Mostly "What Works" focuses on either Why Organizations Thrive  or Why Organizations Go Off Course, both of which detail lessons I learned while growing the Oregon League of Conservation Voters (OLCV), buttressed by my observations of dozens of other groups both in Oregon and across the country.

In this edition, I take one of my regular detours to review a book I recently read of relevance to nonprofit leaders.

I recently had the pleasure of reading Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money through Smart Communications (2010), by Sarah Durham.

My three words of advice for anyone who needs to think hard about the connections between fundraising, communications, and planning for a nonprofit is: Read this book.  

Durham, who has forged her opinions through nearly 20 years of nonprofit consulting, has done a marvelous job of writing a book that presents theory in a straightforward way, while also offering numerous practical tips on how to implement the theory into practice.  

What is "brandraising" and why should nonprofit leaders care about it?

Durham doesn't offer one precise definition of the term brandraising.   Rather, she describes brandraising as "the process of building a strong framework for communicating." The process as she outlines it involves three different levels of decision-making.

The "Organizational Level" encompasses an organization's vision, mission, values, objectives, audience, positioning, and personality. Some of these elements are traditionally developed through strategic planning processes.

The "Identity Level" encompasses an organization's visual identity (such as its logo, name, and tagline) and messaging platform (such as an elevator statement).

Lastly, the "Experiential Level" encompasses the major avenues by which the organization's audience experiences communications from the organization: online, in print, on air, in person, and mobile.

Among the strengths of Durham's approach are: