The Importance of Making Eye Contact

I, like Carnac the Magnificent, can tell you the contents of 95 percent of the nonprofit solicitations that come in my mail each day — without opening the envelopes. Inside, there will be a two-page letter from the head of the organization with a lengthy, highly crafted explanation of what the organization is doing, which makes it abundantly clear that the need is more than urgent. There might be a petition for me to sign and send back for submission to Congress. There definitely will be a plea for money.

I further predict that I will not read the letters even though I believe the organizations are doing good work. I will, however, feel manipulated. And I will toss the often-unopened envelopes in the trash.

What about the other 5 percent? Those are always nice surprises. I look forward to getting Greenpeace mailings, for instance. I take its missives home to savor the clarity, honesty and confidence (writing and photography included) of the branding message. I get a charge every time -- so much so that I doubled my monthly donation recently when they called and asked.

When people are confused about what branding is — which happens every day — I bring up examples like Greenpeace, MoMA and the American Red Cross to show how clear branding can help push an organization forward and how fuzzy branding can impede it. I tell them branding doesn’t start with a great logo. It starts with a focused board, staff that is well led and motivated, all pulling together on a mutual quest to accomplish a well-defined and worthy mission. When you get a sense that those who run the organization have a realistic and innovative plan, that they aren’t just spinning their wheels, that’s when you have a great nonprofit brand.

When that nonprofit makes eye contact with you through its well-designed branded materials, for instance, and you gain confidence that it is on the ball — not mired in bureaucracy — you become an advocate. That’s when you give — of your time, energy, enthusiasm and, yes, money.

When I work with nonprofits to help them create a more effective brand identity, I tell them fuzzy branding results in confusion, depression, slow progress and low funding. All the nonprofits I work with are on the right track in terms of their programming — they just don’t have their branding act together. So we enter a kind of virtual gymnasium together (with a good designer, writer) to build up their branding muscles.

For instance, do they have a mission that is memorable? So many NPOs have written-by-committee, compromised-language mission statements that are paragraphs long and unrepeatable. They tend to be prescriptive, limiting and complex. Together, we hone their mission down to seven pithy words — max — to answer the questions “What at the end of the day do we want to be remembered for?” “What is our purpose?” Everyone (including the board, especially the board) knows it. It is included on all important documents. It’s like a mantra.

Another typical problem: Does their name make sense? Recently an NPO came to me about wanting to go national, and as I spoke to caller on the phone I Googled the organization. No less than seven other nonprofits around the country had the same or a very similar name. Carnac says: I see a name change in your future.

The end result of the rebranding process for the nonprofit is a great brand identity, and it often makes a significant leap: greater effectiveness in achieving the mission — and in visibility, vitality, growth and support. And the sound of envelopes being opened, checks being written, is music to the ear.

DK Holland is principal of DK Holland, LLC, a communications consultancy in New York City that works exclusively with nonprofits, foundations and related organizations, and author of “Branding for Nonprofits: Developing Identity With Integrity.” She can be reached via www.dkholland.com