I had an encounter today with the kind of person who answer their own rhetorical questions. In this instance, the question was “What do nonprofits know about branding? Nothing!” I wasn’t enjoying the conversation and wanted to get away from the [erspn as quickly as possible, so I just let it go – but I’ve thought about that remark since, and am somewhat confounded by it.
If anything, brand (the reputation of the firm) is far more important to a nonprofit organization than it is to any commercial enterprise, and for the very reason some people assume that it isn’t important at all: the nonprofit organization has no product or service to offer.
Think about it this way: a lot of people who shop at a Wal-Mart will express a strong negative opinion about the brand. The list of grievances against the retailer is documented, with no small amount of proof, on several different Web sites. There are many other companies, and even entire industries, held in extremely low regard by the same people who continue to purchase products and services from them.
If consumers feel a firm offers the best product, the lowest price, or is simply more convenient than driving two blocks to do business with a more reputable firm, that gives them a reason (or perhaps an excuse) to do business with one that they find to be wholly deplorable. I could rant about the hypocrisy of that, but that would be hypocritical of me – and it takes this meditation into a different direction than I intended.
When it comes to nonprofits, there is no benefit to the donor or volunteer that would lead them to feel compelled to give over their money or their time to an organization whose brand is tarnished. There is no reason/excuse for anyone to give time or money to a dishonorable charity, and it’s far easier not to do so at all.
And in that sense, brand is far more important in the nonprofit sector than in the commercial sector, because it’s all they have.
Ironic, don't you think, that just a week later Susan G. Komen's brand tanked. The real question is do you think they will recover?
ReplyDeletePerhaps not quite ironic, but oddly coincidental nonetheless. To add to the odd coincidence, I'm currently reading on a closely-related topic: how to salvage a tarnished brand.
ReplyDeleteI'm not that far into it, but the author's take is that any brand can be salvaged if the stewards accept responsibility and make a genuine effort to rectify the situation ... and then repeat a second incident of the same kind.
From what I've seen on their site, blog, and social media feeds, they're still in the "close your eyes and hope it goes away" mode and no-one seems to be taking responsibility, or action, which is not a good sign.