How Rebranding Led to a Nike Grant with Lauren Atherton

Your branding is living and breathing ALL the time. No matter the stage you’re in, there’s always something you can be massaging.

Today’s episode features one of my favorite humans - Lauren Atherton, founder and creative director of HeartSpark Design. She’s also the website designer for my monthly giving mastermind program and is a whiz at all things design and branding.

According to Lauren, the magic of going through a rebranding process is that it helps nonprofits better understand themselves, who they are, what they do, and how to communicate with confidence.

Has your organization changed since your last rebrand? Have new donors plateaued? Are you feeling embarrassed about your website design or your copy? It’s time to bring it all back into alignment, and this value-packed conversation will inspire you to do just that!

In This Episode:

• How to know when your organization is in need of a rebrand (for example: when people in your organization don’t have a clear idea of what you do!)
• What constitutes a brand beyond logo fonts and colors, and what a rebranding might actually involve (think website refresh, messaging work, and a more consistent brand style/identity)
• The importance of connection and curiosity-building in your branding. How does your audience feel about your cause? How does your nonprofit alleviate/solve that problem?
• How one rebranding project with Children Striving Together helped the nonprofit acquire a grant with Nike and improve website analytics
• What to consider in a website assessment (goals of the site, first impressions, navigation/structural system, etc.) and Lauren’s favorite content management systems
• The Matchbox Method, designed by Lauren, which is one of the first branding courses of its kind meant to teach practical, tangible branding strategies for nonprofits

Resources & Links

You can follow Lauren and her work on her website and on Instagram. Be sure to check out the Matchbox Method, one of the first branding courses of its kind, which launches in May.

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