The tough economy has many organizations looking hard for new donors; where to find them and how to gain their support. One reason for this effort, which is sometimes frantic, was summarized neatly in the recent issue of the Chronicle of Philanthropy: "We've had supporters that no longer exist. Picking up the Wall Street Journal was really nerve-racking."

That same issue also had an article, also reported recently in the mainstream press, about the brand value of charities.

And while the national YMCA topped the list for brand value, there is a lot for local nonprofits to think about when looking at who they are and what their name, or brand, represents locally. As you search for new donors and look at ways to convince them to support your organization, you need to be aware of branding: do you have a brand? What is it? What does it mean to people in your community?

When people start talking about branding and marketing the discussion can quickly get very complicated. It really shouldn't; in the long run, simple succeeds when it comes to making your mark.

Nearly 30 years ago I was fortunate to run across one of the first editions of Ries and Trout's book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. In fact, in 2000 they released a 20^th anniversary edition.

Positioning, or branding, comes down to a simple principle: owning a word in a person's mind. An example Ries and Trout use is this: Volvo owns the word safety; BMW "driving"; and FedEx "overnight".  

As I go down a list of nonprofits in my community I find that for some of them, a single word jumps into my mind. For others the message is vague. 

What word could your organization "own" in your community?

As you think of that word, remember that the answer lies outside your organization with the people who come for help and the people who provide resources to your organization. Also, look again at those three owned words: safety, driving, and overnight. Where to they come from? From those companies' customers, of course.

Years ago someone at Volvo realized that there were a lot of people who wanted safe cars, so Volvo decided to be the company that built safe cars. Likewise, there have been delivery companies for many years such as the US Postal Office and Seattle's own UPS. But someone saw that customers put a premium on overnight delivery. So FedEx dedicated itself to overnight service.

Other companies have followed to build safe cars or to provide overnight delivery, but the Volvo and FedEx were first.

But what is most important is that these positions originated with something that people wanted. As Ries and Trout note in their book, "Literally millions of dollars are wasted every day by companies trying to change the minds of their prospects."

You have to start with what people want to do, and then help them find a way to do it.

That approach should work well with nonprofits, since for the most part we want to accomplish good things that others want to do—things like feed people or helping them thrive.

But does any of this make sense in light of your real work, raising money for good programs? Actually, it's vital to your success.

If you have a position is in the community, a word that your organization's name provokes in people's minds, you need to make sure that each and every program your organization carries out can be linked that word. 

A strong position, or brand, does have its limitations. A person who really wants to buy a sports car will probably drive by the Volvo lot.

Perhaps that is one role for collaboration, creating partnerships where each organization builds upon its strengths rather than every organization trying to do everything for everyone.