A few weeks ago I wrote about the importance of a charity’s brand and I finished that post with a call to action: review your brand.
So, once you have your staff on board and you know they understand the core of the organisation, it’s time to review both external and internal material:
- Check your brand guidelines. Don’t have any? Well, have a look around and see how others have developed theirs. There are plenty of resources and examples available for free and it doesn’t have to be too elaborate. As a guide, these documents always start with the history of the organisation, why it exists and what it is about: mission, vision, values, etc. The goal is to have a consistent brand that also gets the personality and the tone right. It might take a bit of time but brand guidelines exist to make our lives easier, and help us know what fits and what doesn’t.
- Check your logo. You will probably find a few mismatching versions used in different documents. Choose one and stick to it. Save it where everyone can find it and use it. Also, make sure your logo is always legible and correct (not stretched, pixelated, blurry…) - people do notice!
- Check the visual material you use (brochures, documents, presentations, etc.). Are they consistent with each other? Are they presenting the organisation in the way you want? Ask external people (friends, family) to tell you what they think. If possible try to create some templates to save time in the future.
- Check your website. If someone needs information about your organisation (service user, potential donor, press etc.) they will go online. Make sure it’s up to date and functional. People tend not to look at their own website unless they are responsible for updating it but it’s important to check it regularly. You will be surprised at how many things are out of date (“latest news” includes articles from 2012), in the wrong place or not even working, such as broken links to your donations page!
- Check your tone. Definitely, it’s not all about visuals. Some organisations want to sound more serious and some are much lighter. This is something to consider in your new brand guidelines.
- Check your messaging. How do you describe your charity? How do you want others to describe it? Large and small organisations struggle with consistency but running simple messaging sessions with staff will help as well making sure (again) everyone is aware of key mission and vision statements – don’t just leave them to gather dust on a shelf.
Now, after you’ve checked all of these elements, don’t be scared to make the necessary changes. To know what the necessary changes are, go back to the basics: how do you want your organisation to be seen? Do you think all the brand elements reflect that? If not, change them.
By Carolina Jean-Mairet, Communications Manager, Pilotlight
Written by
Carolina Jean-Mairet
Communications Manager - Pilotlight