Branding for Nonprofits
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
by Bill Weger
Brand guidelines create a framework for nonprofits to build trust, awareness, and consistency. An effective brand helps stakeholders, donors, volunteers, and community partners to clearly understand your organization’s mission and values.
Logo Guidelines
Use your logo in all print materials, web pages, electronic communications, and signage. Your logo can be used in color or black and white to accommodate various platform needs.
Never alter your logo by adding or deleting elements, changing fonts, using unauthorized colors, adding artistic filters, tilting the logo, or stretching it. Adhere to the minimum logo size standard for usage as well.
Color Palette Usage
Follow your color palette selection carefully. Use only colors approved in your palette. Never deviate from the listed color breakdowns.
Follow your specific color codes, such as CMYK for 4-color printing; Pantone for 2-color printing; RGB for office applications; and HEX for web use. Use the exact code for each of these color models to ensure accurate brand colorization.
Rules of Typography
Use only your organization’s approved fonts, whether for the logo, major headlines, subheads, or body text. Avoid using other fonts to maintain a consistent look and feel across your visual and verbal identities. Remember that your typography serves not only an aesthetic function, but also a functional one to maximum readability and engagement.
Graphic Standards
Your use of graphics is a reflection of your brand. Images should be visually consistent across all communications, utilizing the same approach to color, lighting, and mood. Your core colors should feature prominently, and subject matter should look fresh. Minimum photo image quality for print should be 300 DPI, and 72 DPI for digital/web images.
Applied consistently across all your communication channels, brand guidelines will earn trust, evoke emotions, stimulates the senses, and communicate the value of your nonprofit to the community.
Founded in 2002, Clearfont Media is a Maryland public relations, marketing, and graphic design firm that serves private and public-sector clients in the Baltimore, Washington, and Virginia Metro region.
