| Over the past three
years, Davis & Associates has built
a strong track record in strategic brand
work for the Australian NFP-community sector.
Indeed, the NFP sector is one of our three
industry sector specialisations.
Since 2001, we have undertaken brand strategy
projects for: Multiple Sclerosis Australia,
ParaQuad NSW, Uniting Church, St.John of
God Health Services, Sydney Adventist Hospital
(“SAN”) and Volunteering NSW.
In May 2004, in conjunction with Associations
Forum (a specialist service provider to
NFPs), we will be running a short workshop
on key strategic brand issues and the NFP
sector.
The Australian NFP sector is worth approximately
$25 billion a year, making it larger than
the total national agricultural industry
and involving some 2.3 million Australians
as volunteers.
Our brand research has identified four
consistent themes in terms of general perceptions
of the sector:
1. Highly competitive (everyone
is chasing the “charity dollar”)
2. Bombardment at every turn –
“charity exhaustion” (on the
street, door knocking, telemarketing, direct
mail, internet)
3. Lack of transparency and accountability
(“where is our dollar going?”)
4. Growing divide between the NFPs
who are better-funded and adopting professional
management processes and strategies, and
those who are not.
Other key findings from our brand work,
include:
- While there is a perception of clutter
in the sector (“lots of days”
“lots of ribbons”), themed
events are still seen as one of the more
effective “public” marketing
activities because they:
- Enable people to have fun for a worthwhile
cause
- Involve the community, reaching a wide
range of people
- Encourage active participation
- Give people a sense of receiving something
in return for their investment of time
and / or money
- Increase community awareness of the
NFP via publicity generated by the event.
- From the corporate perspective, genuine
partnerships with community-based NFPs
are regarded as the most effective form
of involvement; corporates acknowledge
that such partnerships require a great
deal of work and effort on both sides
– but ultimately can produce meaningful
benefits for both parties.
- For the future, four major “attitudinal
changes” amongst the wider Australian
community will come into play in relation
to NFPs:
- Demand for greater accountability
- An Australia-first perspective
(“charity begins at home”)
- The need for more transparency
- Generational change (younger
generations less involved in communities/more
“me-focused”).
Thus, creating a differentiated brand
(to stand out from the clutter) based on
a sustainable positioning represents a central
business issue for community-based NFPs;
increasingly, they will need to:
- Grow (and sustain ) awareness / recognition
in a highly competitive market (often
with limited budgets)
- Identify, reach and connect with discrete
segments within the individual donor market
(i.e. general public), anchored to distinctive
brand personalities and resonant brand
values; and
- Build brands that corporate partners
acknowledge as offering clear business
synergies and benefits (notably: enhancement
of the corporate’s reputation-brand;
the ability to promote company services
and products among the NFP’s customer-stakeholder
base; and opportunities for employee engagement).
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