The Five Functions of a Brand for Nonprofits

Strategies are just decisions that need to be acted upon. Defining a brand’s strategy can be one of the most interesting processes, but the most challenging part for many organizations is putting these strategies into motion. The mission, vision, values, positioning, audiences, promises, personality, voice and tone, messaging pillars, and visual branding elements need to be in harmony with one another.

It’s challenging for people outside the organization to understand a nonprofit solely through its mission and messaging. At the highest level, the mission must be clear and differentiated. And all of the other elements add to how someone understands who an organization is, what it does, and why they should support its work.

It’s the application that creates clear and effective communication, delivers a memorable and intentional experience, and creates supporters.

Because implementing a strategy is challenging, we can look at brand strategy through a second dimension—as functions of a brand—to make it easier to apply strategies across the entire brand experience.

Why functions?

A function contains action. It serves a specific purpose. It accomplishes a task. For example, a story’s function might be to instruct or entertain. It accomplishes its purpose through carefully crafted language and imagery. It’s the difference between a story and content. Similarly, Brand Strategy is a holistic strategy with a distinct purpose. The elements of a nonprofit brand function together to communicate, teach, inspire, and connect.

The Ideological Function

The Ideological Function creates connections through universal human truths. It focuses on human-to-human connection and is born from an organization’s core beliefs, which are the fundamental reasons for its existence. This function can even elevate our consciousness, awareness, and understanding of the world.

Many nonprofit brands mistakenly define themselves through their work (the “how”) rather than their purpose (the “why”). Organizations exist to solve problems, not just provide services. For instance, AAPR will build more support around the belief that we can improve the quality of life for aging populations rather than focusing on tactical objectives like reducing prescription costs or protecting social security.

The Visionary Function

The Visionary Function paints a clear picture of what the world will look like when your organization is achieving its mission. It serves as your North Star. It should be clear to others and inspire them to join you. Your brand must create a tangible vision larger than any individual or organization, building upon the truths established through the Ideological Function.

Long-term visioning is challenging. An organization’s short-term goals don’t create compelling visions. The vision should emphasize outcomes, not outputs. These outcomes can also make it easier to identify good partners and define what their roles are in achieving the vision. For example, a research-focused think tank can use its vision to identify and proactively build relationships with implementation partners as part of the larger system of change. Or as part of a movement.

The Differentiating Function

Creating differentiation is one of the essential functions of brand strategy. It clearly communicates your organization’s unique value and tells people why they should support you. Brand strategy positions your organization relative to others. The Differentiating Function highlights your tangible, intangible, and aspirational value propositions, combining all elements to create a distinct presence in your audiences’ minds.

Blue Ocean Strategy is a great framework for exploring differentiation. It can also help organizations create new markets by identifying underserved or unmet needs. Organizations that find significant overlap with peer nonprofits can differentiate themselves by doing more of some things, less of others, or introducing completely new approaches.

The Informational Function

The Informational Function tells the world what the organization does in clear and human-centered language and focuses on the how, why, where, and who of their work.

How the brand communicates such practical information doesn’t have to be overly formal or dry. Carefully chosen words will help people understand the issues, the nonprofit’s positioning, and how it has become part of its brand identity. Words matter a lot. The key to getting the Informational Function right is to anticipate the questions and assumptions that someone might make about an organization. This includes being clear about the visible and tangible work of the organization rather than assuming, for example, that all people know what advocacy means, how it happens, what success looks like, and what they can do to help.

The Experiential Function

This function primarily focuses on maintaining consistency across the brand’s identity and experience at all touchpoints. It creates an image in the minds of others. It designs an intentional experience that demonstrates how you want people to feel and remember the organization. And it delivers this experience over and over again.

The Experiential Function is tied to every brand expression: logos, colors, typography, imagery, visual and verbal language, stories, websites, annual reports, events, newsletters, social media, presentations, and so forth. It takes an entire organization sharing the same understanding, rowing toward the same destination, and reinforcing the brand experience through every interaction and touchpoint—online and offline—to maintain consistency.

These five functions move organizations beyond outputs and help them to focus on outcomes. They help them prioritize audiences, challenge assumptions, and stand out in an increasingly crowded sector with many overlapping strategies. Together, they move Brand Strategy and messaging beyond the surface, giving organizations more power to achieve their missions and reach bold visions for the future. ◼