How to Budget for Nonprofit Branding Success
Is your nonprofit's brand effectively conveying the message you want your audience to hear? It's crucial because your brand represents your organization when no one else is in the room. Or are the message and visuals out of sync with your vision for your organization? When you realize you need an update, panic sets in, because you have NO IDEA how much something so important (and nebulous feeling) should cost. Typically, nonprofits allocate 5–15% of their budget to marketing. For newer and smaller nonprofits, a higher percentage is often necessary to establish brand recognition.
How to Budget for a Branding Project
“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”
Cost vs Quality of Branding Services
The cost and quality of branding varies wildly. You can hire a student or someone off a gig platform for as little as $250. Or you can hire an agency for $25,000 or more. The cheapest will likely be using a template they have used for other clients, and the most expensive will wow you with fancy presentations and promises of market research. Sometimes you will need to convince your Board that an investment in a rebrand is necessary. If your Board comprises CEOs and high-level professionals, they may immediately jump to that higher agency price point. But depending on your size, somewhere in the middle—$5,000–$15,000—may fit your organization’s needs best.
When deciding on a budget for your branding project, you need to weigh the cost of the investment against the potential gains. How much are higher donations and a larger donor base worth to you? If professional branding might help you secure a $250k donation, how much would you be willing to invest in the strategy and design to make that happen? When you invest in a high-level fundraiser, you budget a percentage of the money you hope to raise. Branding is no different, except that branding is not a one-time event, it is a long-term investment in your organization, one that should hopefully support you for the next 5–10 years.
What Should Be Included in a Branding Proposal
A branding expert will not only help you with a new logo, they will also help you to hone in on a new messaging strategy, based on your nonprofit’s mission, values, and vision for the future. When done right, updated brand strategy and design can help you make a bigger impact on your community and deeply connect with your core audience. Once you have a strong strategy, your organization can communicate more consistently, speaking as one voice within a strong visual framework of readymade templates. (Read about the importance of brand strategy here.)
When figuring out a budget for a branding project, you need to look beyond the logo to implementation. All branding projects should include a guide so all levels of your organization can easily use your updated messaging and brand assets (logo, recommended fonts, colors, messaging, tone, photography, illustration, and videography guidelines). Upon rollout, you should have ready an updated website homepage, business cards for top-level employees, and templates for social media. Other updates to consider: stationery, signage, marketing collateral (brochure, flyer, direct mail), donor presentation (interactive or print), email templates, banners, and promotional items. (Read a nonprofit rebrand case study here.)
Ways to Save Money on a Nonprofit Branding Project
If you know your top-level needs before you start your project, you can request an all-inclusive quote and timeline, which will likely come at a lower cost than hiring out each project separately. In addition, most service providers offer payment plans for larger projects, which can spread out your costs over time. Other considerations:
If your finished brand is a refresh rather than a completely new look, then additional collateral can be implemented over a longer period, to spread out the cost.
Do you have a strong communicator on your team? They can partner with your brand designer to work on updated messaging and copy for your website and marketing needs, rather than hiring a copywriter.
Do you have someone who handles your web updates? Consider pairing them with your brand designer, who will design a new look for your website which your employee could implement.
Do you have a database of original photos to promote your organization? If they are up to date, then you may be able to use them as visual content for your brand rollout. You may still need to hire a photographer or buy stock images to cover additional needs, but it will reduce the overall cost.
Do you have the capacity to produce small design projects? If so, you may request design templates (either in the Adobe programs or Canva) that can be reused and updated, rather than hiring for each design need.
If you do not have a designer on staff, then consider hiring your branding service provider on retainer for at least a year after your initial rollout. This is a way to both budget for and spread out the cost of new brand implementation with professional guidance and consistency. Retainers cost less than hiring on a per-project basis and can be as little as 10 hours a month.
Budgeting for Nonprofit Branding Success
Designing a new brand for your nonprofit is not for the faint of heart. It requires introspection and an investment in your future—which can feel scary. Know that the symbol on your letterhead is not the literal heart of your organization, but it can represent it. If your brand visuals are based on your values and have strong messaging to support them, then you cannot fail. Professional design and strategy can give your organization renewed confidence, increased clarity and focus, a loyal donor base, and ultimately, allow you to make a BIGGER impact on your community.
If you are interested in learning best practices for finding and hiring a brand designer, see my blog post here.
When working with clients, I offer several options in my branding proposals so that you are only paying for what you need. Click here to check out my branding and design services.
