Selecting the right name for your organization, campaign or program can go a long way toward differentiating you from other nonprofits, making an emotional connection with your audience, and finding a fresh way into the hearts and minds of your audience. Here are four steps to finding the right name:
- Competitive Analysis: Begin your naming project with a thorough analysis in order to help quantify the tone and strength of other nonprofit names.
- Positioning: The next step is to define your positioning. Your positioning is not your mission statement; more specifically, it's how your supporters view your organization (and your mission) relative to the position of other nonprofits. The more specific and nuanced your positioning is, the more effective the name will be. All great nonprofit names work in concert with the positioning of the organizations they speak for.
- Name Development: Name development begins by applying the positioning strategy to figure out what you want your new name to do for your marketing and fundraising efforts.
- Creative/Testing: Finally, before deciding on a name, you should test your final choices in the context of a mock fundraising appeal. For example, email yourself an old fundraising letter with the new campaign name; print out a mock advertisement with the new name. Where appropriate, pick up the phone and test the new name with a donor, volunteer, and board member.