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Revitalize Your Nonprofit's Brand Image

Just recently I was a part of internal discussions of a 30 years old professional body where best brains from different disciplines mulled over the need for 're-branding' the organisation to attract more members, and improve participation in various events. The brain-storming did brought out some key issues of repositioning the organisation, engaging families of members in activities, getting involved in social activities, and even redefining the vision statement. 

Well, when I asked the participating members about "what made them join the organisation?", the response itself laid bare the inconsistencies between expectations of members from their organisation and what they got. 

Surprisingly many professionals were looking for wanting to look for self-actualisation needs whereas the association was focusing more on doing activities that were not addressing those needs. 

The mission or the vision, despite being there, was not shared with members, and nor the new inductions ever got the feel of it. The absence of long term goals did not engage the members who could feel themselves a part of the organisation. No shared goals. No short-term or long-term goals. No attempt to institutionalise the operations. No plans to raise the corpus that kept the activities minimal and frugal lest they overshot the available kitty. 

Unlike the commercial world, where buyers and sellers maintain a well-defined relationship, in an NGO or a professional management body, the relationship between its members, and other stakeholders has to be nurtured with shared convictions.  

Ken Burnett in his book Zen of Fundraising (Jossey Bass 2006) defines nonprofit's brand as "the set of ideas, image, feelings, beliefs, and values that are carried around in a person's head."

That's true for every brand, commercial or otherwise. It is the set of perceptions about an organisation that every individual carries in his/head, and emotional connects with the brand or the values that it portrays. 

In an era, when an individual has numerous choices available to address individual's emotional context, a nonprofit has to identify its niche, have clear goals, and excite its members to be a part of a much larger mission through collective participation. 

To reposition and strengthen your brand, follow the CorePR's Branding Rules: 

a. Define your vision. What is your key mission! What is our promise?

b. Communicate unified, standardised message

c. What do you want to achieve in the next one, two, five or ten years? 

d. What are the values that you wish your members to imbibe and portray? 

e. How would you like your organisation to be perceived amongst your stakeholders?

f. Identify your key stakeholders. Understand each segment's personal preferences, needs, etc. Most importantly, the first and foremost key stakeholders of a nonprofit are its members.

g. Customise your deliverables to meet the need of each stakeholder. 

h. Innovate. How different is your organisation in terms of its deliverables?

i. Do conduct periodic communication and social audit to assess whether the needs of the stakeholders are being addressed effectively?

j. How effectively we are using ICT to keep everyone fully informed and involved?

k. Leverage technology and entertainment as additional plug-ins to customise delivery of your products/services or rather more importantly, your brand promise. 

l. Nurture your nonprofit through consistently innovative yet engaging fund-raising ideas. The membership subscriptions or casual donations are not enough to maintain sustained development of a nonprofit. It must be built into regular activity plan. 

m. Lastly, keep your brand dynamic, relevant and vibrant to achieve sizable mind-share in the minds of its stakeholders. 

My India

A must watch for all on this 64th Independence Day.

Were you listening to the air hostess?

Yes, how many times you pay attention to the air-hostess running over her safety drill? For the frequent flyers that is a part that no one, perhaps, wishes to listen to or watch.
But here is something that no one would ever forget to watch, listen carefully, and remember it for ever. That's what communication is all about...attract attention, deliver message, and make you remember it.
I like the cute innovative presentation by Thomson Airways, world's largest charter airline. Watch it, and enjoy the safety drill.

New Accounting Standard to build trust

Come 1st April 2011, the Indian corporate world would move over to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Many European nations have already migrated to the new system and US too is working out modalities to converge GAAP into IFRS.
The SMEs in India however have been exempted from adopting IFRS because of the huge cost involved in migrating to the new system, the corporates can benefit especially those wooing foreign investors and seeking capital from abroad.
One of the fundamental impact of implementation of IFRS in India, according to experts, is the restoration of trust in companies' financial statements amongst investors and other stakeholders. Looking at the Satyam episode and various other financial irregularities, indeed the greatest challenge before the corporates is to come clean and be transparent in their financial reportings to their stakeholders.
It augurs well for the Indian investors and shareholders but the challenge for PR practitioners in the corporate sectors would be to educate and inform them about the changes and what changes it entails in terms of reporting.

Golden Triangle: The science of being human

I feel humbled to receive the national Golden Triangle Award from the Global Forum for Public Relations, one organisation that added spiritual dimension to the practice of public relations. I have always considered public relations the highest form of practice that not only strengthens the bonds between an organisation and its stake-holders but, in its truest form, helps the organisation to be truthful and honest in its own work place and ethical in operation to rise upto the expectations of its all stakeholders.
A public relations practitioner fully informed and conscious of ethical practice norms, can help organisations achieve success and leadership by adding spiritual dimensions. An organisation imbibing the Golden Triangle principle can create more positive bonding with its stakeholders, create an environment of peace within, and attain leadership in its area of expertise by following spiritual norms.
As a PR practitioner, spirituality is the most essential segment of one's life that helps one discover one's own potential and reach out to its clients/organisation with utmost powerful communication solutions.
Spirituality, as is normally believed, is not about religion. It is not about any rituals. Being spiritual is being human.
Two researchers, Martsolf and Mickley defining spirituality wrote that it is all about "perceiving the meaning of life, values that are to be addressed, appreciating the transcendent nature of life."
In today's world where the professionalism requires knowledge and skills, the ethics help in making the right decision based on ethical principles and predefined code of conduct, while the spirituality generates the inner power to have holistic view of every action that impacts the people or the stakeholders.
This triumvirate elements squarely jell with the Public Relations practice, which is all about creating relationships. Relationships are always strong, lasting and true, when these are based on the foundation of truth and honesty. And this practice of being truthful, being ethical and being considerate to others happens only by bringing about the change within ourselves. This internal transformation begins by following the spiritual path...that alone can show us, the human beings, the science of being human.