Komen Devalues Their Brand with KFC Partnership

Nonprofits aspire to build brand recognition for their organizations so that they can attract donors. Many, including Susan G. Komen for the Cure, invest considerable sums of time and money to increase the value of their brands in order to foster recognition of their name, an understanding of their mission, and trust in their organization. [...]

A Nonprofit Sector-Wide Conference Can Bring Needed Clout

Dan Pallotta calls for TED-like, sector-wide conference for the nonprofit and philanthropic worlds asserting that it will be a perfect vehicle for massive change. I couldn’t agree more. And understanding the reticence of nonprofits to see themselves as a sector, I want to add that another benefit of bringing together the various appendages of the philanthropic world [...]

Branding and Religion Butt Heads

Design and Religion Butt Heads Where does the sanctity of religion leave off and branding begin? That’s the question that Sikh transit workers are addressing in their protest against the MTA requirement that they wear the agency’s logo on their turbans. The issue underscores the importance of design in today’s society and the extent to [...]

Fair Representation of Nonprofits Needed

How is the nonprofit sector represented in the popular press? Not as positively as we might imagine. Consider this. A recent article in The New York Times, Charities Give to State Campaigns, Despite Law, described how some nonprofits had purchased tickets to fundraising dinners for elected officials, or had otherwise contributed to their campaigns, in violation [...]

Lift the Limits on Low Overhead Ratios

This entry is in response to an op ed piece by Nicholas D. Kristof in the New York Times on December 24, 2008: The Sin in Doing Good Deeds. Easing our insistence on low overhead ratios for charities, will help them to co-opt the profit motive. One reason that nonprofits are not as effective with [...]