July 18, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
“When you can’t do it alone”
“Make the most of your giving.”
“All building starts with a foundation.”
Those are among the charity tag lines that won prizes in a contest for the best nonprofit tag line held by Nancy Schwartz, a nonprofit marketing consultant and author of the blog, Getting Attention.
More than 1,000 tag lines of eight words or less were submitted in a survey. Once Ms. Schwartz had narrowed down the 62 best taglines, the 12 winners were picked by more than 3,000 nonprofit officials in an online poll.
Groups using tag lines with an emotional appeal did the best, such as the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Sarasota-Manatee, in Florida., which uses the “you can’t do it alone” tag line. The phrase “tells the story succinctly and powerfully: It’s all about getting help when life becomes overwhelming. It makes a strong emotional connection,” writes Ms. Schwartz.
In September, Ms. Schwartz will release an in-depth report analyzing the results of her survey, offering tips for nonprofit groups on how to best market themselves with tag lines.
