Branding Materials and Tips For Nonprofit Organizations
Written by Rhonda Cook Bonfield
The basics of branding for nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations are similar, but some considerations—such as mission alignment and target audience consideration—are especially important for the nonprofit sector. In engaging stakeholders, including private philanthropic funding sources, consistent use of your organization’s branding has benefits. On average, only one in ten proposals are awarded and grant writers must take every opportunity to build audience trust and expand a nonprofit’s story.
If your nonprofit’s branding style guide outlines best practices and provides guidelines for utilizing logos, fonts, colors, and graphic elements, your grant writer begins with a rich pool of resources for crafting compelling grant proposals.
Most funders’ grant guidelines specify required attachments: board membership lists, budgets, demographics, and additional materials allowed. Branding this information helps grant writers communicate visually a message that complements the proposal’s narrative sections, even if that message is just “we’re consistent and trustworthy”.
Four ways to enhance a grant proposal using branded attachments include:
Commonly required materials that might include executive summaries, need statements, budgets, financials, board and staff lists. Enhance these documents by selecting fonts, colors, and logos from your organization’s style guide. In the case of financials and budgets, choose an easy-to-read sans serif font for document body and headers created using branded fonts. Each attachment should be understated: a small logo in the header or a simple thin colorful line at the top might be enough.
Client stories or past project highlights can create a one-pager for a short story with a branded header and quality client photo. Carefully select fonts, spacing, and colorful elements from your organization’s branding standards. Be sure your nonprofit has a signed release on file for any client input and photos shared outside of the nonprofit.
Client or program photo collages featuring five to seven photos arranged neatly on a page with the nonprofit’s logo and colorful elements add flair to a proposal’s statistics and hard data. Placement and spacing can be tricky in standard word processing, so consider using a basic graphic and presentation software package. Again, confirm your images are backed up by a signed release form.
Client or program demographics ideally are available from an organization’s data measurements and program tracking. This information can be turned into simple graphs or charts: create one “infographic” or page per program or demographic group. Presentation software, your nonprofit’s branded color palette, and its logo can tie these visual documents to other branding collateral and proposal materials.
This list only scratches the surface of how basic branding can bring grant proposals to life—particularly online—and powerfully convey consistency. Several software packages are available to create attractive and compelling branded attachments. Depending on specific needs and your team’s level of expertise, a few popular options include:
Adobe Creative Suite
A professional-grade software suite that includes Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. These programs can be used to create high-quality graphics, edit photos, and design marketing materials such as brochures and flyers.
Canva
Popular graphic design software that offers a range of templates and design tools that are easy to use for beginners. A drag-and-drop interface is great for creating social media graphics, presentations, and other branding materials.
Microsoft Office Suite
This widely used package includes Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and offers basic design tools and templates to add branding elements to documents, presentations, and spreadsheets.
Piktochart
An easy-to-use tool for creating infographics, presentations, and other visuals. Its range of templates and design tools are useful for adding branding elements to your designs.
Your grant writer should work closely with your nonprofit’s board or staff to ensure proper branding usage and permissions. Time spent up front to create attachment templates is a valuable use of organizational resources. Conversely, some freelance grant writers create their own attachment templates and swap out client elements in each proposal, adding value to their work as a freelance grant professional while retaining ownership of the template. Establish best practices in open discussion with your staff or freelance team at the start of every grant application project.
