rebrand – Affiliate Marketing Programs

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Nonprofits looking to rebrand must take care to preserve the organization’s core values while refreshing its identity to resonate better with current and future supporters. Though this isn’t often an easy feat, a successful and strategic rebrand can lead to renewed energy and stronger mission alignment.

To that end, 20 Forbes Nonprofit Council members share their best strategies for navigating a nonprofit rebrand. From engaging stakeholders early to seeking expertise from marketing professionals, here are their practical tips and insights for ensuring the rebranding process runs smoothly.

1. Invest In A Good Marketing Company

Too often, nonprofits keep work in-house to save precious resources, which can cost more in the long run. Investing in a good marketing company is worth the cost of ensuring your brand is professional and relevant before you begin. Start with basic brand guidelines, including clear and consistent messaging, fonts, different versions of your logo and how you are going to use what and when. – Bev Wenzel, The ROCK Center for Youth Development and Discover You

2. Leverage Your Community

Lean on your existing community. It is always amazing how many people are already in your network who can provide insight and expert assistance with a rebrand at no cost. – Taryn Palumbo, Orange County Grantmakers

3. Focus On Your Story

We rebranded to announce our plans to serve students across more cities in the Bay Area. The most important part of a rebrand is your story—a consistent manifesto shared internally and externally. Rebranding helps you better represent who you truly are (or will become), and that purpose should drive the project. You need to help people understand by giving them tools to champion your central purpose. – Irene Shih, Minds Matter Bay Area (MMBay)

4. Honor The Previous Brand

When rebranding, there can be this temptation to abandon all previous iterations and make a clean break to a new brand. This presents the possibility of alienating those who worked hard to build the previous brand. It is important to honor the work that went into creating the previous brand by clearly communicating why any new brand changes are necessary. – Jordan Palladino, Harvest Stand Ministries

5. Take A Multi-Step Approach

The success of a rebrand can be driven by three key factors. First, get meaningfully engaged with the board for a crucial external perspective. Second, find a creative and flexible branding partner who takes time to understand the organization and inspire your best thinking. Last, hire a strong internal marketing communications lead who can execute the roll out in the near and long term with excellence. – Shelley Hoss, Orange County Community Foundation

6. Start With Client Data

Start with the client data you already collect and flesh out how you want to evolve with direct community input. Surveys, interviews and forums are great tools for this. Clients choose who they work with based on alignment of need and reflection of self. Acknowledging the power of representation allows for more credibility and influence amongst the communities your organization serves. – Christina Engel, Magic Cabinet

7. Consider Creating A Stand-Alone Entity

Is this a rebrand or spin-off? Do you need a full rebrand, or would it be more efficient and effective to create a stand-alone entity? Or is it time for a new premium sibling entity? This strategy can allow you to focus on a different supporter group without alienating your existing supporters, as there will be enough commonality to make the link but with a specific focus to engage a new audience. – Jonathan Prosser, Compassion UK

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8. Involve Key Internal Constituents

To achieve a smooth rebranding, it’s critical to involve key internal constituents in the process. Make sure to carefully communicate the vision behind the rebrand to college presidents, the board and other internal stakeholders to ensure they understand how the updated brand aligns with the identity, values and brand personality already established. – Michael Horowitz, The Community Solution Education System

9. Understand Your Differentiating Factor

When rebranding, ask yourself what makes the organization truly different in a crowded market. Look past the obvious factors of long history and great people. What is the real set of differentiators? Why would anyone want to affiliate with you? Take time to create several different value propositions and test them with target audiences. Those reactions may provide great insights into a new brand. – Pat Tamburrino, NobleReach Foundation

10. Ensure A Lasting Benefit

Focus on the lasting benefit of the new brand. Rebrands can be exciting but we key in on the hot phrase or hip concept of the moment sometimes. Successful rebrands have to last. As you consider a new name or image, ask if it will remain viable and successful a decade from now. A rebrand now can be valuable but if you do it every year or two, it will appear like you don’t know who or what you are. – Patrick Riccards, Driving Force Institute

11. Contract With An Expert

Rebranding is as necessary as updating a kitchen or bathroom in a home. Similarly, contracting with an expert is key. This is not a DIY project, so it is imperative to find a marketing firm that understands your brand and mission to accurately capture its essence. The rebrand has to send a clear message to your audience about who you are and how you can make a difference in their lives. – Tara Chalakani, Preferred Behavioral Health Group

12. Form A Working Group

When undertaking a rebrand of your nonprofit, you should form a working group that’s representative of your brand’s stakeholders. They will shape the brand itself, but more importantly, they will be the best ambassadors to sell the new brand to your stakeholders. Their invested energy into the process will do more to ease the transition to a new brand than any press release could. – Michael Bellavia, HelpGood

13. Avoid Losing Brand Recognition

Be careful not to lose the brand recognition you already have in an effort to be fresh and new. Oftentimes, people confuse services between nonprofits. They know that the work is valuable but may confuse the nonprofit that fights homelessness with the one that fights joblessness. If you’re not constantly telling your story, changing the logo or even the name may not resolve that issue. – Kimberly Lewis, Goodwill Industries of East Texas, Inc.

14. Be Clear About Why You Need A Rebrand

Make sure the need for rebranding is clear. A major impediment to rebranding comes from those stakeholders who don’t believe it’s necessary. They are loyal to the current brand, don’t like change and consider it bad for the mission. Provide the reasoning behind a decision to rebrand and how it impacts the sustainability of the organization. If you win that argument, momentum will be on your side. – Victoria Burkhart, The More Than Giving Company

15. Have An Active Communications Plan

Plan to repeat yourself. Especially if you are refreshing or rebranding a long-existing brand, it will take time for the new brand to truly sink in for all of your diverse stakeholders and audiences. Have an active implementation and communication plan for the first three to six months, and plan to reference the rebrand for the first one to two years. This transition is vital to bringing along your audience. – Matthew Gayer, Spur Local

16. Clearly Define What The Rebrand Will Be

What type of rebrand is it? Is it a tweak to your existing logo, or a complete overhaul of the brand, mission, vision and values? Clearly define what the rebrand will be. Organize a “rebrand council” that consists of a small group of internal and external stakeholders, clients, board members and a top-notch marketing firm. Don’t do it in-house; the smallest rebrand can go wrong if not executed by professionals. – Erin Davison, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Louisiana

17. Ensure All Key Parties Are Engaged

Stakeholder engagement and communication are critical to ensure the rebranding journey goes smoothly. This will build trust and support by creating a sense of ownership and reducing resistance to change. Communication will eliminate barriers and promote healthy transparent collaboration and feedback. – Hari Prasad Josyula, IPMA USA

18. Be Strategic About New Rollout

Ask to what extent the new branding ties in with your vision, mission and core values—then consider the immense opportunity you’ll have. Every opportunity to communicate the new brand is also a chance to tell your “why,” to reinforce who your organization is and to communicate its aspirations. If you’re strategic about rolling out the new brand, you’ll drive new eyeballs to your organization and its work. – Randy Wong, Hawaii Youth Symphony

19. Involve Your Staff

Involve your staff in the nonprofit rebrand to tap into their insights and passion for a more authentic outcome and stronger support. Involving your staff who are your best marketers will help create not just a better brand but also help your mission, vision and values tie to your brand more holistically, which will drive your marketing. – James Dismond, Hospice Care of the Lowcountry

20. Center The ‘Why’

Rebranding is a great way to reboot and reset an organization’s mission, strategy and public perception. Be intentional about what three key topics you want the public to know about your brand, services and mission. Keeping the “why” as the centerpiece of your rebranding helps to ensure the public will understand and appreciate the effort. – Aaron Alejandro, Texas FFA Foundation