Creating and Implementing a Brand for Jewish Non-Profit Organizations

Lander C. GoldC563- Kelley Capstone Course

“A good nonprofit brand is, at a minimum, unique, pleasing to the eye and ear, easy to

remember and evocative of the work it does. A strong brand identity benefits your nonprofit as it aligns supporters with your mission and can

help deepen their commitment as donors, volunteers and advocates.”

-Rosie Cortez

Current State of Jewish Non-Profit Organization Brands

• Inconsistent messaging• Inconsistent visual portrayals on media outlets• Lack of brand harmony• Lack of Jewish content within Jewish

organizational brands• Strongest Jewish brands include:– Hillel– Birthright Israel– AIPAC

Initial Errors in Brand Strategizing

• Not putting strategy in place• Focusing of points of difference instead of

points of similarity• Promotion of attributes that don’t matter to

your constituency• Lack of Judaic depth (even if just guiding

principles)• Poor description of areas that set you out

Components in Brand Strategizing and Pre-Implementation

• Define your brand through the input of ALL constituent groups

• SWOT analysis of current state of your org.• Review current mission statement, vision

statement and positioning statement/value proposition

• Brainstorm keywords, buzzwords and images

Recommendations and Implementation

• Aggregate all of the information from SWOT analysis

• DO NOT publicize your brand yet because you are not complete

• Be CONSISTENT• Be UNIQUE• Include EMOTIONAL CONNECTION• Follow the K.I.S.S.- keep it simple stupid!• Build your brand’s story

Recommendations and Implementation cont.

• MUST include and educate ALL of your employees and stakeholders

• Create messaging package and brand guidelines• Appoint member of staff as brand manager• Create cache around launch of your brand• Ensure your brand is built to last • Evaluate your brand regularly and make changes

when necessary