The Importance of Knowing Your Why
By Rachel Henry
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Brand messaging is the language you use to talk directly to your audience. The written way you tell your story to others can be the difference between a viral social media post and proverbial crickets—you need to speak in a way that resonates with your audience to forge a relationship that fosters credibility, trust, and loyalty.
Every time you communicate with your audience is an essential opportunity to create the right impression while clearly explaining what you do, who you serve, why and how you show up for them. Strong brand messaging can help you:
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In this article, we’ll explore 5 ways weaving strong brand messaging with your “why” can support your community-minded organization.
5 ways to leverage your “why” in your storytelling
1. Stand out in a sea of competition
A whopping 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created every day—that’s a lot of information vying for your audience’s attention. Strong brand messaging helps position your organization and differentiate it from similar non-profits by clarifying what makes it unique. This can be the specific values, goals, and methods that make your approach worth supporting over other non-profits that are supporting the same cause. What do you do differently?
2. Attract the right people
Get ready to make your A-Team, because you want the best and brightest representing your organization. A clearly articulated mission and vision statement can help you draw in amazing talent, including board members and volunteers. Community-minded organizations who visibly show their commitment to the community are more likely to build a strong reputation and attract passionate supporters who truly care about your mission. Remember, people are eager to work with organizations who align with their personal mission, vision, and values, so you need to show them why they’re the perfect fit.
3. Focus on the same goal
Without mission clarity, it can start to feel like you’re herding cats. Brand messaging provides a “true north”—a guideline to keep the whole organization working towards a common goal. Knowing what you’re striving for can help save time and energy, as well as motivate your staff because they know why something needs to be done. Plus, a clearly defined objective will help avoid mission creep and wearing your team thin unnecessarily.
4. Make it easy for supporters to get involved
You wouldn’t try to stage a performance with a choir who didn’t know the song they were performing, and your organization should be the same. Brand messaging creates a solid framework for your organization to craft consistent communications and outreach efforts—singing from the same song book, so to speak. Your marketing, social media campaigns, and fundraisers should all follow suit, ensuring every interaction with your non-profit looks and feels the same. This makes it easy for donors, patrons, and partners to get involved, because they already know the tune.
5. Create a culture of trust to generate support
For non-profit organizations, clear and consistent messaging also creates trust that you can deploy resources effectively. You need to demonstrate integrity and authority to prove to potential donors that your organization will do the right thing with their hard-earned dollars—and be transparent about it. Presenting your non-profit as an established and professional organization will help create lasting, authentic donor relationships, so they’ll be more likely to support you.
A whopping 2.5 quintillion bytes of data is created every day—that’s a lot of information vying for your audience’s attention. Strong brand messaging helps position your organization and differentiate it from similar non-profits by clarifying what makes it unique. This can be the specific values, goals, and methods that make your approach worth supporting over other non-profits that are supporting the same cause. What do you do differently?
2. Attract the right people
Get ready to make your A-Team, because you want the best and brightest representing your organization. A clearly articulated mission and vision statement can help you draw in amazing talent, including board members and volunteers. Community-minded organizations who visibly show their commitment to the community are more likely to build a strong reputation and attract passionate supporters who truly care about your mission. Remember, people are eager to work with organizations who align with their personal mission, vision, and values, so you need to show them why they’re the perfect fit.
3. Focus on the same goal
Without mission clarity, it can start to feel like you’re herding cats. Brand messaging provides a “true north”—a guideline to keep the whole organization working towards a common goal. Knowing what you’re striving for can help save time and energy, as well as motivate your staff because they know why something needs to be done. Plus, a clearly defined objective will help avoid mission creep and wearing your team thin unnecessarily.
4. Make it easy for supporters to get involved
You wouldn’t try to stage a performance with a choir who didn’t know the song they were performing, and your organization should be the same. Brand messaging creates a solid framework for your organization to craft consistent communications and outreach efforts—singing from the same song book, so to speak. Your marketing, social media campaigns, and fundraisers should all follow suit, ensuring every interaction with your non-profit looks and feels the same. This makes it easy for donors, patrons, and partners to get involved, because they already know the tune.
5. Create a culture of trust to generate support
For non-profit organizations, clear and consistent messaging also creates trust that you can deploy resources effectively. You need to demonstrate integrity and authority to prove to potential donors that your organization will do the right thing with their hard-earned dollars—and be transparent about it. Presenting your non-profit as an established and professional organization will help create lasting, authentic donor relationships, so they’ll be more likely to support you.
Take your storytelling to the next level
Knowing your why, and being able to articulate it clearly, both convinces the head and touches the heart of your audience. That’s why it’s the first step in the RISE storytelling process. Perch helps you get concise about conveying your mission through a highly developed brand story. Check out the RISE Storytelling Package to learn more.