Your nonprofit is doing important work. But when your messages don’t line up, your audiences have to work harder to understand you — and many simply won’t. Engagement drops, internal alignment suffers, and your communications team ends up reacting instead of leading.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- You’re spending too much time figuring out what to say in different channels, and decision fatigue is slowing everything down.
- Different teams or departments are saying different things about your organization, and your story feels fragmented.
- Stakeholders, partners, or even internal teams don’t fully understand your mission, your priorities, or what you actually do.
A strategic brand messaging platform gives your nonprofit a unifying story: a clear, practical narrative rooted in your priorities. Instead of starting from scratch every time you communicate, you and your team have a shared framework that makes it easier to plan content, make decisions, and stay on message.
Realign and refresh: strategic brand messaging for nonprofit organizations
I help nonprofit leaders transform fragmented communications into a cohesive brand narrative, so you can articulate your mission with clarity and drive engagement with confidence. In a focused, four-part process, we’ll create a practical brand messaging platform your team can use every day.
1. Strategic discovery: examine your nonprofit’s current state
We’ll start by identifying what’s working — and what isn’t — with your current brand. Through briefings, exploration calls, and a review of your existing materials (such as your website, strategic plan, and recent campaigns), we’ll develop a clear picture of your current positioning and messaging.
Outcome: clarity and focus to guide the work ahead.
2. Deep-dive consultations: uncover and align stakeholder insights
Next, we’ll engage key voices and create alignment through in-depth interviews and a collaborative brand workshop. Typically, this includes leadership, communications, development, and program representatives. Together, we’ll explore your audiences’ perspectives, your nonprofit’s brand personality, the core elements of your positioning and story, and strategic pathways forward.
Outcome: a shared, organization-wide foundation for future messaging.
3. Narrative design: synthesize insights and craft your messaging
In the third phase, I will synthesize the insights and guidance gathered in steps one and two to develop a cohesive, strategic brand messaging platform that includes your nonprofit’s new:
- Brand positioning: a clear, concise articulation of who you are and how you want to be perceived
- Brand personality: the attributes that shape the voice, tone, and feel of your communications
- Brand narrative and key messages: a practical set of core ideas and message pillars, with language your team can adapt across channels
Outcome: a strategic messaging platform your team can actually use.
4. Presentation and alignment: solidify your new framework
As our final step, I’ll consolidate all of these elements — along with new boilerplate copy and clear guidance for using and implementing your messaging — into your new brand messaging guide. I’ll present the finalized platform to your team, walk through real examples of how to apply it, and answer questions so everyone feels ready to put it into practice.
Outcome: internal alignment, confidence, and clarity in how to shape communications with confidence going forward.
With your refreshed and realigned brand messaging platform, your nonprofit will have a clear, unifying framework that connects your strategy to every message and story. You’ll be able to:
- Plan campaigns and content more quickly
- Help staff, volunteers, and partners stay on-message
- Onboard new team members with a clear narrative
- Say “no” to off-brand opportunities with confidence
“We worked with moflow to refine our brand personality and messaging and love the outcome! Marlene sought feedback from our Board and staff team and was able to capture and refine the ways we talk about who we are and what we do.
We particularly appreciated Marlene’s background in not-for-profits and expertise in messaging. It has already made a difference in how we promote our social enterprise and we’re also looking forward to the change it will make over time.”
“I worked with Marlene to create a brand messaging platform for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. She worked seamlessly with different teams to tap into our own expertise about who are, and the work we do, then used it to craft a unified set of messages, language, and priority audiences.
The end result is an extremely valuable document that will be a key tool in our communications work. Marlene brings a lot of valuable experience to her consulting, is organized and structured in her approach, and a gem to collaborate with.”
Why work with me?
Since 2008, I’ve assisted dozens of nonprofit organisations of all sizes in strengthening their messaging. My approach is strategic and pragmatic: I build on your existing assets, help you align your messaging with your mission, and deliver a practical final product you can implement. I began managing communications at a large health charity, so I understand firsthand the challenge of juggling competing priorities, inconsistent messaging, and a constant flow of content ideas. I’ve also experienced
Who is this service for?
This service is for nonprofit communications leaders who want clear, actionable messaging that reduces decision fatigue, makes content planning easier, and helps you move quickly from strategy to execution.
It’s a strong fit if:
- You have an existing brand or strategy, but your messaging hasn’t caught up.
- Different teams are saying different things about your organization.
- You’re planning a rebrand, strategic plan launch, or campaign and need a solid messaging foundation.
Package price range $16,000-$21,000
Investing in a realigned and refreshed brand messaging platform is an investment in strategic communications content infrastructure that will serve you for your next three to five years. Many clients use this work as a foundation for multiple initiatives over several years, from campaigns and fundraising appeals to website updates and annual reports. Your exact price will depend on the depth of consultation and internal alignment required.
Let’s build a brand narrative that gives you the clarity, alignment, and confidence you need to deliver your nonprofit’s communications.
Request a consultation to discuss your organization’s needs, timeline, and whether this service is the right fit.