What’s the Real Value of a Nonprofit Group’s ‘Brand’?

To the Editor:

There are many benefits to evaluating the strength of one’s brand and to using branding consistently. But Holly Hall’s article (“What’s in a Charity’s Name?” August 5) missed some important points, by overemphasizing the novel dollar value of certain charity brands.

Rather than considering the quantitative worth of the brand, nonprofit entities would do better to measure and review particular elements used by brand assessors, such as name recognition, the values associated with the organization, donation patterns, and the soundness of management.

Even for those charities cited in the article that did purchase a brand-valuation service, I would argue that the main benefits of their brand audits were intrinsic to the process: They learned the public reception to their brands, they began to recognize the qualitative value of their brands, and they secured internal, board, and affiliate buy-in and participation in the protection and effective use of their brands. Those benefits can accrue to any organization willing to objectively and critically evaluate the elements of its branding and consistency, without paying for a brand value.

It’s probably true for the profiled organizations that placing a dollar value on the brand did give them an additional tool to speak the same language as the corporate donors they were courting. But it’s the development and consistent use of the brand, and creative, thoughtful strategies to communicate with corporate partners — and not the subjective quantitative assessment itself — that afford and develop the advantages of long-term relationships with donors.

Elizabeth Heile
Principal
Philanthropy Communications Group
Seattle