Issue No. 340 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting quotes Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, “Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” And this reminder: click here for my 2015 book-of-the-year pick and my Top-10 list and check out the resources in all 20 management buckets (core competencies) here.
Boring Is Criminal
That’s the attention-grabbing title of Chapter 41 in Steve McKee’s book, Power Branding: Leveraging the Success of the World's Best Brands. “Boring is criminal.”
It’s also the first quote that prompted the first of many laugh-out-loud affirmations in Jason Pearson’s 60-page coloring workbook for ministry branding. (You read that right: coloring workbook!)
REBRAND: Workbook + Coloring Sheets for Ministry Branding (just $5.00 on Amazon) is a fun and creative starter kit for nonprofit ministry and church marketing teams. Millennials will appreciate the fresh approach (a coloring workbook!) and marketing veterans will have a good laugh and a new coaching tool.
OK. I’m biased. Jason’s my son; needs none of my promo help; he’s the go-to expert; I’m the student. But I couldn’t resist—and I know you’ll enjoy this one.
As the co-founder of CrossSection, which serves an impressive list of clients, Jason recently was the keynote speaker for Grizzard’s annual gathering of rescue mission leaders. Instead of delivering the same-old-same-old, tired-looking handout (think his dad’s routine), Jason created a 60-page workbook with content and colored pencils. Let the fun begin!
According to Jason, there are four areas that must be addressed to establish a ministry brand that people love:
• The Customer
• The Vocabulary
• The Identity
• The Calling
In the customer section, he takes a page from the four social styles noting that one-size-fits-all marketing materials will not cut it with today’s sophisticated segments. His “Branding Cheat Sheet” identifies four customer (and donor) styles:
Two styles are task-oriented:
• THE INFO-SPONGE CUSTOMER is the analytical. She’s logical and loves data.
• THE JUST-THE-FACTS CUSTOMER is the driver. He’s all about results and efficiency.
Two styles are relationship-oriented:
• THE HEARTFELT CUSTOMER is the amiable. He’s supportive, yet careful.
• THE SHARE-MEISTER CUSTOMER (great name!) is the expressive. She’s enthusiastic and unstructured.
So…look at your website, your donor letters, your rack brochure, and your reception area. Do you connect with all four styles?
Jason notes, using the social styles research (click here to watch a three-minute video on the four styles), that the Info-Sponge Customer and the Heartfelt Customer tend to be slower-paced, while the Just-the-Facts Customer and the Share-Meister Customer tend to be faster paced. (Fundraisers: don’t dawdle with drivers!)
As you’re coloring the “Branding Cheat Sheet” pages, you’ll note the questions from the four customers segments are as diverse as they are unique. As a driver, I can identify with the Just-the-Facts guy: “OK, your bottom line in one minute—why should I care?”
He quotes Seth Godin, “A brand is a shortcut for all of the expectations for what you are about to do for the customer. It’s a shortcut for trust, promises and conversations.”
And this from Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, “Branding is what people say about you when you are not in the room.”
How’s your branding I.Q.? Try the “Match the Organization With the Slogan” quiz on page 19. And if you recognize this tagline, “Helping in Jesus’ Name™”—what organization has trademarked it?
Haven’t been swept away by the hot coloring trend for adults? No problem—but don’t say I didn’t trendspot this one for you. There are plenty of meat and potatoes for non-coloring types. Try page 23 and the list of 125 popular words to consider as you build your brand vocabulary. (My favorites: nurture, collaborative, trusted, sustaining, global, and influence.)
I gotta stop—but there are another 37 pages to inspire, delight and inform you. Like the logo match quiz—connect the ministry organization with the correct logo. Or, “Circle the Fake Logos” exercise. Really—they’re not all fake? Oh, my!
There are even four memorable Dr. Seuss-type lines on, “How do I know if I have a good identity?” Plus, seven questions (and up to 100 points awarded) for “Do I Have a Great Logo?” Robo-Test.
With a nod to his rescue mission audience, Jason quotes Raymond J. Bakke, author of A Theology as Big as the City: “Is Jesus just our message or is he also our model? In fact, we know that nearly all urban persons come to Christ through relationships, not through media. The bigger the city, the higher this percentage seems to be.”
Grab your colored pencils and crayons and order this today from Amazon by clicking on the title for REBRAND: Workbook + Coloring Sheets for Ministry Branding, by Jason Pearson.
Your Weekly Staff Meeting Questions:
1) Jason asks, “What is the most important thing you did in the last 12 months?” Discuss!
2) He also adds, “In three words, describe your ministry.” And one more: “What makes your organization different than a secular nonprofit?” Discuss!
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Crowdfunding: Tax-Deductible or Not? - Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets: 20 Critical Competencies for Leading Your Business or Nonprofit
As we cycle through the 20 buckets, here are three new resources from the team at ECFA that address critical issues in the Donor Bucket and the Budget Bucket, Chapters 11 and 15, in Mastering the Management Buckets.
[ ] #1. NEW! The Guide to Charitable Giving for Churches and Ministries, by Dan Busby, Michael Martin, and John Van Drunen, is “a practical resource on how to handle gifts with integrity.”
Charitable giving laws are complex and ever-changing. So nonprofit and church leaders will greatly appreciate this hot-off-the-press guide covering “some of the most common legal, tax, accounting, and integrity issues.” For example, is your donation tax-deductible when given to a project on a “crowdfunding” website? Some are, some are not—according to pages 281-284.
[ ] #2. NEW! Zondervan 2016 Church and Nonprofit Tax & Financial Guide for 2015 Returns, by Busby, Martin, and Van Drunen is now available. This annual update is a must for every CFO and finance committee. The “Recent Developments” section is a jam-packed 10 pages. Order this today and avoid that deer-in-the-headlights look, “I don’t know what I don’t know!”
[ ] #3. NEW! Zondervan 2016 Minister’s Tax & Financial Guide for 2015 Returns, by Busby, Martin, and Van Drunen is also ready for your favorite April 15 activity. Kudos to the co-authors for this 25th annual update and this noble objective: “Our goal is to help you minimize taxes while, at the same time, filing tax returns that will enable you to sleep at night.”
As you’re preparing your taxes this year, here’s an insight from Max De Pree: “Trust grows when people see leaders translate their personal integrity into organizational fidelity. At the heart of fidelity lies truth-telling and promise-keeping.”
That’s just one of 101 quotable quotes on trust from Busby’s book, Trust: The Firm Foundation for Kingdom Fruitfulness. Click here for the entire list.
For more resources and free downloads, visit the Donor Bucket and Budget Bucket webpages.
P.S. For more resources for your church or nonprofit ministry, visit the blog I write for ECFA on board governance, and my recent post, "Tame the Advice Monster!"
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