When Is It Time to Rebrand?
Beyond the strategic planning cycle, there are some less obvious moments in a nonprofit’s life when a rebrand should happen.
By Deroy Peraza, Partner, & Kade Burns, Sr. Strategist at Hyperakt
Rebranding is a pivotal moment in the life of a nonprofit or foundation. While it may seem like an exercise in aesthetics, a rebrand often signals something much deeper—a reflection of where an organization has been, where it is now, and where it aspires to go.
Illustration by Merit Myers
All rebrands signal an evolution of some kind—a realignment of the brand’s story with its authentic reality so people don’t experience cognitive dissonance when interacting with it.
The most common scenario is for an organization to adopt a new brand as one outcome of regular strategic planning. Organizations tend to be on a 5-year cycle of planning—it’s a known process and there’s a lot of intentionality around it—and the new strategy often represents enough of a change that the brand either needs to adapt or fully transform.
But actually there are other signals that an organization should rebrand, which can be difficult for communication leaders to recognize. They struggle to find the time and perspective for big-picture thinking when they’re dialed in on the work in front of them, and it’s a lot and it’s endless.
The impetus for a rebrand is often some kind of friction that people are feeling internally: Staffers are having trouble making decisions or innovating; stakeholders might have very different ideas of what the brand is and how it should act, and there’s no touchpoint the leader can refer to. Or the symptoms may be external: It’s impossible to attract funding or form partnerships; people might be telling you that they don’t understand what the organization does. Failing to recognize these wisps of smoke, or deciding to soldier on with an ineffective brand, has real-world consequences.
Rebrands might be incited by internal factors or external, strategic shifts or tactical ones, by people coming or people going, by changing audience expectations or behaviors, by a moment of opportunity or one of crisis. So let’s explore the motivations that can spark a rebrand, so you can determine if that’s the right move to advance your organization’s mission.
Your organization has outgrown your brand
Of course, the most classic example of this is a change in organizational strategy. In the typical strategic process, your organization may have made significant shifts to your mission or priorities that your brand needs to reflect.
But there are other significant changes your organization might make that require a thoughtful look at your brand. It may be leaning into new initiatives or new funding strategies that need to be reflected in your verbal and visual identities. Your organization may have shifted operations—either upsizing or downsizing—that require a renewed brand that inspires employees. You might need to appeal to a new funder demographic or geography with a brand that speaks to their needs. And importantly, a leadership shift can have significant implications for your brand, whether a new leader aims to implement a new vision or approach, or a departing CEO seeks to cement a legacy that the brand will carry forward.
Your brand has become overly complex
Nonprofits have so many moving parts—people, programs, partnerships. And often, when an organization pivots, the new pieces get tacked on to the existing brand rather than being thoughtfully integrated.
This is evident, most of the time, in brand language. Mission statements become catch-alls, rather than articulating a focused and singular message for the organization. This hurts your resonance and memorability for all audiences. Your staff becomes disconnected because they don’t understand what your work is driving toward or how all the pieces fit together. Your donors and audiences are left confused by your complexity.
When this happens, it’s clear that a rebrand is essential. Rather than building and adding more ideas on top of each other, a rebrand helps holistically rationalize and make sense of it all. Rebrands do the hard work of uncovering and distilling the single idea of your brand that everything adds up to. Without this, your brand can’t capture the hearts and minds of your audiences.
You need to stay relevant far into the future
Audiences aren’t stagnant, and therefore your brand can’t be either. Even your core stakeholders—donors who have been with your organization for years, key players in your space, your employees—may shift their attitudes, their needs, or their behaviors. These changes often play out over a long period of time. But eventually, your organization is left in a lurch: without the people you need to achieve your mission. Your brand needs to keep up with their changing attitudes and engagement patterns to ensure that you can still communicate your value to them in a compelling way.
Beyond your existing audiences, you need to stay relevant to new ones too. For your organization to thrive today and long into the future, you need to attract new people to your organization and widen your base to ensure you can continue to advance your mission effectively. Staying relevant to all audiences—especially younger ones—will allow your organization to continuously cultivate the next generation of donors and activists. Your brand needs to be able to adapt to invite these new audiences in by speaking to their needs and expectations in a way that’s relevant and resonant.
Overcome new challenges
You may have found yourself under pressure, with your organization facing significant challenges that stand in the way of achieving your mission. There may be a PR crisis or controversy sweeping the news, painting either your organization or cause in a negative light. Perhaps the Overton window has shifted for the worse, leading the general public to view your issue area as more radical. Maybe the way people talk about your issue area has evolved significantly past where your organization has been, making it hard to engage your audiences. Maybe you’ve experienced a significant decline in funding or involvement. Maybe a new administration has even pulled your funding.
Whatever challenges you may be facing, it’s worth considering how your brand can play a part in helping you overcome them. If your brand has radical clarity around your role in driving change, your organization will be able to withstand even the toughest news cycle. If your brand was built on core audience needs and understanding, then you’re in a strong position to maintain and win more engagement. And if you can always communicate your value, you can attract funding and involvement, no matter the shifting circumstances.
Seize the opportunities coming your way
Your organization may have found itself among some big moments. Perhaps there is more political or cultural momentum for your issues. Perhaps you find yourself, through either smart strategy or happenstance, to be at the center of the news cycle. Or maybe there is an organic moment of celebration for your organization: a significant funding milestone, achievement, or anniversary.
Whatever opportunity has presented itself to you, your brand is here to help you seize it. Through powerful language and visuals, your brand can help crystallize and capture this momentum, ultimately helping you bring energy to your audiences, invite more people into the fold, drive narrative change, and signal that you’re ready to step up and capitalize on the moment to help advance your mission.
It may be time for a rebrand
Rebranding can seem scary—and for many nonprofits, it seems like a nice-to-have rather than a need. But if your brand isn’t resonant, clear, distinct, or influential; it’ll cost you.
If you question if your organization needs to refresh its brand, you and your team can start by taking the Nonprofit Brand Score. This short survey helps measure the strength of your brand today, so that you can begin to see if a rebrand is necessary.
