Our nephew, Hudson Glenn Durham, came into the world on Wednesday, July 1 at 10:26 p.m. weighing 8 lbs 3 oz and measuring 20.25 inches long.
His cousin might have been a little jealous during our first cuddle. He kicked a little to remind us that he was present the entire time.
By day three, my mom and sister had already captured Hudson smiling. Doesn't he look like he heard a really funny joke?
He's absolutely perfect in every way. Our family is so, so blessed.
During my career in nonprofit communications, branding and marketing, I LOVED creating nonprofit marketing pieces. If I could have done that part of my job every day, I would have stayed in nonprofit communications and marketing forever. It was my JAM!
With all of those years of experience behind me, I have a really good grasp about what small and big nonprofits need in order to tell their stories to donors, volunteers and the general public. Today, in the next segment of our marketing for nonprofits series, I'll highlight the ten key marketing pieces that every nonprofit needs at their disposal:
1. Organization one-sheet – The one-sheet is the more affordable version of the brochure, but it features the same key points – the mission/vision of the organization, where its located, who it serves, how long it has been around and what programs and services it offers. The one-sheet will always include a staff person’s contact information (phone, address and email), as well as website and social media.
2. Program one-sheet – This piece goes hand-in-hand with the organization one-sheet. It can feature an individual program, or it can give summaries about all of the programs offered by the organization.
3. Business cards – Even in our high-tech world, they are still a no-brainer. Bring them into the 21st century by including social media and your website. A QR code linking to an organizational video is a nice touch. P.S. Your email signature should always match your business card!
4. Letterhead/envelopes – Letterhead and envelopes should feature a clean design that matches the rest of the organization’s brand.
5. Donor remittance envelope – In a sea of matching black and white remittance envelopes, I like to see some personality. Photos and a thoughtful message get a donor’s attention and don’t change the printing cost!
6. Thank you cards/envelopes – Like the letterhead and envelopes, thank you cards and envelopes should feature a clean design that matches the rest of the organization’s brand.
7. Giveaways - T-shirts are best because everyone loves them, and they allow the wearer to become a walking billboard, but pens, cute key chains and travel cups/mugs are other inexpensive items that work well as giveaways. The key is to choose a giveaway that people will use and carry in public!
8. Newsletters – Donors, volunteers and the community need to know what a nonprofit is doing. They need to feel the nonprofit is reaching its goals and establishing itself as an expert in its field. I like to see a mix of print and email newsletters used to reach a nonprofit’s audience. It’s always a great idea to ask the donors and volunteers how often they’d like to receive email/printed mail and always, always, always respect their wishes!
9. Basic ad – Once the basic design has been created, a basic print/online ad can easily be resized for future needs. The key is to have the look and messaging designed so that it can be shared quickly. Ad deadlines always come up sooner than we expect!
10. Pocket folders – Pocket folders aren’t cheap, but they pull together a nonprofit’s branding package to ensure a professional image is conveyed to donors, funders and partners, and they double as a print media kit. I like pocket folders with two business card slots.
Know a nonprofit who needs help with their branding, marketing and communications? I would love to help them!
In addition to designing each of these pieces, I can also work with my printer vendors to ensure the best possible price and highest quality is achieved. Let me know how I can help.
Read the rest of our nonprofit marketing series here:
It's probably obvious, but I love old family photos and feel passionately that they should be preserved for future generations. For that reason, I decided to offer preservation as a Gerald & Joan service line in September 2013. In addition to creating photo books, I also scan and edit photographs and film slides. My scanner isn't the fanciest machine on the planet, but it does a great job when coupled with Adobe Photoshop and an observant eye. It can be painstaking work, but it's fun and rewarding. Once these images become digital files, they can be shared with family and friends to ensure family stories live on forever. I love keeping those stories alive.
Here's a great example of the sort of work I can do.
My mother-in-law has very few photos of her father Clovis Geno, and I'm pretty sure this is the only one she has of him as a boy. The photo is in decent shape when you consider it is almost 100 years old (Clovis would have been 100 on October 3, 2014), but it had a couple of bend marks that I knew I could remove.
Clovis Yates (before preservation services)
Clovis Yates (after preservation services)
I love digitizing these old photos, and when I can help restore a photo to its former glory, it totally makes my day! Learn more about preservation services by contacting me here.
I have recently expanded my services at Gerald & Joan to include brand consulting because I love helping clients achieve clean design and tell their stories in an inspiring and efficient manner. I have also seen so many cases where the design and marketing falls to poor, overworked staff members who would be much better off using their talents elsewhere.
As these well-meaning folks don't have a clue where to start with marketing but know they need help, I wanted to highlight three key elements of strategic marketing for nonprofits -- logos, branding and print marketing:
Logos: Should be clean, easy to read/identify and high-resolution. Not every nonprofit will have access to Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, but they should know a designer who can provide them with high-res files of their logos (these logo files should be property of the nonprofit once they have been created). EPS or AI files are always preferred over JPEGs for print-ready art, and they ensure that a logo doesn’t look fuzzy or stretched on posters, t-shirts and everything in between. A designer can also help create program logos that match the organizational logo to ensure branding is consistent.
Branding: Branding means different things to different people, but the key elements are colors, fonts and the overall look of a brand. These elements set a professional nonprofit (and business) apart from the pack. It's important to work with a designer to develop a color palette (with Pantone, CMYK, RGB and Web colors), two or three preferred fonts and design elements that can be used for all of their marketing needs.
Print Marketing: Brochures used to be the key collateral material, but I've found that not every nonprofit wants the typical tri-fold brochure because program changes and staff turnover. If a nonprofit doesn’t want to invest in a brochure, I recommend a professionally designed one-sheet that gives an organizational overview, a list of programs and how to contact the organization as a donor and volunteer. These can be easily updated by the designer and then printed by the nonprofit. Other key pieces include branded business cards, letterhead, envelopes, thank you notes and envelopes, donation envelopes and folders. Together with a press release, these pieces form a press kit. With a personalized letter, they also serve as a welcome kit for donors.
Nonprofits, contact me if you'd like to talk through these strategic marketing elements in greater detail or if you'd like me to help your organization with its branding and marketing efforts.
Next Monday I’ll highlight the ten marketing pieces that every nonprofit needs!