Four ways a strong brand can drive corporate giving

A strong brand provides countless benefits for nonprofit fundraising programs. It helps organizations stand out from their peers, focuses fundraisers and other communicators on the messages they need to drive action, and provides the vision for a better future that inspires supporters to give.

A strong brand can also give you the edge you need to attract corporate donors. With $24.5 billion donated by corporations last year, that’s no small consideration. Here are four ways that your brand can help support your corporate giving program:

1. Trust
A clearly defined brand will help your organization generate stronger, more trusting relationships with your supporters, a key ingredient in building engaged communities. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs want to do good, but they also want to promote their own brand and connect with consumers. If your audience is highly engaged, corporate donors can feel confident that their support will get noticed. Because people like to support companies that do good, a recognized connection with your organization can help them build trust and find new, loyal customers within your community.

2. Reliability
Corporate donors want to support good causes, but they also know that the nonprofit they choose to associate their brand with reflects back onto them. So, it is equally true that the values associated with a nonprofit brand will reflect on your corporate donors, and if your brand isn’t sufficiently professional or reliably expressed, you are starting at a disadvantage.

3. Clarity
CSR programs operate based on defined philanthropic priorities, which are typically selected based on the causes’ affinities with the company’s business interests. For example, Disney’s corporate citizenship program focuses on causes benefiting children. Other companies, like Google, that focus on organizations using technology to combat a range of issues, can get fairly niche. Having a clear mission statement—which is a core piece of your brand identity—as well as key messages articulated in concise language will help you appeal to a CSR team.

4. Personality
Well-defined brands, whether nonprofit or corporate, express a clear personality that helps them to distinguish themselves. Corporations prefer to support organizations that align with their brand’s personality, so having a distinct personality that aligns with a corporate brand can make your nonprofit more attractive.