Does your nonprofit brand simply need to catch up with the times? Or do you need a new name and everything that comes along with it? These are the questions many nonprofits ask themselves when exploring the need for a nonprofit brand refresh or a rebrand. There are pros and cons to both, but making the right choice between the two is important for maintaining brand equity, recognition and support. In this post, we’ll explore the differences between a nonprofit brand refresh and a rebrand and share when you might consider one versus the other.
What is a nonprofit brand refresh and when do you need one?
A nonprofit brand refresh preserves your brand’s core essence while invigorating your visual elements and messaging to keep pace with evolving trends or changes within your organization. A brand refresh can involve any number of updates to your brand, including updates to:
Your nonprofit’s visual elements: your logo, color palette, typography, and imagery can be updated to reflect a more contemporary look and feel. This maintains brand recognition while signaling growth and adaptation.
Your nonprofit’s messaging: you can refine your tagline, mission statement, and key messages to better align with your organization’s current goals and aspirations.
Your online presence: you can revamp your website and social media profiles to incorporate updated visual elements and messaging. This ensures consistency across all digital touchpoints
Your marketing and fundraising materials: you can refresh materials, such as your annual report, annual appeal and case for support to reflect your updated look and feel.
A brand refresh is the right course of action when:
You need to modernize your brand: One of the most common motivations for undertaking a nonprofit rebrand is the need for modernization. Some brands are more timeless than others, but when a brand becomes dated, it can be hard to ignore. Big Brothers Big Sisters is a perfect example, and one that shows an effective rebrand doesn’t have to include a new name.
You need to evolve your look and feel to reflect your growth: as your nonprofit grows or your mission, vision and values shift, a brand refresh can reflect its evolution while maintaining a cohesive visual thread.
Your need to restore brand consistency: over time, as your organization grows, you add new staff, etc. inconsistencies might have crept into your brand and materials. We’ve even seen cases of “brand happy” nonprofits that develop new logos for each initiative they take on. A brand refresh ensures your logo, messaging, color palette and tone are aligned and present a unified front to your stakeholders.
There is misalignment between internal identity and your external image: if the way your organization shows up to the outside world hasn’t yet caught up with what your team believes and how your organization behaves internally, a brand refresh can bring things back into sync.
What is a nonprofit rebrand and when do you need one?
A full nonprofit rebrand is a transformative journey that goes beyond aesthetics—it involves reshaping your nonprofit’s identity from the ground up, including choosing a new name. This is a strategic choice for nonprofits that have undergone significant changes, such as a shift in mission, vision or target audience, and when the existing brand no longer aligns with the organization’s essence.
A complete nonprofit rebrand involves comprehensive steps, including:
Discovery, and analyzing the risks and rewards of rebranding: before starting a rebrand, you need to think through all of the pros and cons that might come along with changing your name and identity to ensure this is the right decision for your organization. Then, assess your nonprofit’s current brand, audience perceptions and goals. Identify gaps between your existing brand and your aspirations.
Recentering on your most strategic elements and developing your Reason for Being: as part of a rebrand, you also want to clarify your nonprofit’s mission, vision and values. This is an opportunity to reevaluate your target stakeholders and explore how your brand can connect with them on a deeper level. You also want to use this opportunity to get clear on your Reason for Being, or the unique impact only your organization can make and how your brand plays a role in supporting this.
Creating messaging: a significant part of a rebrand includes crafting new messaging that resonates with your redefined brand identity.
Selecting a new name: perhaps the biggest parts of a rebrand versus a refresh is the selection of a new organization name. You’ll want something that reflects the work you do today but can stand the test of time as your organization grows, changes and evolves to meet the needs of your stakeholders.
Creating a new visual identity: once you have a new name, you will also redesign your logo, color palette, typography and imagery to symbolize the new brand direction.
Rollout and integration: finally, you’ll need to introduce your new brand to the world. This involves updating websites, social media, physical collateral and more, and it also includes outreach to donors, funders, partners and the individuals and communities you serve.
A rebrand is the right course of action when:
There is unintentional stereotyping or disempowerment of stakeholders: if your name or brand labels the people you hope to support in a manner that actually harms their dignity, or in any manner that is misaligned with how they prefer to talk about themselves, a rebrand is likely advisable. Examples of organizations that have rebranded for this reason include NGLCC and Resilience. Inclusion is also a key consideration here.
You have misalignment with changing organization strategy: the strategic planning process can trigger a rebrand when it results in the identification of a new strategy for your organization, especially when that new strategy involves broadening or narrowing the scope of your mission. It can take dozens or even hundreds of years for your organization’s mission and strategic focus to outgrow its brand, but at some point, it will happen. The renaming of YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) to The Y after 166 years is a perfect example.
Read: An Honest Behind the Scenes Look at Nonprofit Rebrand
The decision to undertake a brand refresh or a full rebrand depends on your nonprofit’s unique circumstances. Both paths require careful consideration, planning and implementation. It’s important to involve key stakeholders, seek professional guidance and communicate the changes transparently to maintain trust and engagement.
