Amplify Your Nonprofit Marketing with the Power of Visual Content

For decades, phrases like, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” have driven home the notion that, sometimes, the best way to convey something is by showing, not telling.

Even though that all makes sense on an intuitive level, it’s always important to have data and research backing up your decisions. Luckily, as technology has developed, plenty of recent research has emphasized just how critical visual messaging is. Consider these fascinating facts:

• People are capable of registering 36,000 visual messages per hour!
• Visual elements like fonts or color can actually affect perceptions and behavior. (It’s referred to as color psychology, which is pretty rad if we do say so ourselves!)

But while we could go on about the inner workings of the brain, you’re probably not here for a neuroscience lecture. Instead, knowing how powerful visuals can be, how can nonprofit leaders and marketers best use visual content to amplify the impact that they’re making?

What You See is What You Get—or is it?

Branding and marketing for nonprofits can often seem like a Catch-22. Despite the public expecting nonprofits to spend little on overhead costs, organizations that outwardly seem unorganized or unprofessional are often quickly judged and dismissed. In the time that it takes for you to give your elevator pitch about the work your organization does, most people have probably already made a split-second judgment based on your nonprofit’s branding.

The reality is that branding is extremely important to the success of a nonprofit. Strong branding helps clearly communicate what your nonprofit is all about. It provides transparency in your mission and inspires trust in others so that they can donate, volunteer, or champion your cause.

That’s exactly what we had in mind when we re-branded The Lovely Project, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting and empowering young girls. In addition to re-designing the visual branding of the organization with cohesive colors, fonts, and iconography, we also worked to fine-tune the messaging of how the target audience could make an impact through The Lovely Project.

To do this, we asked ourselves: how can we clearly outline all the ways people can help? What if there was a way to easily show the impact of acts like donating, volunteering, providing connections, and hosting programs? By utilizing icons and symbols that anyone could understand, we were able to visually communicate these ideas and help The Lovely Project encourage people to join in its mission much more effectively.

Additionally, we reworded the way donors were addressed, calling them “Champions” of certain people or events to be transparent about where their donations were going. Small branding details like these are huge in affecting how your organization is perceived and supported.

At the end of the day, a solid brand is essential for a nonprofit to legitimize its efforts, inspire trust, and encourage contributions. But how do you establish strong branding if you’re so busy, you know, making a difference? That’s where we come in. By having a creative agency like us review and optimize your brand, whether it’s with a simple refresh or full makeover, you can focus on what you do best while we craft a brand that helps you make an even bigger impact.

Who Doesn’t Love a Good Ol’ Infographic?

Another great visual tool for nonprofits to use is infographics. Tapping into the advantages of visual content, infographics make the delivery of key information, not just aesthetically pleasing or eye-catching, but often significantly easier to understand. After all, the workings of a nonprofit or the issues it seeks to remedy are often complicated and nuanced.

Take our work with Jobs Partnership, for example. The faith-based nonprofit is an organization dedicated to helping those who are unemployed or underemployed in Florida, providing a complex multi-step solution and network of resources, community partners, employers, and more that we called “The Way Up Process.”

Now, a process that involves no less than 8 steps is already a lot to take in, but the fact that Jobs Partnership simultaneously works with a network of other contributing parties makes clearly communicating its solution to others a real challenge.

Cue the power of visuals.

Strategically using elements like colors and symbols, we made an infographic that both visually and textually explained the details of The Way Up Process, as well as how different partners and activities interacted at each step. And by being designed to align with their branding, including their new website, campaigns, and brochures that we also created, Jobs Partnership was able to strengthen the consistency of their brand too.

Expertly designed resources can make all the difference in sharing and amplifying the ways that you’re making a difference in the world. Grow your impact by having eye-catching—and, of course, eye-opening!—infographics designed by our team of creatives.

The Great Storytelling Tool of Video

There’s likely no other content that is as prominent these days as video. From over a billion hours of video watched on YouTube every single day to the domination of streaming platforms like Netflix and Disney+, the popularity of video can’t be ignored.

A big part of video’s appeal is its ability to visually present stories, which are innately more captivating and engaging than cold, hard facts or figures. Not to mention, people are twice as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content, upping the opportunities for these stories to reach a wider audience.

By nature of the work, most nonprofit organizations have countless moving or heart-wrenching stories to tell. From successful programs to news of a dire situation, putting these stories into video can be immensely powerful at mobilizing donors, volunteers, and more so that an even greater difference can be made.

A great example is the content series “St. Jude Possibilities” produced by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Each video tells an encouraging story of a St. Jude patient and their heartwarming experiences of receiving treatment at the hospital. In the span of just 3 minutes or less, the videos invoke an emotional connection that not only establishes positive associations with its organization but inspires both potential patients and donors to connect with the hospital.

Whether you want to visually present your nonprofit's mission or shine a light on the cause you’re championing, consider using powerful visual tools like video or infographics. And no worries if you’re no Steven Spielberg or Bob Ross. We’ve got a team of talent poised to create captivating content that’ll engage others and further your mission. Get in touch with us for any of your visual messaging needs!