09.19.17
By Rebecca Perez
Your marketing or fundraising campaign needs just the right photo to make an impact. How do you know which one will work? Or which ones to even try?
Whether you’re choosing from stock photography or working with a photographer, the photo selection process is an important step in telling the story of your organization and impact.
Once you know the main goal of the campaign, you’re one step closer to picking a great image to enhance it.
A good photo usually has these 4 things in common:
1. Good composition
The composition is the arrangement of all the elements in the picture. Background, foreground, shapes, proportion, etc. The photo should feel balanced.
2. Good exposure
Think areas of light and dark. A lot can be done in Adobe Photoshop to fix certain lighting issues, but not always. It’s always best to start with a good image.
3. Emotion
Does it make you feel happy, empathy, or powerless? Be careful about relying too much on “misery” to tell your story.
4. Captures a moment
Photos that capture a moment in time can be a powerful storyteller. Maybe it’s something small that’s often overlooked, or even a really big moment that usually passes by quickly.
Once you’ve found photos that meet the 4 requirements (or at least 3) narrow down the options by asking yourself these:
- How many do I need?
- What size do I need?
- How will these be used (social media, print, etc.)?
- Will the text be placed on top, next to, or not at all?
It’s important to choose a few options to test before making the final selection. A good designer can make magic with even “not-so-great” photos, but it’s usually best to start with a variety of images. Lay them out and pick whichever works best for your needs. You could even A/B test two different photos in a campaign and compare results.
What have been your successes or failures when choosing the right photo? Let me know in the comments
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08.23.17
By Rebecca Perez
Without a hero, stories fall flat. We need someone to root for, hope for, or fight for. Also, without a hero, the story is quickly forgotten.
What should you write about?
When it comes to writing your story, there is a lot to consider. One is for sure, “We’re great, support us!” shouldn’t be your story.
All stories need to have 3 elements:
- Hero — give us someone to root for
- Desire — what does this person want or need
- Conflict — what’s standing in the way
And don’t forget to make us feel. The best stories involve emotion. Don’t focus on numbers and data at this point. Put us in the hero’s shoes with an emotional connection.
What about an ending?
You actually don’t have to give your story an ending. Let the reader add their ending by enticing them to take action on behalf of the hero.
Which hero should you pick?
If you’re not sure if you should focus on donors or clients, then conduct an A/B test. Your website or social media is the perfect place to test this kind of thing. Create both stories, with similar visuals, and test them to see which one resonates the most with your audience.
Have you created a story focused on a client or donor? I’d love to hear about it.
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08.09.17
By Rebecca Perez
When you’re focused on your mission sometimes your brand takes a back seat. But everything you put your logo on is a way to connect with your audience.
Don’t let a disjointed brand can get in the way of your message. You don’t have to be a large organization or have a large budget, to have a good brand.
Create a nonprofit brand that people remember and trust.
Here is a list of branding mistakes that might be getting in the way of more donations, more engagement, and more impact:
1. Using different colors and fonts on all your marketing and promotional material.
This makes you seem amateurish and inconsistent. Your brand should have a select group of colors and fonts that get used on everything, across the board.
2. No clear rules on how to use your logo. Sometimes it’s even unreadable, or even worse, distorted.
Your logo is like a country’s flag. It needs to be treated in specific ways. Set up rules about when to use the color and black & white versions, what backgrounds can be behind it, if any. And please don’t ever distort or stretch it.
3. No templates for marketing materials.
If you have to start everything from scratch, that means more work for you, and possibly, more mistakes. Templates can make your job so much easier. And isn’t that what we all need.
4. Your brand looks just like someone else’s.
Standing out from the crowd is half the battle. Be memorable.
5. Not knowing what brand stands for.
You can’t rely solely on your mission to attract people. Know what else you stand for. This will help not only guide your visuals, but also influence fundraising and programming.
Any branding mistakes I’ve missed?
Do you need a brand that helps you expand your audience and end brand confusion?
Download the FREE Nonprofit Brand Boost pdf today to learn my system to a brand that helps you succeed. LEARN MORE
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07.26.17
By Rebecca Perez
One of the things I love about what I do is that I always keep learning. It’s important to stay up to date on happenings in your industry when trying to get better and do more. Which means that I read a lot about the design and nonprofit worlds. I check a few sites regularly, but I was wondering what else should I be reading. So, I asked the Facebook group Nonprofit Happy Hour for some recommendations. Below is a list from a few members of the group:
Prefer to listen instead of read? Check out these podcasts:
- The Nonprofit Happy Hour
- Nonprofit Hub Radio
- Nonprofit Leaders Network Podcast
- SproutCast
- Tony Martignetti Nonprofit Radio
If you’re not a member of the group Nonprofit Happy Hour, I suggest you request to join. They are a great resource for advice, feedback, and support when you’re deep in the trenches of nonprofit work.
Did I miss one of your favs? Add your go-to resource in the comments.
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07.11.17
By Rebecca Perez
Are you as obsessed with branding as I am? Probably not. Why am I obsessed? Because branding is the heart of who your organization is. It’s a big reason why people love working with you and supporting you. It helps you to instantly stand out from the pack before anything is even said.
It’s what makes your organization different from all the other lookalikes.
So how do you find out your brand personality?
In smaller organizations, the brand personality can often be the Founder’s or Executive Director’s personality — which has its pluses and minuses. To find out your brand personality:
- Ask yourself this:
“If this organization was a person, how would I describe them?”
If you’re working with a team on your brand personality, I suggest first answering this question alone, then come together and share your answers. You might be surprised by the similarities and differences.
- Edit your answers
Narrow down your list to approximately 4 adjectives/descriptors of your brand. Choose the most important words. Don’t just list them all, prioritize them to get to the essence of what the brand is. The words you use will help dictate what your brand will look and feel like.
- Check out the competition
Don’t forget to check out your competition, or other similar organizations in your area or that have a similar mission. What’s their brand personality?
Insider Secret: Brand personalities can change over a long period (10+ years), or after a major change in the organization like a merger or mission. If this describes your organization, is it time for a rebrand?
Do you need a brand that helps you expand your audience and end brand confusion?
Download the FREE Nonprofit Brand Boost pdf today to learn my system to a brand that helps you succeed. LEARN MORE
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I believe design can help you change the world and my job is to show you how.