When you get right down to it, thinking like a brand and acting like a fundraiser is the single most important thing that fundraisers can do when communicating with their audience. This video offers a brief description of what I mean.
The essence of a great brand is that it co-opts the emotional benefit of its category. Why does it do that? Because emotions are and will always be more powerful than facts. Features and functional benefits always serve as important proof points, but they are not the essence of a great brand. The same strategic rigor applies to fundraising. What is it that you stand for? What are the enduring values of your organization? The key is to ladder up and come to an essential idea that defines why you do what you do. About Clay: Clay is a veteran of Leo Burnett’s Account Management group in Chicago where he worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands, including M&M/Mars, McDonald's, Altoids, Pillsbury, and Philip Morris. During his time at Burnett, he won two Gold and one Silver Effie Awards for work on Altoids. For the last several years, Clay has devoted his time and attention to the nonprofit sector where his marketing initiatives have led to over $100,000,000 in fundraising. Two years ago he co-authored “Inspiring Generosity: Marketing Techniques for Fundraising Visionaries.” He’s excited to be joining Behold because he believes in the power of video storytelling and sees it as the single best way for companies to tell their story in compelling, convincing, and motivating ways. BEHOLD is a high-end commercial production company, based in Chicago, Illinois. BEHOLD is based in a multi-building complex that comes with fully-equipped production studios; over a dozen editing workstations; a variety of conference rooms and production offices. http://wearebehold.com Facebook http://facebook.com/wearebehold Instagram http://instagram.com/wearebehold