The need for CEOs to build a brand of their own is not a new concept. Anyone running a business should be as accessible as the brand itself. We know customers don’t connect with logos alone. Audiences don’t attach to a business name. Products do not ignite human connection.
People are what people need. And thus, any modern CEO is expected at this point to be audience facing and a visible extension of their brand.
In a nonprofit company, this can be a harder branding expectation to follow. Sometimes executives for nonprofits feel funny about being the face of their organization. Feeling as if it draws away from their mission and puts them in a spotlight when what they really want the focus to be on is the issues.
Assuming your visibility will block out your organization’s is the wrong approach though. Nonprofit CEOs need to be just as approachable as for-profit executives, however, there may be a few tweaks worth making to your strategy to ensure you’re hitting the right notes and supporting your mission.
Keep closer to the cause than for-profit CEOs might
One of the fears for nonprofit CEOs is that by focusing on themselves they are drifting away from the cause. This could certainly happen if your brand isn’t crafted with intent, so we suggest not allowing that to happen.
Designate the “buckets” of your personal life that align with your nonprofit organization. Your CEO platform should be the overlapping center of a Venn diagram where your company is one circle and your personal life is the other. Your focus should be on developing the personalized angles of your nonprofit, not deviating from your message to share cat videos (unless of course you run an animal rescue… then please, all the cat videos.)
For example, you could share:
- Books you’re reading that relates to your cause
- Events you’re attending
- Ways your children are involved with your endeavors
- Lifestyle choices you make that align with your mission (brands you choose, how you prepare food in ethically aligned ways, home decor crafted by specific vendors, sustainable styles, etc.)
Whatever your nonprofit brand represents, surely elements of that bleed into your personal life. Share that! People are often curious about how they can incorporate a cause they care about into their everyday life. Show them how you do it.
News-centered sharing
With many nonprofit organizations, there is a fair amount of understanding that has to come before a lay audience wants to contribute.
For example, let’s say that your organization is intent on cleaning up the oceans. This may be a concept a lot of people can get behind, but someone wanting clean oceans may not immediately be someone willing to donate, volunteer, or collaborate with your company.
These people need to:
- Understand the impact of not acting
- See entry-level means of participating in your endeavor
- Witness progress being made
- Feel a sense of urgency to join
- Determine the different avenues for engaging
As the CEO, your content-driven initiative could be to help answer and address these needs.
Tweet relevant news articles that help your audience become better educated in the field you work in. Develop a video series that will walk a newbie through how they can get involved. Be at the forefront of PR so that you’re the audience facing entity driving interested activists towards your brand.
Your personal brand can be entirely wrapped up in informing.
On-location, first-hand accounts
You can also designate yourself as the reporting arm of your nonprofit. Do a Facebook Live from your next fundraiser. Share quotes from the most inspiring members on your team as memes. Curate stunning visuals that show the hard work of your organization on Instagram.
You’re the one most involved in the ins and outs of what makes your nonprofit run. From in-office meetings to on-location efforts to partnerships, you have the power to develop a really intentional view of your brand that’s different from the brand perspective itself. You can demonstrate first-hand pride, concern, and compassion in a way that’s not always easy to do from a business entity’s platforms.
Mission Statement Clarity
A mission statement is so much more than a one-liner on your About Page. Often it is a whole lifestyle and a multi-pronged business endeavor. One way to approach your branding as the CEO is to be the embodiment of that mission.
What is necessary to drive that mission forward?
What are the pitfalls and courageous upheavals it takes to get there?
What obstacles do you face?
How does the mission keep you moving forward?
Where can people join in on the mission?
Serve as something of a tour guide for your mission and be clear in reiterating what the ultimate goal is.
Make the Human Connection
The bottom line is, everyone needs a human face to put to even the noblest of causes. You can have amazing blog posts, professional ads, fantastic coverage, but if no one knows who is behind the organization, it’s easy to disengage.
Humans need to see other humans. We know this. At our core we know we need each other and your cause needs you to bring people by showing the real humans involved.
Hearing about a community that needs help isn’t the same as seeing it. Knowing there are good people getting real work done out there isn’t the same as witnessing it. Being told to donate isn’t the same as seeing how your money would help.
Share the History
Odds are, you didn’t just wake up one day a CEO of a nonprofit. There is likely a long history of this movement that you hold inside your mind and heart.
Take your audience through the same journey you went on.
How can you use content to take your followers through:
- The first thing that got you engaged with this cause
- The early days of your operation
- The move from a heart-driven cause to a fully formed nonprofit
- The people who inspired and motivated you along the way
- The real-world elements that keep you going
Your history is as important as your mission and your message and the day-to-day events. By leading others down the path you went, you could be starting them on their own expedition.
To build a personal brand, you don’t have to stray far from your nonprofit at all. You could simply serve as the lens through which your audience views the inner workings of your organization.