Trust is precious for brands. It fuels brand loyalty, positive associations, and the perceived value audiences have for your brand (all key measures of a brand’s “equity”).

And the thing about trust is that it’s a lot easier to break than it is to build.

Marketing sometimes gets a bad rap.

We’ve all experienced it: an ad or email that made us turn up our noses and click away with a little more conviction than usual.

So let’s take a look at some of the qualities of “bad marketing” and what we can do to avoid them.

With hustle culture constantly telling us to push harder, to sacrifice more, it’s important to remind ourselves that this is our journey, and work is only a part of it.

But for many of us—especially those working with social impact ventures and startups—the boundaries between passion and profession aren’t neatly drawn.

In these cases, balance isn’t always the goal so much as integration.

Brand strategy is one of the most important investments you can make as a brand, ensuring everything you do—from your visual identity to your communications and offerings—is thoughtful, strategic, and working toward a common goal.

But as important as brand strategy is, it can be a difficult thing to get done.

Organizations with big budgets often have internal agencies, agency partners, or both. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, a smaller organization might rely on a single person for their communications, and even they often have other roles and responsibilities.

When budgets are tight, decisions get tough. So let’s talk a little about which options might be right for you and your marketing program.

The word “strategy” gets so overused and misapplied, it’s sometimes hard to know what it actually is (or what you’re getting).

Goal-setting is an important part of strategy, although if that’s where your strategy ends, it’s very unlikely those goals will ever become reality.

AI is a polarizing topic these days.

With all the conversation surrounding AI, it can be easy to consider yourself either for or against. But whatever else may be the case, two things are certain: AI is here and it’s significant. So we feel the best position to take is one of curiosity. And it’s in that spirit that we’d like to offer a few thoughts.

We often hear from organizations that are having trouble with their messaging. But what we often find when we “get under the hood” is that these challenges actually stem from a bigger problem: ineffective brand positioning.

When it’s good, purpose marketing acts as a rallying cry, helping promote real, positive change in the world while deepening your connection with audiences.

But when it’s bad, it can be a disaster.

Authenticity has become a marketing buzzword, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a helpful concept. The problem is that, like most buzzwords, it’s tough to know exactly what it means. Authentic brands, we’re told, are ones we trust and connect with, while inauthentic brands are ones we mistrust and avoid. But reducing “authentic” and “inauthentic” to good vs bad ignores important questions.

Marketers are often the ones having to juggle their organizations’ messages and visual elements, and for this reason, it can be tempting to think of “brand” as a marketing problem. Here are a few methods for making the case to senior leadership to prioritize your brand.

Strategy without reflection is just reaction. We work with leaders of purpose-driven organizations every day who care deeply about their missions and communities. But even in the most values-aligned businesses, it's easy to get swept up in doing things a certain way because it's "best practice" or it's what the competition is doing.

What are key messages? As simple as that may sound in theory, in practice there is a lot of nuance that goes into creating effective key messages. In this post, we’ll explain what key messages are, how they are used, and how your nonprofit can develop key messages that strengthen your brand and inspire action.

Your donation page is the heart of your fundraising campaign. It’s where your campaign drives traffic and where all of your messaging and design come together to convert moral support into financial donations. We’ve put together a checklist to make sure your donation page is performing the way you need it to.

Identity is a complex thing. With brands as with people, there are multiple layers: who you are, how you look, and—ultimately—the things you do. Authenticity occurs when all of these things exist in alignment with one another.

To continue growing, nonprofits must build a thoughtful and intentional brand that leverages their strengths while taking into account their unique goals and challenges.

That process begins with brand strategy.

If you pay attention to brands and marketing, you may have noticed that “purpose” is having a moment, particularly with for-profit brands. Although you don’t hear that word as much among nonprofits. To understand why, we need to look at what these foundational statements actually are.

Your visual identity is important. It’s part of what attracts people and it’s also how they recognize you. Ideally, the way you look also communicates a lot about who you are and what you care about. But just like there’s more to every book than its cover, there’s more to who you are than the way you look.

For nonprofits—as well as all organizations—a brand includes who you are intrinsically, what you look like (i.e. your visual identity), and how others perceive you. Brand development is about creating and maintaining alignment between these various dimensions.

6 ideas for ways you can connect with supporters and improve donor retention, all while building a more engaged and positive culture at your nonprofit.

What donor personas are, how to create effective ones, and how you can leverage them to serve your nonprofit’s goals and mission.

As nonprofit fundraisers, it’s crucial that we learn to communicate not just with compassion, but with a deeper, more ethical intention.

Maximize your nonprofit's impact by avoiding donor fatigue. Learn how to attract, engage, and retain supporters with these funnel strategies.

Discover how the latest AI language model can help jumpstart your creativity and streamline your content creation.

Here are 6 tips on how to make the most of #GivingTuesday and support a cause you care about. Get involved and make a difference in 2023!

Discover how you can leverage storytelling, online and offline giving, and promotional assets to maximize your end-of-year fundraising campaign.