4 reasons your new brand will probably lower your revenue

That big rebrand you’ve been thinking about? It’s not likely to turn around your fundraising. In fact, it’s probably going to cause a drop in fundraising income that will take years to recover from.

I’m sorry to say it, but that’s how it nearly always goes. Ask anyone who’s been around the nonprofit sector for awhile. Like Mark Phillips, who wrote about it on his Substack, at The Bleedin’ Obvious Guide to Why Income Usually Falls After a Rebrand:

1. You’re not the same anymore. Rebranding is about change. You’re hoping to make your organization look more interesting, more exciting. But what you’ve done is disguised yourself from your donors. That spiffy new org they’re seeing? They don’t know it. They’re waiting for their old friend to show up so they can donate.
2. Your values start to diverge. Most rebranding seeks a more modern, sleek, even corporate look. Which for donors may not feel like it has anything to do with them. Emotional connection weakens, and that means fewer donations.
3. A commercial look comes with a charitable cost. We may think looking more commercial means looking more professional. Donors often don’t see it that way. There’s a common fear that charities are “wasting money” on nonessential things. A polished professional brand can confirm that fear.
4. You’ve broken the emotional bond. Your tired old brand, like it or not, has years of human investment behind it. That old look may be part of what connection donors to you. Change it, and something can be lost.

As Mark says, the loss of revenue isn’t noisy or dramatic…

There’s rarely anger. No complaints. Just silence: the regular gift eventually cancelled, the next appeal ignored. A relationship ended not with a bang – but a whimper.

Sometimes rebranding is necessary: A change in mission, a change in the way your cause is talked about. Just make sure a rebrand isn’t done on the false pretense that it’s going to make money magically pour in. It rarely does.