Branding is a crucial part of any organization’s success. Effective branding helps supporters remember who you are, builds an identity for your nonprofit, and boosts your marketing and advertising results. Over time, you can communicate that identity with just a logo or mission statement— for example, think about the feelings, values, and ideologies that come to mind when you see the Nike logo or hear the brand’s slogan.
To strengthen your nonprofit’s brand identity, it’s important to weave your unique logo, mission statement, messaging, and other branded elements into everything you do, including your events. Events offer many opportunities to leverage the power of effective branding, from sharing invitations via direct mail to selling merchandise with your logo.
In this guide, we’ll explore how you can use cohesive branding to your advantage during each stage of the fundraising process to drive event success. Let’s begin!
Phase 1: Planning
Planning your event is the most important part of the process. As Funds2Orgs’ guide to fundraising event planning highlights, this step will make or break your event’s ability to “drive revenue, expand your reach, and strengthen existing supporters’ connections to your organization.”
Keep your brand in mind during the following event-planning activities:
Defining the event’s purpose and goals.
Each of your fundraisers has some purpose or goal, such as raising money to pay for food and medical care for your animal shelter’s latest round of rescued puppies. Make sure there is a strong connection between your event’s purpose and your brand identity.
Creating event materials.
First, decide whether your nonprofit will use its standard branding or create a custom brand just for the event (like the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life). Then, plan how you’ll feature the branding on event materials like the event website, signage, tickets, packets, and more. For virtual or hybrid events, experiment with creative ways to incorporate your brand into the experience, such as designing a custom Zoom waiting room with branded graphics.
Developing a central theme or message.
Determine how you’ll communicate that connection to your supporters. Incorporate this message into all of your planning documents, especially your marketing plan. With features such as a drag-and-drop email builder and the ability to clone templates, EventUp Planner makes it simple to add your organization’s logo and branded copy to all of your event documents.
Keeping your brand in mind during the planning phase builds a strong foundation for the rest of the campaign. Shaping your event around your nonprofit’s identity and mission is much easier than trying to bend your brand around a mismatched fundraiser.
Phase 2: Promotion
During this phase, focus on spreading the word about your event to attract attendees. Reinforcing your branding in your marketing campaigns is crucial, particularly when you’re reaching out to donors through multiple communication channels (or balancing multiple events). Strong branding makes your communications more recognizable, trustworthy, and memorable.
When your supporters can trust the email, social media post, or advertisement inviting them to your event, they’ll be more likely to attend. To establish this credibility and cultivate brand recognition, your organization should:
1. Develop a unified visual identity by incorporating your logo, brand colors, and fonts into each marketing message. This includes emails, flyers, posters, digital graphics, videos, and more. If the event has its own branding, make sure to add your nonprofit’s primary logo to these materials as well.
2. Try using brand storytelling, a technique that involves creating a narrative around your brand to build emotional connections with your supporters. For example, the clothing retailer Patagonia has an ongoing program called Worn Wear in which customers can trade in and buy used Patagonia items to offset clothing waste. This aligns with their branding as an environmentally-conscious, outdoor gear brand.
3. Always keep branding consistent across various communication channels. As Allegiance Group + Pursuant’s nonprofit digital marketing guide explains, this consistency is what will boost recognition the most among your supporters. Event planning tools like EventUp Planner can keep your event / fundraiser on-brand using handy features like an intuitive website builder, pre-built templates, and easy cloning functions.
Remember not to limit your focus on branding to just the visual elements. Your brand also extends to your messaging, which is influenced by your mission, values, promises to your beneficiaries and supporters, and other related concepts. In other words, your promotions shouldn’t just look like they belong to your nonprofit—they should also sound like your nonprofit.
Phase 3: Execution
Once it’s time for the event, you should have all of your event materials ready, finalize an agenda of activities for supporters, and expect plenty of attendees. To reinforce your branding at this stage, prioritize the following elements:
1. Environment: Ensure your event venue reflects your brand identity by using branded signage, banners, displays, and booths. Match your decor to both your brand and the event type (e.g., using tablecloths and floral arrangements at a gala and balloons and streamers at a charity race). To encourage more engagement, consider adding links or scannable QR codes to signage that lead attendees to your website, donation page, or social media accounts.
2. Experience: Offer a consistent experience that aligns with your values, from registration to the close of the event. For example, you might send attendees a heartfelt thank-you note when they register for the event, share a reminder email that tells the story of one of your beneficiaries, and have volunteers embody your brand values when interacting with supporters.
You can also enhance attendees’ experiences by offering interactive activities that immerse them in your brand. An organization dedicated to bringing clean water to those with limited access could set up an activity that allows attendees to walk through a day in the life of a beneficiary. Or, it might offer a mini volunteer opportunity such as assembling water filter kits to send to those in need.
Phase 4: Follow-up
Your work isn’t done when the event ends. Now, it’s time to dive into your event analytics and follow up with attendees.
Start by sharing personalized, branded thank-you messages with everyone who attended- sincerely thank them for their support, and leverage donor segmentation to tailor each message to their giving level and preferences. In addition to visual branding, clarify how their support and attendance at the event are promoting your brand values.
Consider reaching out to attendees for feedback as well. Share surveys that ask them about what went well and how you could improve. Add a question or two to gauge how well you communicated your brand, such as, “Are you aware of our core mission and values?” Event management software like EventUp Planner makes sending post-event communications and surveys an easy and painless process.
From planning your event to thanking attendees for their support, your branding should feature prominently during each step of the campaign. This gives each attendee a cohesive, positive experience with your nonprofit and frequently reminds them of who you are and what you stand for. As you refine your brand and infuse it into your marketing efforts, you’ll strengthen your nonprofit’s reputation as a trustworthy organization dedicated to social good.
Learn more about how EventUp Planner can help your nonprofit organization plan, manage, and track your events, without breaking your budget. Set up a free demo with our team today!
