coalition
help protect and uphold the credibility, legitimacy
and values of the overall PWYP brand and
network
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Brand Affinity
• The Girl Effect brand seeks to create a platform
for all girl champions to use — from passionate
citizens to NGO partners like CARE and BRAC to
the World Bank to girls in developing countries
• A variety of “open-source” tools and resources
are freely available for use on the Girl Effect webplatform, and partners are highlighted in order to
encourage and reinforce the inter-connectivity of
this initiative
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
The Brand IDEA in Practice
 Thinking differently about the role and potential of
brands (not just fundraising or communications)
 Assessing the role of brand at each step in the theory
of change and making it explicit
 Using brand democracy to manage internal brand
identity (rooted in ethics and values) and external
brand image
 Embracing brand affinity and the role brands can play
in collaborations and partnerships
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Helping Communities Shape Their Own
Future Through Education
Donate
“An anarchy of information was reflected in both the mission statement
and the visual identity.”
~ Angha Childress, Executive Director
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Niger Delta Women’s Movement
for Peace and Development
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser
Concluding Thoughts
 Thank you! Obrigada!! Merci! Gracias!
 This is a work in progress…We invite your questions,
suggestions and feedback!
“Everything we do and the decisions we make, depend on our
brand positioning. In order to deliver on our mission, we need a
clear, strong, well managed brand.”
Meghan Reddick, Vice President, Communications YMCA Canada
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/ hauser