By Emily Caswell

Emily Caswell is the Brand Manager for VIEW Group, the branding division of View Newspaper Group.

What comes to mind when you hear Optimist Club, Rotary Club, Elks Club, Lions Club or Kiwanis Club?
My guess is that depends on where you live or if you happen to be a member. While most of these clubs have an international reach, chances are there is a local chapter of one or more of those clubs in your community.
What comes to mind when you think of that club likely has to do with the focus of their service locally. For example, the Kiwanis Club of Lapeer a year ago launched a massive fundraising campaign to build an inclusive playground in one of the city parks. While the club has done a lot of great throughout the years and hosts a number of signature events, right now when community members think Kiwanis, they think: inclusive playground. That’s not by accident, the club has worked hard to make that happen.
With 21 locally-owned, locally-connected community newspapers across the state, the team at View Newspaper Group interacts with hundreds of nonprofits each year, including chapters of the service clubs mentioned above. We support these nonprofits and clubs in several ways, including helping them build their brand.
That was the case last week as I headed to the Clarkston Area Optimist Club to speak to their members. Member Rick Karlewski reached out to see if I could speak to his club about building their brand association. A regular reader of this column — thanks Rick! — he was sure his club had great brand recognition — people know that the Clarkston Area Optimist Club exists — but not a strong brand association. Meaning members aren’t sure what comes to mind when people hear the club’s name. Some may be left wondering, “What exactly does that club do?” or “What do they stand for?”
I happily accepted the invitation and was eager to speak to a group that understands that it’s not only businesses who have to be mindful of building their brand. Nonprofits and service clubs must do the same. Why? Well, as I explained to the club, just as there are many brands of cars, for example, for consumers to choose from, there are many nonprofits and service clubs vying for the attention of community members, even just in the Clarkston area. In our cluttered world where people are time-compressed, brands are short cuts to help consumers make decisions. In the case of service clubs that may be a decision to donate to the club, sponsor a club event, volunteer, join the club or even reach out to the club for assistance.
Below are four steps, I shared with the Clarkston Area Optimist Club they can take to build their brand association.
Define your brand: Build your brand identity by ensuring there is a logo, tagline, mission, vision, brand promise, elevator speech and brand standards document in place.
Present a consistent and frequent message: This is key to building any brand. Once it’s in place through a brand identity, brands must share the same message over and over again all over the place, which brings me to the next very important step:
Invest in your brand: It’s nearly impossible to build brand association without a budget. A nonprofit’s branding budget may look different than that of a business, but it’s still important to have a budget for items like brand development, print advertising, a website and branded gear. While most investments are monetary, the investment of time is also important. That can be members sharing their message with the community at speaking engagements and all the volunteer hours logged by service groups doing what they do best.
Label each member a brand ambassadors, because they are! When it comes to service clubs, members are the ones ultimately building brand association. Each member must deliver the same message (i.e. the elevator speech) each time they are asked what their club is and what members do. In turn, every interaction between club members and the community leads to building the brand.
*Bonus step – Conduct a brand audit: I did not share this step with the Clarkston Area Optimist Club as they invited me to speak knowing their club needs to grow their brand association. There are nonprofits and clubs, however, that might not be sure if they have brand awareness or know how they are perceived in their community. If that’s the case, a brand audit is needed before any other work can be done. For nonprofits this includes community surveys, member surveys, a focus group and SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) assessment including other area nonprofits. The research conducted during this step guides the work done in the four steps listed above.
If you’re involved with a nonprofit or service organization I encourage you to build your brand. Want to learn more? Email me at ecaswell@mihomepaper.com.
Emily Caswell is the Brand Manager for VIEW Group, the branding division of View Newspaper Group.