Associations and foundations

When you’re in the business of being a voice for others, it can be difficult to find your own. Supporting others doesn’t diminish the need to support yourself.

For associations, service organizations, societies, and foundations that are often behind the curtain—and perhaps a notch or two removed from the ultimate beneficiaries of their work—getting heard, getting credit, and being fully understood are common challenges. Because associations are typically focused solely on supporting their members and their field, and because foundations are often careful to keep the spotlight on the organizations and causes they support, these important organizations are often less well understood and recognized than they need to be.

Associations and foundations compete for talented staff and board, members, mindshare, and dollars (often both earned and contributed). The ability to articulate your value and make your case is vital—both for you and for those who benefit from your efforts, and for whom your sustainability is critical. While the focus should remain on your field, on your members, and on those you support and serve, it’s important for associations and foundations to put sufficient energy into finding their voice, making their case, and connecting to their constituencies. Brand-focused communications can help.

Whether it’s collaborating with the American Society of Media Photographers, the (newly renamed) League of American Orchestras, the New England Foundation for the Arts, or the Corporate Design Foundation, our goals are often similar: we help to define and promote positioning and value propositions; craft messaging systems that build awareness, comprehensions, participation, loyalty, and support; evolve appropriate brand strategies so that programs and initiatives have the right relationship with the parent organization—so you get credit for your efforts; and develop and implement visual brand systems that unify communications, provide flexibility across programs, initiatives, and media—from year to year—and contribute to a recognizable whole the value of which is much greater than the sum of its parts.