Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that non-profits are branded entities just as much as any food or beauty product we can buy from a store shelf. As such, they sometimes need a new name.
Renaming Non-Profits
In this tellthetruths video Rebeca shares a case study about a recent project BrandTrue conducted and also illustrates the recent trend of non-profits changing for more emotional names with an embedded call-to-action.
Check it out!
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this video, check out:
Naming Using Emotional Benefits
The Formula For Renaming A Brand: Part 2
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey guys, it’s Rebeca Arbona with BrandTrue, and I want to talk about renaming non-profits because after all, they’re brands too and sometimes there are good
reasons for changing a name.
We recently had the honor and the privilege of working on a non-profit name change, and so I ended up doing a lot of research and thinking about this issue a lot. So our client was the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center. (Even after all this time I have to think really hard about the name.) They shortened it to IJPC. Still some issues, and between the fact that it was a mouthful and it wasn’t as distinct, and also that they were really refining their mission, they needed a new name. We are very proud to say that we came up with Ignite Peace. It’s shorter, but it’s
also a lot more emotional, which I think is a really important change that I see in these trends of non-profit name changes.
Another trend is just sometimes you have to go with what people are calling you. So a great example of that is the YMCA is now officially the Y, because let’s face it, it was the Y in everyone’s minds anyway already. But some other great examples of these sort of more emotional, more kind of call-to-action name changes that I have for you: One is America’s Second Harvest. Second Harvest, is that hunger? You just have to think a little bit too hard about it. They changed their name to Feeding America. (Rebeca sighs) You feel it, right? It’s just way more emotional, way more clear. And another one that’s been on my mind quite a lot lately is National Pro-Choice America. Certainly very clear about what they do. Also controversial, but also sounds kind of policy-like, wonky, compared to their new name, which is absolutely a call to action, Reproductive Freedom For All.
So I think that these examples kind of illustrate the sorts of changes that we see happening. Don’t do it unless you have a really strong need. But when you do, I hope you can see that these “after” names are really working hard for these organizations. So, I think it’s a really important thing to keep in mind. Thanks. Bye!
