June 26, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Board members, fund raisers, and other nonprofit leaders need to be able to quickly convey their organization’s work and its impact to potential donors and other constituents — and a good motto or “tag line” can help, says Nancy Schwartz, a Maplewood, N.J., nonprofit marketing consultant.
If you think your charity has a good tag line, submit it as a contender for one of the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. The deadline for entries is July 31, and more than 300 tag lines have been entered so far.
Ms. Schwartz started the contest last year after doing an online survey about nonprofit tag lines and receiving more than 1,000 submissions. She selected 62 finalists and created an online poll in which 12 award winners were chosen by 3,062 nonprofit professionals who cast their votes online.
Ms. Schwartz’s research into nonprofit tag lines led her to write a free report, including advice on how to create a good tag line, tag line do’s and don’ts, and examples of both weak and effective tag lines.
A few nonprofit tag lines that do not work for Ms. Schwartz:
“We’re more than you think!” for a women’s health organization. “What are the unexpected services, and why are they important?” Ms. Schwartz asks.
“There is a difference!” for a hospice. The hospice, she writes, needs to “articulate what that difference is.”
“Life is a team sport” for a bone-marrow donor program. “Don’t use analogies that don’t hold water,” Ms. Schwartz writes. “You’ll only confuse your audience.”
