How to build your NGO’s brand

September 24, 2019

Building a brand identity can be overwhelming and confusing – and is often even skipped altogether. Many NGOs underestimate the critical role a strong visual identity plays in helping to secure funds and run a successful organisation.

Below are a few pointers to help you get your NGO’s brand identity off the ground with minimal budget spend.

Think colour

The best (and most fun) starting point for a brand identity is colour. Colours tell the world more than you might think. The right colour can get an audience to trust you from the start – and the wrong colour can make an audience think twice about engaging with you. Colours have been proven to affect people’s moods and create perceptions and associations. For instance, if you want people to feel calm and have a sense of trust in your organisation, blue might be a good colour. If you want your audience to feel excited and energised, you may want to consider red or orange.

Here is a basic breakdown of colour psychology taken from Oberlo, to help you get started on your colour journey:

• Red - excitement, passion, danger, energy and action

• Orange - creativity, adventure, enthusiasm, success and balance

• Yellow - happiness, positivity, optimism and summer but also deceit and warning

• Pink - femininity, playfulness, immaturity and unconditional love

• Green – nature, money, growth, fertility, health and generosity

• Blue - stability, harmony, peace, calm and trust

• Purple - power, nobility, luxury, wisdom and spirituality (best-used ad an accent colour, as it its overuse can be perceived as arrogant)

• White - innocence, goodness, cleanliness and humility (This is the meaning in North American culture. In some parts of the world, white has the opposite meaning.)

• Black - mystery, power, elegance and sophistication

• Grey - neutrality and balance (sometimes depression and loss)

• Brown - comfort, security and a down to earth nature

Your logo

If you’re on a limited branding budget, as many NGOs are, make sure that you allocate most of it to investing in a professionally designed logo. Your logo is your most valuable visual asset and is worth its weight in gold. It tells your audience what you do, how you do it, how much you care, what you care about, how professional you are, how you run your organisation and how you are likely to engage with your audience if they make contact.

It is the single most undervalued tool and strongly influences your ability to gain or lose interest, engagement and investment. Although there are a myriad “create a logo online” sites, you most often get what you pay for. An online template is no match for a brand strategist who has the skills, training and insight to visually communicate your vision, mission and personality in a simple image.

If you’re at a loss for a branding expert, drop me a message and I can put you in touch with an award winning designer.

Creative visuals

A collection of inspiring, impactful branded banners, flyers and post images is critical to getting your audience’s attention and gaining their trust. Images tell a story – and everyone loves a good story!

If your branding budget is thinning out, head on over to canva.com to create your own beautiful designs with a great collection of free stock photography and design templates.

Get online

“If it’s not online, it doesn’t exist”

In an ever-growing world of digital, this common saying is closer to the truth than you might imagine. Having an online presence is critical – not only does it make your NGO accessible to a global audience, it also tells the world that you run your organisation professionally and keep up with online trends.

Social Media

A great starting point to engage with a broader audience is Facebook and Instagram. If you don’t have the time or budget for a website, a Facebook page is about as close to a website as you’ll get.

Youtube and fast-growing TikTok are great places to keep your audience engaged through progress videos that tell your story of challenges and success.

Twitter is a great platform to keep your audience updated on your goals, activities, challenges and triumphs.

LinkedIn is the go-to for B2B engagement and, as such, is the place to be if you’re looking to get the attention of corporate investors.

A good place for free stock imagery to use in your social media posts is unsplash.com.

Website

A website is a great place to tell your story, drive engagement and gather donations.

Be sure to post lots of videos and images of your NGO’s activities on your website, so that your audience can get to know and trust you.

If you don’t have the budget for a custom-designed website, Wix.com and Wordpress.com offer excellent free template-based websites that can be up and running in a day.

Have fun

Last but by no means least, have fun with your brand!

If it’s a grudge task forced out over too many cups of coffee late at night, your audience will see it and feel it. Take your time with it, gather inspiration online, put on your favourite music, grab a glass of wine and have fun with it!

Refs

Colour Psychology: oberlo.com/blog/color-psychology-color-meanings

Image: Aleks Dorohovich of Unsplash