I was peppering a friend with questions about the relevance of branding and marketing to a nonprofit. As a long-time educator, I had been slow to perceive efforts in this area positively. I was mumbling something about branding being fake and contrived and, therefore trivial. This is a person whose opinion I value and whose work I admire, so I was anxious to hear his opinion on the subject.
Fake? Trivial? No, he said. A brand expresses the essential truth of an organization and its products and services. If what the brand is expressing doesn’t represent the organization accurately, marketing will not work.
For many people in public service or nonprofit work, efforts to promote or bring attention to the work we do feels disingenuous. I remember a particular mailing that one organization did that featured one of our students. The letter read more like “save the children” and less like a statement that we were in the business of empowering those we served. Reporters inevitably framed the accomplishments of our students using terms like “amazing” and performed “despite blindness.” And yet, in order to engage others in our work and gain financial support or access to important resources, we must communicate the characteristics, values, and attributes of our work, and that includes sharing stories about those we serve.
As leaders, how do we share the important work we do with others without feeling like we are selling or marketing something that is not real? I return here to the words of my friend: tell the truth.
Many years ago as a young teacher earning in the 10K range, I was seeking additional income. I bought into a cosmetics and skincare line and tried to follow the plan for my first month as a salesperson. The promotional words I was to use were someone else’s, and the words that formed in my mind were more like, “you don’t want to buy this, do you?” I realized pretty quickly that a career in sales was not for me.
As I look back on my years as an itinerant teacher, however, I realize that I was constantly working to convince others—general education teachers, administrators, parents, and others, of what each student was capable of and that his or her placement was appropriate. I was selling others on having a blind child in their class. And once the student had the appropriate tools and supports to be successful in the school environment, we had only to continue to advocate enthusiastically to ensure that he or she was successful. The school’s teachers and staff believed in the student as much as I did.
If you are working with intention (see earlier blog on this topic), you will know what it is about your work that is important. That is your brand. Don’t be afraid to enthusiastically share your beliefs about the work you do or the people you serve. Others will notice your truth.