Charities and the Big, Bad “B’ word
Download this article as a PDF
Charity has become a sophisticated business – at the top end of the income scale, big celebrity names lend their glitz to raise big money to address big issues. Yet across the sector, at charities large and small, there’s still a lingering fear and loathing of ‘brand.’ Brand carries the greasy taint of capitalism, the horror of dumbing down. But if any type of organisation can benefit from the long-term 360 degree engagement a great brand can create, it must be charities that are built on values, but complex in the relationships they want to create.
Brands are simply a way of putting a bit of discipline and a lot of inspiration into communicating what an organisation stands for and can offer the world. With many different audiences from givers and receivers to movers and shakers, volunteers to employees, informal local groups to national campaigners, there is a crying need for coherence and clarity. Charities tackle tough, intricate issues but in a hectic world, there’s no shame in simplicity.
And as more and more charities ask us, the public, not just to put a bit of cash in a tin, but sign up for regular donations, join them in campaigns, leave them a legacy or volunteer, they are looking for our long-term commitment. To get it, as potential supporters, we need a point of connection beyond what a charity actually does – there are very many causes, often within the same relatively small arena. We want to feel our charity of choice is in tune with us in personality and values. We want to be proud to be seen wearing the badge.
If charities want to bring us along with them on their journey, they have to be prepared to make themselves accessible to us, demonstrate understanding of who we are and how they can become part of our lives, as well as us encouraging us to become part of their movement for change. The most successful : Macmillan, Breakthrough Breast Cancer, Oxfam already do.
A well-crafted brand can do this and more. With any good cause comes passion and a strong sense of right, which can often make for energetic internal debate between different teams. But a brand agreed and tightly defined can put a framework around those discussions and provide a touchstone and a focus for integrated activity. Without stifling debate, it can give the foundation for getting people to work well together.
Brands aren’t just for chocolate bars and fizzy drinks. They’re too powerful and important a force not to be harnessed in the service of good causes. They don’t dilute anger or passion. They won’t belittle big issues. They just make it easier to help people connect to the cause – and that can’t be bad.
