As nonprofit communications has evolved over the years, we started exploring the concept of brand archetypes and how nonprofits can use them. While there are 12 brand archetypes, we think some of them make more sense for nonprofits than others. Today we’ll share the ones we think work best for nonprofits and which archetypes are the most popular for nonprofits.

Brand archetypes are human character traits that most accurately reflect your brand. They represent a universal personality that followers can easily relate to and provide a framework for creating a consistent and recognizable brand.

The 12 Types of Brand Archetypes

1. The Innocent
2. The Everyperson
3. The Hero
4. The Outlaw
5. The Explorer
6. The Creator
7. The Ruler
8. The Magician
9. The Lover
10. The Caregiver
11. The Jester
12. The Sage

We believe the following seven archetypes best suit nonprofits:

• The Innocent. For those organizations trying to make the world a more hopeful and optimistic place. Example: UNICEF
• The Everyperson. This is a trusted friend, approachable and relatable. Example: One
• The Hero. If you help others overcome challenges, you should consider The Hero. Example: Save the Children
• The Outlaw. Trying to change established norms or disrupt the status quo. Examples: PETA and Greenpeace
• The Caregiver. Many nonprofits naturally fall into this category. Example: Meal on Wheels
• The Jester. If you are looking to create shareable, engaging content or primarily focus on social media, this is a great option. Example: The National Parks Service
• The Sage. Great for education organizations, trade associations, or if you have a lot of informative content or how to guides. Example: The Cleveland Clinic

The Most Popular Archetypes for Nonprofits

For our 2024 Nonprofit Annual Trends Report, we asked survey takers to select the three words that best describe their nonprofit’s personality. Unbeknownst to them, those words corresponded to one of those seven archetypes we think best suit nonprofits.

The results showed that 83% of nonprofits embody just four of the brand archetypes – the Caregiver, Sage, Hero and Everyperson.

From our 2024 Nonprofit Communications Trends Report

Are you already a member of our community? If so, you can find all of the Trends Reports in the Free Resources section. (Not a member? Join now. It’s free!)

The Caregiver is the most popular archetype in the nonprofit sector, followed by the Sage not surprisingly.  The top two archetypes chosen are two of the easiest concepts to understand

• The Caregiver (warm, supportive, selfless): 26%
• The Sage (wise, informative, insightful): 23%
• The Hero (courageous, bold, motivational): 18%
• The Everyperson (relatable, down-to earth, approachable): 16%

The least popular archetypes surveyed were

• The Innocent (happy, optimistic, pure): 6%
• The Outlaw (disruptive, unconventional, revolutionary): 3%
• The Jester (light-hearted, witty, humorous): 2%

Why is this important? Because leaning into your brand archetype or personality helps you humanize your brand and create a narrative around it. It can guide your decisions on what to say and how to say it, making it easier for you to create content.

For more on brand archetypes and to find out which one works best for your nonprofit, join us June 26th for Master Class: Aligning Your Content Strategy with Your Brand Archetype. During this engaging and interactive workshop, we’ll help you find your archetype and create a content strategy that matches the personality you want to present to your community.

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We covered a lot of ground that will be especially helpful to those who don’t work in nonprofit marketing — if you want to share with someone who needs a little perspective.

I shared my thoughts on the differences we saw during the pandemic between nonprofits that understand marketing and branding and those that do not. We talked generally about the importance of marketing, especially when nonprofits are just getting started and trying to figure out the best ways forward. I also talk about how nonprofit executives can be more supportive of their communications staff.

The post WATCH: The Charity CFO Interviews Kivi About Nonprofit Marketing appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Every time we have a presidential election in the US, we see a big bump in what’s considered best practice in online marketing and fundraising for nonprofits too. This and future posts aren’t about endorsing any candidate, but rather learning from their campaign operations.

So let’s start the takeaways from the 2020 campaign with Pete Buttigieg’s Pete for America Design Toolkit.

If you want people to talk about you and share your stuff, make it super easy, as Pete for America has done here.

Here’s what you as a nonprofit comms pro can take away from this example:

It’s built on a subdomain, allowing it to have a different navigation and page layout than the rest of the site.

Everything is well-organized and starts with what people want. The sections are Logos, Colors, Type, and Team Pete, not 17 dense paragraphs about brand standards that you have to wade through before getting to the good stuff.

The language is supportive and friendly, not red-pencil rule enforcing. Instead, the interactive site empowers people to make their own choices, but within a well-defined palette. This is definitely a departure from campaigns in other years where exact colors and fonts were closely held secrets because campaigns didn’t want people going rogue with designs. Of course, people will do it anyway, so why not empower them with the right info?

We’ve got tons of ways for you to show your support for Pete! Use our color pairing tool to select approved color combinations for all of our campaign logos and download them in JPG, PNG or SVG format.

https://design.peteforamerica.com/logos

The brand personality shines through without feeling too forced. The campaign has renamed the colors in the palette to reflect Mayor Pete’s history, including Heartland Yellow, Rust Belt, and Truman Brown.

Rather than adopt the default red, white and blue color palette of past presidential candidates, our color palette is deeply rooted in Pete’s home town – South Bend, Indiana. Born and raised in South Bend, Mayor Pete has led the rust-belt, midwestern city through a period of renaissance since he took office. The nine colors in our palette are an ode to Pete’s hometown and his life there.

https://design.peteforamerica.com/colors

It encourages people to express their own identities and values while staying on brand. The Team Pete section has logos for each state and US territory that borrow from typography and colors associated with that state. They are also open to creating other identity graphics, including for interest groups (a la the Women for Obama T-shirt that I still have in my closet). Nice touch giving credit to the professional artists who hand-lettered the state designs too.

Are there other graphics that would be useful? Let us know.

https://design.peteforamerica.com/team

Of course, when you download the graphics, they do ask you to agree to their terms of service. But keeping all that bossy, legal language at the end, rather than upfront like most branding guides, is a great choice for a site that is trying to empower advocates and influencers.

What do you think? How could you draw lessons from this example and incorporate them into your nonprofit’s work? We’d love to hear your thoughts and links to your online style guide for supporters in the comments.

Want more commentary?

Mashable: Pete Buttigieg’s new influencer handbook is an extremely online way to campaign

Fast Company: Exclusive: Pete Buttigieg debuts a radical new approach to campaign branding

The post Build a Toolkit Like This for Your Supporters to Use appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Think about restaurants. Sure, there are a few places that serve cuisine from all over the world and do it well, but they are seriously outnumbered by the ones that specialize in Mexican, Chinese, surf-and-turf, or bar food, etc. What type of cuisine (content) are you going to serve?

As you create your niche, focus on a handful of keywords. These are the specific topics that you want to be known for.  For example, an animal shelter’s keywords might include words like Lost Pet, Find Pet, Dog Care, Cat Care, and Puppy Training.  A food bank’s keywords might include Free Food, Food Drive, and Donate Food.

Now that you have gotten started, it’s time to get even more specific by turning your basic keywords into what we call “long tail keywords.”  For example, add a geographic element, such as “Free Food in San Francisco” or a participant/supporter element, like “Puppy Training for Families with Children.”

Try to pick a set of keywords that excites you, because you’ll be writing about them just about every day. Think about topics that are of great interest to your participants and supporters, and where you want to position yourself as an expert or leader.

By picking a limited set of keywords, you can focus the majority of your content around those general topics. That will improve your search engine position on those keywords, while also giving your participants and supporters very clear concepts to associate with you. The same goes for the media: reporters will be begin to think of you as the expert on those topics and will call you when they need a source.

Can you list up to ten keywords or phrases that represent your content niche?

The post Defining Your Niche Is an Essential Part of Your Content Strategy appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Once you decide your traits, use the following tips to add more personality to your communications:

1. Write in the first and second person as much as possible.

When you refer to yourself and your organization as I and We, and your readers as You, you’ll naturally write in a much more friendly, personable tone.

2. Let us know who’s doing the writing.

Faceless nonprofits aren’t much fun to support. Let us see the real staff behind the nonprofit, who are doing the work we all care so much about. It’s as simple as including a byline (where possible) on your articles and blog and identifying who is updating your Twitter feed and Facebook pages.

3. Express an opinion.

Don’t be afraid to take a stand. Point out what and who is right, and what and who is wrong (or at least heading in the right or wrong direction, if you need to be more diplomatic about it). People look to nonprofits as trustworthy leaders, so show some leadership by pointing the way. You can be opinionated without being political.

4. Share some of the downs along with the ups.

You should focus on successes more than failures, but it’s those downs that often reveal the most about our character and values — in other words the real personalities of your organizations. Nobody likes a perfect know-it-all, so why should your organization pretend to be one?

The easiest way to do this is look back to lessons learned from past experiences, where the pain isn’t quite so fresh, and the story doesn’t reflect poorly on work you are doing right now. Self-deprecating humor also works.

5. Make us laugh (or at least smile).

Humor is one of the quickest ways to bond people together. It’s a fabulous way to let your personality shine through. Start by sharing funny stuff by others, then begin brainstorming ideas with others until you get it right.

6. Tell more stories.

Storytelling is an inherently human and personal experience. So when you tell more stories about the real people involved in your organization, whether as beneficiaries or supporters, your organization feels more personable too.

Always speak as passionate leaders, not as a 501(c)(whatevers). “Communities” are about living organisms, not structures. We get “engaged” to other people, not institutions. As you build your community of supporters and focus on engagement with them, always be, sound, and look human.

Adding personality to your content is essential especially in the age social media. So find yours and let it shine!

The post 6 Ways to Show More Personality in Your Content appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Many of the words we use in our writing would never come out of our mouths in everyday conversation. You need to write like you’re in a conversation as opposed to a lecture. Who wants to be lectured to? Not your supporters, I bet.

Like it or not, the world just isn’t as formal as it used to be. Most jobs allow more casual dress. You can have an entire conversation using animated gifs. Leggings are pants. Texting has made acronyms like LOL and OMG commonplace.

If you’re still using stuffy language in your nonprofit communications, you are running the risk of seeming out of touch.

Let’s be clear – I am NOT suggesting using LOL or “gimmicks” in your writing. Being less formal doesn’t mean you have to sound like a pre-teen on WhatsApp (unless you’re trying to reach pre-teens, then by all means…).

I am sure some of you are thinking of your elderly supporters who hate the way the world is changing, but it still doesn’t matter! Even if your audience is on the older side whose idea of a viral video involves NCIS, writing less formally JUST MAKES IT EASIER TO READ.

And easy is always best when it comes to asking people to do things like give their money or volunteer their time.

So let’s take a look at the two biggest stumbling blocks to creating more conversational writing followed by five tips to help you do it better.

The Stumbling Blocks

1. JARGON. This could be listed six times, and I am still not sure it would be enough. Stop with the wonky 501c3 language already, people! Jargon makes me cringe, can you tell?  It causes a huge disconnect between you and your reader and stops them from being engaged and inspired. How can they be engaged when they have no idea what you’re talking about?
2. High School English. You need to let go of most of what you learned in school regarding how to write. End sentences with a preposition! Start them with conjunctions! There is no need for SAT words and compound-complex sentences. There is no need for long paragraphs. You aren’t writing a research paper for Mrs. Frucci anymore.

The Tips

1. Read Your Writing Out Loud. Does it sound natural to you? If not, do some editing and try again.
2. Talk to a Friend. Write your document as if you were writing a letter about the topic to someone you are comfortable with, like your best friend. How would you explain the topic to her?
3. Use Contractions. When we speak, we usually use contractions, such as “won’t” for “will not” and “she’s” for “she is.” Some people object to using contractions in writing, but that’s a dated approach. Contractions are fine for all but the most formal pieces of writing.
4. Address Your Reader Directly. What’s the number one rule of donor centric writing? Use “you” and “your” when referring to the reader. You should also refer to yourself by using “I” or “we” and “my” or “our” instead of “the organization” or other more institutional-sounding words.
5. Start with Social. If writing less formally makes you nervous, start with the medium that changed it all – social. Twitter and Facebook are the perfect places to practice a more conversational writing style. After all, that’s what social networking is all about – conversations.

It’s time to lose the constraints of a more formal writing style! It’s not only easier for you to write this way, it’s also easier for your supporters to read. OMG, it’s perfect!

The post How to Make Your Nonprofit Writing More Conversational appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Photo: Food Network

How many people do you think really watch cooking shows just for the recipes? Most are watching because they like the chef/host or at least want to see what they will do next. They may dream of making the recipes (and occasionally will), but most viewers are drawn to cooking shows because of the personalities involved.

Nonprofits can use this same phenomena to connect with participants and supporters.

Why We Need to See Your Nonprofit’s Personality

Competition for your supporters’ attention, time, and money comes from all sides, including from other nonprofits. One way to stand out is to wear your personality and values so the rest of us can easily see who you are and what you believe.

Your supporters, including financial donors, have many questions about you and your good cause: What do they do, how do they do it, whom do they help? But all of these questions really boil down to something much more personal, a question that is always more about them than about you:

Do I fit in here?

Your supporters have an infinite number of choices, and if you want to be the one they select, you need to make them feel like supporting you is the most natural choice in the world.

You should describe the problems you are trying to solve and the needs you are trying to address in ways that make sense to them. You should talk about your solutions and approaches so they see how your work is consistent with their own values. It needs to all feel right . . . and making it feel right is so much easier when you convey an organizational personality.

When I ask staff at nonprofits to describe their organization’s public personality, I often get blank stares, or something like “Ummm . . . we don’t have one, so I guess, well, how about ‘boring?’”

I admit, it’s a tough question, especially if you’ve never considered that an organization could even have a personality in the first place. But the personality concept is important to the idea of organizational branding, and it’s really essential when you start to consider your social media strategy, where personality goes a long way.

Here’s another way to think about this: How do you want your organization to be perceived?

Here are 50 positive personality traits. Do you see your organization in these words?

HOMEWORK: List 3-5 personality traits that you would like participants and/or supporters to associate with you. The list may be different for participants and supporters, or even for segments within those groups (e.g. if you serve teens and seniors, you may want them to think of you in different ways).

Let us know your traits in the comments below!

The post How Your Nonprofit’s Personality Influences Content appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Blow your supporters away by replacing your boring nonprofit marketing and communications with fabulous and effective content.

Springtime is the perfect time for you to get some fresh, new ideas for your nonprofit marketing and communications! If you have just 60 minutes, please sign up for this free webinar to learn how you can take your  marketing and fundraising content/materials from DRAB to FAB!

FREE WEBINAR
Marketing Makeover MAGIC with Kivi and Claire
Tuesday, April 28th
1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific)

We’ve invited fundraising marketing specialist Claire Meyerhoff to be our guest “stylist” and she and Kivi are going to share their best tips and tricks for creating truly effective and FAB marketing and communications content.

As Editorial Director at Planned Giving Marketing, a top fundraising firm, Claire has created successful   and  stylish communications for big-name nonprofits. Lucky for us, Claire LOVES small nonprofits with no budgets (and any nonprofit with a small budget!).

Here’s some of the Marketing Makeover Magic just for you…

MAGIC QUICK FIXES. Wonder how you can turn your newsletter into a newsworthy, valuable marketing piece that will get read and get results? Fix your boring website? Improve your social media and direct mail/email outreach? We have quick fixes that you can use right away…

MAGIC DO’S AND DON’TS that will help you shape up your content, process and messaging. DO re-use your best content! DON’T slave over communications your donors are NOT reading (that’s right, you and your boss word smithed that letter into the bore-o-sphere).

ASK THE EXPERTS!  Yes, you can bring  YOUR web pages, newsletter articles and social media updates and Kivi and Claire will take on the challenge.  (Beware, they’ll be brutally honest!) Just email your work to training@nonprofitmarketingguide.com before Thursday, April 23rd.

So carve out a little “me time” for yourself and join us on Tuesday, April 28th!  You’ll learn, laugh and leave with a lots of useful information and valuable content you can use right away. You’ll see lots of great examples of marketing and communications that you can adapt for your org.

It’s time to banish boring marketing and communications along with the winter blues and embrace a vibrant and fresh springtime with our Marketing Makeover Magic webinar.

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Can’t see the form? Try this. 

The post Marketing Makeover MAGIC with Kivi and Claire! [FREE WEBINAR] appeared first on Nonprofit Marketing Guide (NPMG).

Wake up, girls and boys. It’s time to do things a little bit differently.

Here’s the thing: I’m a rule follower, and I bet you are too. After all, nonprofit communications isn’t the Wild West. But, even so…

Rules are made to be broken, at least once in a while.  And as much as I believe in defining clear goals to guide your right-now marketing decisions, and staying consistent within that framework, sometimes you just need to bust out.

When? The perfect moment to break the rules is when there’s an avalanche of messages on what’s top of mind right now situation (a.k.a. relevance rules), but you can see a flip side.

Take this rule-breaking email I received from Make It Work just a few days before Christmas:

That morning was a total nightmare. I was:

• Hopelessly behind on holiday cooking
• Frantically racing to finish a slew of work deadlines so I’d be free for my daughter over the school vacation
• Sick and tired of the endless fundraising emails from the organizations I support, despite knowing how much they need my help

….when Make It Work slipped a surprise into my email with “A Little Holiday Humor.”

Eureka! In fact, I clicked simply because the subject line promised something SO different than what had been flooding my inbox, and my mind.  Also, I needed a laugh, bad.

Make It Work— focused on changing attitudes and policy so families can live in economic security while participating fully in family and work—made good on its promise big-time. The email text plus the graphic meme (above) delivered the promised laugh, wrapped in a memorable message:

“The holiday season brings a lot of great things. Time with friends and family, way too much hot chocolate, comfy sweaters, relaxing on the couch, relaxing on the couch IN comfy sweaters…you get my point. 

Unfortunately, it also comes with a lot of not-so-jolly things. Frantically searching Amazon to see how fast that gift for your mom can be delivered, your boss calling you at 4pm on Christmas Eve, all of your kids simultaneously catching the flu. Yeah, we feel you there.”

They nailed me with this dark-side humor, and that’s absolutely irresistible. So rather than pushing this email to Trash with everything else, I clicked on the call-to-action link to forward these ironic holidays cards to three friends.  BTW, including a call to action is a rule NEVER to be broken.

Win-win! My friends and I got a much-appreciated (and much-needed) laugh. Make It Work got our emails and our attention, all because they broke the rules.

Keep your eyes open for that flip side, test it out to ensure others get it then dare to be different. You’ll Make It Work too!

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