What Are The Branding Costs For a Charity?
Even when you know that your charity or non-profit organisation needs to rebrand or create a brand identity from scratch, branding costs can be a big barrier. The question is how do you spend on branding without it seeming extravagant to your trustees, donors, and other stakeholders?
We know that convincing stakeholders that building a brand identity from scratch or (taking on a rebranding project) can be a challenge, even for the most experienced charity chief execs.
The good news is, there are many charities and nonprofits that have spent big on branding and reaped the rewards. You can use these success stories as an example of what can be achieved…
The case of Cancer Research UK and branding costs
… Take the case of Cancer Research UK. In 2012, they spent £680,000 on a new logo and rebrand. Here's how they justified the cost:
“The cost of this work will be more than outweighed by the added income and support we will create by building a stronger brand which is distinct, stands out, and is more engaging.
“The cost is less than 0.2% of our annual income… and over five years, we expect this to equate to 0.03% of our projected income. This gives us confidence that the benefits of undertaking this change will easily outweigh the upfront investment.”
While £680,000 might seem like an eye-watering amount for your nonprofit organisation, in the case of Cancer Research UK, this represented just 0.2% of annual income.
However, we understand that you might have nowhere near the budget that Cancer Research has. But don't be discouraged. Provided you can clearly outline and justify branding costs, you're on the right path to better showcasing your organisation's purpose, mission and values.
Branding costs: A breakdown
Trustees, donors, and other stakeholders will want to know how much branding costs. The truth is, they're asking the wrong question. As a charity chief exec, you can redirect the conversation by asking 'what should we be investing in our brand?'
The follow up to this question is 'what return do we want on our investment?' You see, branding gives a return, such as more donors, more volunteers, and more funding etc. Branding is an investment, not a cost like paying the water bill or your mortgage.
Asking the right question gives you a more accurate way of determining your budget. You will need to give careful consideration to what services you need. Look at what skills you have in-house, and which services would be better coming from a specialist branding consultant.
Just as your organisation might hire consultants for legal or IT issues, collaborating with a branding agency that understands the Third Sector goes a long way toward creating an effective brand while keeping costs down.
One of the main causes of escalating branding costs is a lack of upfront groundwork.
Partnering with an experienced branding consultant helps to road test names, logos, and websites, giving you a more objective idea of what resonates with your audience. This stops you spending thousands on a branding campaign that has little to no effect.
Defining your organisation's message, the things that make you unique, your audience, and what you want to accomplish are the key first steps that will help you to lay a solid foundation for creating your brand and keeping costs down.
Having to start over because your branding wasn't on point in the first place will prove to be more costly.
With all this in mind, you need to be realistic about what you can invest in your branding. You can approach this in several ways:
1. As a percentage of your organisation’s budget
Based on your organisation's overall budget, consider what percentage you can invest in branding. This ensures that your investment aligns with operating expenses. The percentage might be determined by the current status of your organisation and its overall needs.
For example, if you're a start-up or early-stage organisation, you will need to invest a higher percentage of your budget into branding and marketing to build awareness and a strong following. This tends to look like 10 - 20% of your overall budget.
If you're a more established organisation, the percentage might be less.
2. Your goals
If you're faced with challenging marketing goals, it's likely you will have to invest more in solving them.
For example, let's say you need to recover from a serious public relations issue or you're launching a new initiative, the level of investment in branding needs to be bigger to achieve your goals.
If the aim is to reach new donors, you could consider investing in additional research to make sure that you fully understand the audience you're trying to reach and that your branding is on point.
3. The results you expect to see
Let's say you hold an annual fundraising event that raises £500,000 and you want to increase that by 20% (£100,000).
Investing 10% of that £100,000 is £10,000. Is a £100,000 fundraising boost worth the £10,000 investment? If the £100,000 result is what you want to see, a £10,000 investment is worth the rewards you will reap.
4. What other nonprofits similar to yours have invested
If you're a nonprofit that's the size of Cancer Research UK, a £680,000 investment in branding might be plausible. If you're a smaller organisation, it's worth finding out what other charities and nonprofits across your network have invested for comparable branding services.
Make sure you find out if it was building a brand from scratch or a brand refresher, such as a new logo design or a revamped website. But remember, every branding situation is different, but at least you will get some idea of what costs are involved.
Plus, you should ask others across your network what their experience of the branding process was like. Find out if they were happy with the process, the results and the investment they made.
You can communicate this feedback with your stakeholders to further reassure them and justify branding costs.
5. Based on what branding agencies charge
Partnering with a specialist nonprofit branding agency can help you to figure out what the right level of investment in branding is for your organisation. Fees would be based on the services that you need and the time needed to perform those services.
Bear in mind that if you choose not to work with a branding consultant, you will have to oversee the project. This will include coordinating all contributors to your branding process. Project management is a big job, which is not really ideal for a charity chief exec like yourself.
Even if you pass it to someone internally, like a Development Director, it means they will have less time for important operational tasks, like fundraising. This comes with a real cost to you.
That's why outsourcing to a branding specialist proves to be more cost effective for most nonprofit organisations.
To help keep costs down, you can partner with a consultant for only part of the branding process. You could choose to have a branding specialist assess your current brand and its effectiveness across various touchpoints with your audience.
Equally, you could have a brand strategist come in to facilitate branding workshops. Or, you might choose to do the upfront research yourself and then bring in a branding specialist to create a strategy that aligns with your organisation's mission.
Working with an outside agency means that costs can be itemised, outputs can be clearly defined and milestones outlined.
At every stage, you will know exactly how much investment is needed to complete the branding process, which is a great advantage when you need to set a budget.
If you try to handle the branding process internally, you may be hit with unanticipated costs and delays.
No one size fits all for branding costs
There's no one size fits all for creating a brand. That's why branding costs can vary. Some of the factors that will affect costs include:
The size of your organisation and the number of people involved in the branding process.
The size and variety of your audience.
The specific goals of your branding. If there are multiple objectives to achieve, creating a new brand can be more expensive.
However, partnering with a branding agency gives you greater control over costs because they will help to identify the level of investment you should make.
Just add Sodium
We are not just ‘another branding agency’, and we offer much more than just our services. Collaborating with us means you get an extended team that works with your creatives to give your branding the biggest impact and the best results.
This collaborative approach is what sets us apart. We don't just come in and take over, we help your creative team to flourish.
But our commitment to your organisation doesn't stop there 🙂. We're with you every step of the way on your journey towards self-sustainability.
We serve to empower you in achieving your mission. Our focus is on giving you a cost-effective branding solution that helps you make a real difference.
By choosing Sodium, you gain a partner who understands your unique needs and supports your long-term success. Together, we will create a lasting impact and help your organisation thrive.
Ready to talk branding? Book your 30-minute call with Navi Aulkh, for a detailed discussion about your organisation, branding requirements, our prices and packaging - and how to get the most out of working together.