cfgp branding your organization community outreach strategies final report

7/28/2019 CFGP Branding Your Organization Community Outreach Strategies FINAL REPORT

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1 | C F G P P H I L A N T H R O P Y F O R U M


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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................... .............................................. ............................. 4-5

METHODOLOGY AND RATIONALE................................................... .............................................. ...... 6

BRANDING......................................................................................................................................... 7What is Branding? ..................................................................................................................................... 7

From Conceptual to Application ......................................................................................................... 7-8

Is it Expensive? ................................................................................................................................... 8-9

Differentiating Factors between Private and Not-for-Profit ..................................................................... 9

Donors versus Buyers .......................................................................................................................... 10

Tangibles (private) versus non-tangibles (not-for-profit) service ........................................................ 10

Mainstream versus Multi-stream (mission, values, goals) ................................................................. 11

Rational versus Emotional (core audience) ......................................................................................... 11

Immediate Exchange versus Overtime ................................................................................................ 11

Challenges with Branding ................................................................................................................... 11-12

Branding Best-Practices........................................................................................................................... 12

COMMUNITY OUTREACH STRATEGIES .............................................. ............................................... . 13

What is a Community Outreach Plan? .................................................................................................... 13

Educating the Committee .................................................................................................................... 13

Mission Statement .............................................................................................................................. 13Reasons for Conducting Outreach ....................................................................................................... 13

Launching Considerations ................................................................................................................... 14

Challenges with Community Outreach Plans ..................................................................................... 14-15

Community Outreach Plan Best-Practices .............................................................................................. 15

RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS .............................................. .............................................. ............ 16

Age and Gender of Respondents ............................................................................................................ 16

Sector Representation ............................................................................................................................. 17

Years worked in Sector ............................................................................................................................ 17

Primary Stakeholders ......................................................................................................................... 17-18

Branding and Community Outreach .................................................................................................. 18-19

ACKNOLWEDGEMENTS ........................................................................ ............................................ 20

ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE .............................................. .............................................. ..................... 21


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Building a strong brand takes time. Understanding the needs, expectations, andexperiences of target audiences is the most important part of this process; this requiresresearching and getting to know your target audience.

It is easier to implement a branding program when your staff is committed to thegoals of your organization. Involve staff and key stakeholders (e.g. NGOs, private sector,individual donors, partners, etc.) early in the branding process.

This report is drawn from a focus group of eleven participants who are associated withthe not-for-profit sector. The data was collected through audience-response surveys andopen-ended discussions. The conclusions drawn are limited to the sample size, butnevertheless prove to be insightful since 50% of the participants have been involved in thenot-for-profit sector for over eight years, and 60% of respondents were adopting an outreachprogram at the time of the survey. Their experience and opinions provide a context withwhich to predict challenges and adopt best practices to brand a community outreach project.Secondary literature was utilized in the creations of this report to support the opinions of theparticipants.

Branding involves developing a strategic preconception of an organizations productamongst its consumers and stakeholders, and, according to responses, requires aninvestment that can be costly or confined, based on organizational needs. Time and moneyinvested into the process can be difficult to track. Price premium and consumer loyalty areproposed as effective metrics for measuring the return on a branding investment.

An important difference between not-for-profit branding effort and for-profit effort isthat not-for-profit efforts are directed to strengthen brand loyalty more with donors than withconsumers. Donors to non-profits benefit socially through the association with the brandpersonality of the organization to which they contribute, while consumers receive tangiblebenefits from transactions with for-profit organizations.

Successful branding processes should involve the consideration of where anorganization stands in respect to its competitors, what an organization can do moreeffectively than its competitors, the strategic direction of the branding effort, the brands

elements; name, slogan, colours, and communicable aspects, the integration of the effortinto every level of the organizational culture, and the successful communication from theeffort to all relevant external stakeholders.

Marketers of non-profit organizations tend to allocate fewer resources to branddevelopment, since it may be difficult to succinctly differentiate the function of a non-for-profit organization with a brand. Other challenges faced with non-profit branding effortsinclude maintaining a brand that is relevant to a constantly changing base of donors and


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clients, donor fatigue, an indecisive board of directors, maintaining positive, consistent, andclear messages amongst media and communication channels, maintaining donor loyalty, andcommunicating return on donor spending to appease current donors, as well as incentivizingfuture prospects.

Community outreach programs are usually created to address the needs of a specificdemographic by utilizing community resources. According to participants, communityoutreach involves implementing a marketing plan in order to reach the necessary communityresources for a project. It can be an opportunity to obtain positive media attention andimprove the communitys perception of your organization.

Important considerations in launching an outreach program include operatingtransparently, considering the goals of competing outreach programs, identifying the targetdemographic, community needs, political barriers, and strategically timing theimplementation.

Communicators will be challenged with the task of outputting a consistent messagewhich clearly identifies who will benefit from the program, how they will benefit, and why it isimportant for them to benefit. If the program relies on volunteers, motivating them will bechallenging unless the volunteers can appreciate the community benefits at the time of theircontribution. A best practice for managing volunteers involves either mentorship orassembling a team of like-minded community members with diverse skills. Monitoring theperformance of objective metrics will facilitate decisions about what is working andencourage change of what is not.


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METHODOLOGY AND RATIONALE

Preferences methodology always seeks a balance of quantitative and open-endedresponses. The collection of quantitative data is gathered through audience responsetechnologies. The collection of open-ended (qualitative) responses is conducted through aunique dialogue process. This information is later amalgamated into a final analysis.

Participants were selected at random and given the opportunity to participate in allaspects of the session. Some participated more frequently than others and demonstratedstrong correlations to longer periods of experience.

The relevance of data collected is limited to the group and the sector it represents.Since the collection of data was limited to this particular group, the buy-in of readers isdependent on their own good judgement.

Participants were first engaged through audience response technologies then

proceeded to discussion. The open-ended session started with the discussion of Branding;particularly: Differentiating factors between private and not-for-profit branding, somechallenges faced by participants as well as best-practices. The group then proceeded todiscuss what Community Outreach strategies entail. The group looked at what to firstconsider when creating/launching a Community Outreach Strategy, as well as challenges andbest practices encountered by the group. Since a large portion of the group indicated theywere currently engaged in a Community Outreach Plan, the feedback on challenges and best-practices is particularly invaluable.

Attending Organizations:

Preferences would like to acknowledge the following organizations who contributed tothe roundtable discussion: New Canadians Centre, YWCA, PCCII, market hall, KawarthaSexual Assault Centre, Peterborough Crime Stoppers, Homegrown Homes, Multilink, Green-up, Kawartha Youth Orchestra.


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BRANDING

Branding is not advertising, marketing, or PR; branding happens before all of those, first you create the brand THEN you raise awareness of it. 1

What is Branding?

From Conceptual to Application

An organizations brand is the visual, emotional, and rational image associated withthe service or product provided, as perceived by its consumers.

The process of Branding your organization is one which starts with a concept andworks toward its applications. Many participants in the group suggested that the organizationhas to have an identity or personality, and to have an essence, which seems to be amore conceptual perspective. Other concepts such as trust and recognition were cited asimperative to the branding process.

Moving towards static applications of branding, we need to develop the Strategy and Core Values, and address the marketing plan. The organization will need to make a projection of their activities and determine how they will be raising funds.

The development of the organizations appearance and logo/tagline will certainly speak volumes to the image that they want to portray, from the outset of the brandingprocess.

Chan and Mintz suggest that a successful branding effort begins with assessing whereyour organization currently stands in relation to its competitors and setting a target for howyou want your organization to be perceived in the long run. An important consideration inassessing your organizations current position includes how you are perceived by your targetaudience; what do they feel, think, and react when exposed to your brand? In assessing yourorganizations competitors, ask what your organization can offer better than yourcompetitors, after they have been identified. 2

After understanding your position, the next step is to decide where you want yourorganization to be after the implementation of the branding effort. How will your target

1 Klein, K.E. (2008, June 9) A Practical guide to Branding. BusinessWeek, Retrieved November 10, 2011, fromhttp://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2008/sb2008069_694225.htm

2 Chan, J., Mintz, J. H. (2009 April) Guide to Branding in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors, Centre of Excellence forPublic Sector Marketing, Retrieved March 8, 2012.
http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2008/sb2008069_694225.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2008/sb2008069_694225.htmhttp://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2008/sb2008069_694225.htm


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audience react, think, and feel after being exposed to the improved brand? The strategy toattaining the desired relationship with your target audience will address either changing thereality of your organization, changing the perception of your organization, or a combinationof both. Additional considerations need to be made to the brands elements; name, slogan,colours, and communicable aspects. An element should be memorable, meaningful, likeable,

adaptable, and protectable.3

The authors caution that the re-branding process must be integrated into every level

of the organizations culture. Human Resources should train all staff to be integrated into theinitiative because they are involved in the representation your organization. 4

After the strategic direction, the strategy, and the relevant brand elements have beenplanned, the next step is to exploit every relevant organizational communication channel. Theprobability of success will be higher if your points of contact are supportive of the brandingeffort; their perceptions are part of the new reality your branding effort is striving to create.

The main challenge to overcome in the branding effort is to disassociate the perception of your old brand from all external stakeholders, replacing it with the desired perception. 5

Is it Expensive?

Respondents indicated that it can be, depending on the type of organization, clients,stakeholders, etc. Recognition of time and effort individuals provide in the branding processis difficult to put a value on. Respondents agreed that it is more of an investment over aperiod of time.

A successfully developed brand can add significant value to a company. Consider thecase where Hitachi and General Electric partnered in owning a factory which producedidentical television sets, only differing by logo. During a measured period, 100% moreHitachi-branded televisions sets were each sold for $75 more than the G.E.-branded sets. 6

Not all cases of brand valuation are as straight-forward as the aforementioned;marketing professionals face the challenge of valuing measures like brand loyalty, perceived




6 Smith, S. (2011) Perceptions from Academia on the Use of Current Marketing Metrics, Journal of MarketingDevelopment and Competitiveness, Retrieved March 8, 2012, from Business Source Complete.


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quality, name awareness, and brand associations on their companys balance sheet. Whilegood marketing may not increase next quarters profits, some researchers believe it alwaysimproves brand equity. 7

Executives pursuing investments in branding initiatives may want to consider trackingmetrics such as price premium and consumer loyalty to justify spending in their firms. Pricepremium is the additional value a consumer is willing to pay for a branded product, abovethe price of a comparable unbranded product. Consumer loyalty is characterized by thebehaviour of satisfied and returning customers. A sample of 132 responses from top MBA professors in marketing, accounting, and finance indicated that these metrics are the mostuseful to consider in valuing a firm, as opposed to measures like brand awareness andadvertising expenditure. 8

Brand equity is a companys asset which reflects the likely current and future economic benefits from the total marketing expenditures. 9

Differentiating Factors between Private and Not-for-Profit

Branding is an exercise designed to help the sector serve its constituents better by establishing its uniqueness in a very cluttered public and non-profit world. 1 0

A valuable brand influences the consumer of a for-profit product or service in the sameway it influences the willingness of a donor to contribute to a non-profit organization. A strong brand should reduce the consumer or donors perception of risk with their investment,

and contribute to their personal identity through the projection of the brands character ontothe donor or consumers personality. The consumer or donors perception of risk is reducedthrough the presence of a proof of quality, which serves as a safety measure and facilitates




10 Andreasen, A.R., & Kotler, P. (2003). Strategic Marketing for Nonprofit Organizations. 6 th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NewJersey: Prentice Hall.


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trust. 11 This proof of trust will be the most effective if is backed by public support andrepresents the organizations transparency, integrity, responsibility, and reliability.

We examined the differences between the private and not-for-profit branding processin order to streamline the understanding of where individuals in not-for-profits should andshould not be using resources.

Donors versus buyers

The critical difference between the two sectors can be demonstrated by comparing theexchange of goods in each type of organization, and the beneficiaries of the transactions.Not-for-profits seek out their revenue from donors, who mainly benefit from the social valueof their donations, but also from tax receipts. The donations are used to benefit astakeholder group in-need, which is usually independent from their donors. Conversely,private sector organizations seek revenue from buyers of their products and services byoffering them at a competitive quality and price.

Non-profits should be concerned with strengthening their brands because a weak emotional bond between donors and the organization to which they contribute will likely leadto poor brand loyalty. This is problematic because donor prospecting, the process of strategically targeting candidates that are most likely to donate frequently, costs time andmoney. It follows that because of these costs, it is more expensive to acquire donors than tomaintain loyal ones. 12

Tangibles (private) versus non-tangibles (not-for profit) service

Marketing research authors identify that non-profit marketers devote relatively fewerresources to the development of their brands than for-profit firms. The researchers speculatethat this is due to the perception that most non-profits do not provide tangible products andservices; transactions in non-profits tend to be more social than economic in nature. 13 Thus,non-profit marketers may believe that differentiating the function of their organization with abrand may not be practical or possible.

11 Herbst, U., Voeth, M. (2008) The Concept of Brand Personality as an Instrument for Advanced Non-Profit BrandingAnEmpirical Analysis, Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Retrieved March 8, 2012, from Business Source

Complete12 Herbst, U., Voeth, M. (2008) The Concept of Brand Personality as an Instrument for Advanced Non-Profit BrandingAnEmpirical Analysis, Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Retrieved March 8, 2012, from Business SourceComplete

13 Herbst, U., Voeth, M. (2008) The Concept of Brand Personality as an Instrument for Advanced Non-Profit BrandingAnEmpirical Analysis, Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, Retrieved March 8, 2012, from Business SourceComplete


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Some issues mentioned begin with the conceptual elements of first understandingyour niche, or cause, that makes up the distinguishing factor of your organization.Understanding that there is a changing demographic of both donors and clients will alloworganizations to change overtime and adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

Identifying your target audience and understanding your available time and resourcescan prevent the organization from becoming stagnant in a sea of other not-for-profits.Ensuring the diversity of language to serve clients and communicating with donors will assistthese organizations.

Donor fatigue refers to when donors with a past history of being charitable stopcontributing. It certainly affects an individuals abilities to contribute, and negative attentionfrom the media for organizations can create undesirable stigmas.

Boards of directors can inhibit the branding process through their inability to reach aconsensus about a decision, or may be uneducated about the topic on which a decision isbeing made. An uneducated board can be addressed through a change in leadership, or theinclusion of a knowledgeable third party.

Branding Best-Practices

Consistent and clear messaging, as well as professionalism and good mediarelationships, are needed to have an effective branding strategy. Participants claimed thatthe organization needs an appealing logo, effective and targeted advertising and promotion,

and an understanding of the on-going evolution of market trends to raise the profile of theorganization.

If the organization is able, participants indicated the advantage of having an individualdedicated to branding and raising public awareness. At the end of the day, organizationsneed to listen to their donors and understand their preferences. Effective organizations canprovide their donors the necessary stewardship to improve their branding strategy, andmaintain donor relations.

Communicating the return on investment (ROI) from your branding strategy to donors

is of equal importance to not-for-profits as to any for-profit financial initiative. Demonstratingthe value of your spending will appease current donors, as well as incentivize futureprospects. 16

16 Guide to Branding in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors P 21


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organizations, obtain the support of potential donors, obtain positive attention from localmedia, and generally improve your communitys perception of your organization.

Launching Considerations

Before the implementation of your outreach plan, it is necessary to consider several

external factors in your communitys environment such as competition, target demographic,community needs, political barriers, and timing. When considering your competition, youshould primarily be concerned with other organizations that will be pursuing the attention of the same stakeholders you wish to address. It is a common miscalculation of not-for-profitgroups to exclude for-profit organizations as competition, since they may not be competingfor the same purposes. The attention of relevant stakeholders that you wish to attain will belost if you cannot give them a reason to notice your organization. 18

You can increase the probability that your desired stakeholders will notice yourorganizations message if it is effectively and consistently communicated. If your messageclearly identifies who will benefit from your program, how they will benefit, and why it isimportant to for them to benefit, then your chances of success should increase. A messagethat is consistent will be the same in every instance when it is communicated. Consistencyshould follow if efforts to educate your committee are persistent and activity is conductedtransparently.

The timing of your message should be strategic. Being conscious of your communityspolitical and social situation will be useful because you do not want to launch your effort at atime when your communitys attention is preoccupied with a situation that will dampen your

message (like an election). After the aforementioned considerations and any additionalconcerns of your communitys environment have been made, it will be important to anticipatethe challenges of communicating your message.

Challenges with Community Outreach Plans

A major challenge in forwarding volunteer-based outreach initiatives is working withpeople who are offering their time on your organizations behalf. Motivation will be an issue if your volunteers time is being wasted, when it could be used effectively elsewhere. Toprepare, you will need to have an immediate, actionable plan with which to educate yourteam. The plan should divide your project into phases, which can be managed with theamount of assistance you expect to receive.

18 Andreasen, A.R., & Kotler, P. (2003) P 8 of Guide to Branding in the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors


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Other challenges which participants have encountered in the past include obtainingaccess to media, improperly naming their organization (avoid long names and ambiguousnames which could be confused with other organizations), strategically organizing theoutreach program (partnering with other events and fundraising activities), planning for theturnover of staff, volunteers, and board members, failure to obtain sufficient funding, and

growing stagnant. The threat of stagnation can be reduced if your team is composed of members with diverse backgrounds and interests.

Community Outreach Plan Best-Practices

In creating an actionable plan for an outreach program, several best practicesidentified by respondents should be considered to increase your chances of success.Mentorship can be useful to recruit and educate team members in order to have a team of the right people helping you. Networking will be important for finding the right people toassist you, or finding people who can refer you to your desired stakeholders. After you havereceived assistance from your stakeholders, participants have indicated the importance of ensuring stakeholder assistance is appreciated through stewardship practices, like thank youletters.

Maintaining transparency will assist you with delivering a consistent message, as wellas being able to be accountable for the actions of your organization. Being accountable willalso require you to track your organizations spending in order to demonstrate that yourfunds are being used effectively. This can be done with objective measurement metrics such

as ROI or a quantifiable list of how many individuals have benefited from your program. By judging your success with objective criteria, you can make decisions about what is workingand change what is not.

The experience of our participants indicates that if these practices are employed, thechallenges they have faced in the past can be mitigated. In moving forward with successfuloutreach practices, best-practices should be shared throughout your organization and withyour partners to ensure services are not duplicated.


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RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS

Age and Gender of Respondents

The group which participated in the roundtable discussion was primarily made up of women between the ages of 40 49 (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).

Figure 1. Gender of Participants

1.) Are you male or female?(multiple choice) Responses

Male 1 11.11%Female 8 88.89%Totals 9 100%

Figure 2. Are Categories of Participants

2.) What age category bestdescribes you? (multiple choice) Responses

15 29 1 9.09%30 39 1 9.09%40 49 5 45.45%50 59 1 9.09%60+ 3 27.27%Totals 11 100%


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Sector Representation

Out of all the options available to choose from, the entire group represented the not-for-profit sector (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Representing Sector

3.) Which sector do yourepresent? (multiple choice) Responses

Public Sector 0 0%Private Sector 0 0%Not-for-profit Sector 11 100%Non-Governmental Organization 0 0%Other 0 0%Totals 11 100%

Years Worked in Sector

The number of years each participant worked in the not-for-profit sector varied acrossthe board, however the majority of participants ranged from 8 to 12+ years in the not-for-profit sector, allowing us to have some veteran participants in the roundtable discussion.

Figure 4. Years in Sector

4.) How long have you workedin the sector you arerepresenting? (multiple choice) Responses

Under 1 year 0 0%1 2 years 2 18.18%2 4 years 2 18.18%4 8 years 1 9.09%8 12 years 3 27.27%12+ years 3 27.27%

Totals 11 100%

Primary Stakeholders

The participants were asked who they work with the most in their current positions.The answers were well distributed, with the majority of answers going to either staff orclients. None of the above refers to volunteers and donors.


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Figure 5. Participant primarily works with:

Branding and Community Outreach Planning

Literature demonstrates that there is a common misconception about the brandingprocess, particularly the costs associated with strong branding and marketing. Theparticipants were asked whether they thought branding is an expensive process. 1/3believed this to be true, whereas the remaining participants believed that the cost is not ablack and white issue.

Figure 6. Is Branding Expensive?

6.) Branding is an expensiveprocess? (multiple choice) Responses

True 3 33.33%False 0 0%Neither 6 66.67%Totals 9 100%

The majority of participants claimed that their Community Outreach Plans are alreadyoccurring (60%), while 30% indicated that their Community Outreach Plans will be takingplace in the next year. The remaining participants indicated that they were not aware of when their community outreach plan would take place (see Figure 7). Figure 8 cross-tabulates data from the participants primary stakeholders against the length of time theyhave worked in the not-for-profit sector. The chart reveals that those who have worked inthe not-for-profit sector from 8 12 years work only with staff or donors and those 12+years in the business are distributed among clients, both staff and clients and volunteers.


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Figure 7. Participant Community Outreach Plan start date:

Figure 8. Primary Stakeholders versus Years in Sector

Who do you primarily work with:

0%

0%

0%

0%

0%

50%

50%

0%

0%

0%

50%

50%

0%

0%

0%

100%

33%

0%

67%

0%

33%

33%

0%

33%

None of the...

Both equally

Staff

Clients

Unde r 1 ye ar 1 2 years 2 4 years 4 8 years 8 1 2 years 12+ years


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Preferences would like to recognize the dedicated contributions of Raphael Karski forperforming secondary research and compiling this report.

Preferences would also like to acknowledge the following associations who providedrepresentatives to participate in the session:

New Canadians Centre YWCA PPCII (Peterborough Partnership Council on Immigrant Integration) market hall Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre

Peterborough Crime Stoppers Homegrown Homes Multilink Green-up Kawartha Youth Orchestra

Preferences would especially like to thank the Community Foundation of GreaterPeterborough for the privilege of conducting the Branding and Community OutreachStrategies session at their Philanthropy Forum.


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ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE

Behind good planning is better research. Preferences is an independent, Ontario-based research company that provides evidence-based research and strategic planning

solutions to a wide range of private and public organizations and individuals. Our researchfindings have aided entrepreneurs in developing sustainable business plans, helpedcompanies improve their products and services, and assisted governments and non-profitorganizations with advancing laws and policies that are in the interest of the public.

Our Values

Knowledge integrity is central to the high-quality research we espouse to do. It restsupon the relationship of mutual respect, trust, and goodwill with clients and members of thepublic who entrust us with confidential information and personal preferences. We believe thathaving this data available to us is a privilege, not a right. This belief is the basis of PREFERENCES commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct in research andbusiness practice.

Our Standards

The principles and procedures detailed in the PREFERENCES policy document aremodeled on the industry standard for marketing, opinion, and social research in Canada, theMarketing Research and Intelligence Associations Code of Conduct and Good Practice , andcomply with federal requirements of the Tri-Council Policy Statement on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act .