It happened almost every year. My team at LSS was so careful with our budget during the year that we ended up having an unexpected surplus in Q4. And, every year, we were perplexed about what to do about it. If we didn’t use it, the powers-that-be would be liable to allocate less of our total budget next year. But we also wanted to be good stewards of our budget dollars. We didn’t want to spend the extra money just to spend it.
We knew this was an opportunity to make an impact, but we felt the pressure to use it wisely with just a couple of months left in the fiscal year. Should we launch a quick year-end direct mail campaign? Invest in new branded swag for volunteers and donors? Or maybe start a new digital campaign to reach new supporters?
Like many nonprofit leaders, I wanted to make strategic decisions that would strengthen our brand and create genuine engagement with supporters. I also wanted to find ways to invest this surplus in lasting initiatives that would pay off well beyond the end of the year. So, we focused on strategies that would elevate LSS clients’ stories, expand our reach, and deepen connections with our community. We hoped to foster a sense of unity and shared purpose.
If you’re in a similar boat and wondering how to best invest a surprise surplus, here are a couple of recommendations to help you make the most of this unexpected opportunity.
Refine Your Brand Messaging
Clear, compelling messaging is essential for connecting with supporters, clarifying your mission, and setting your nonprofit apart. Yet, sometimes, we’re too close to the lens to see the bigger picture. Mission creep, new digital channels, back-to-back appeal campaigns, or just plain overwhelm can cause anyone to lose sight of the most impactful story. Use the extra budget to work with a brand expert who can help you refine the language that tells your story and shapes how people view your organization.
Why This Matters
Direct and clear brand messaging that appeals to your specific supporter base gives you a consistent voice and strengthens every touchpoint, from emails and social posts to events and major campaigns. With well-defined messages, you’ll communicate your mission more clearly and engage on a deeper level, showing authenticity and inspiring trust. With a refreshed brand messaging framework, you’ll also attract new supporters who may not have paid much attention to your organization but now see you in a new light.
Getting Started
Find a partner to help you take these critical steps.
- Assess Current Messaging: Gather your existing materials—emails, social media posts, direct mail, newsletters—and identify themes. Are your messages consistent? Are you emphasizing your mission and impact in a way that aligns with your values? Are you using language that resonates with your target audience? My brand framework helps identify gaps or disconnects in your messaging.
- Invest in Feedback: Use some of your extra budget to conduct a supporter survey, organize a focus group, or run A/B tests on message variations. Insights from your community can reveal what resonates most and where there may be gaps. This feedback is invaluable because it provides you with a clear understanding of how your audience perceives your messaging, allowing you to make informed decisions about how to refine it.
- Update Your Core Messages: Use what you’ve learned to craft clear, authentic messages that align with your mission, speak directly to your audience’s values, and inspire action. This might include refreshing your impact statements with updated data, refining value propositions, reworking your elevator pitch, or strengthening your calls to action.
- Integrate Across Platforms: : Update your new messaging on all channels. This could include your website, social media profiles, or email signature. Don’t forget direct mail, events, phone banks, voice mails, and talking points for your fundraising staff. Consistency will reinforce your brand identity, building familiarity and trust among your supporters.
Investing in a refined messaging framework empowers you to share your mission more effectively. I guarantee your marketing and fundraising campaigns will be infinitely stronger. This one-time investment can set the foundation for deeper and more meaningful engagement with supporters next year and for years to come.
Upgrade Your Visual Identity
A strong visual identity allows your organization to stand out. While you may not win the brand recognition of the Red Cross logo or Charity Water’s amazing photography, it can be a strategic move to invest your extra funds in an upgrade to your visual identity. This is especially true if your organization has been around for a while, and your photography, logo, graphics, etc., show their age. Whether it’s refreshing your logo, creating new imagery for your appeal campaigns, or building a more cohesive social media presence, updated visuals can elevate your brand and make it more memorable and impactful.
Why This Matters
Engaging, modern visuals can increase recognition and help supporters quickly understand what your organization stands for. Consistent, appealing visuals make a lasting impression and foster a stronger connection to your mission.
Real-World Example
The United Way just announced a brand refresh to “ensure the relevance and sustainability of one of the world’s oldest and largest charities for its next century of impact.” The brand refresh introduced an updated visual identity, with the iconic circle logo now “unboxed” to reflect the organization’s dynamic and evolving role. This change represents their 137-year commitment to listening and responding in real-time to urgent needs within communities worldwide.
Getting Started
Again, don’t try to tackle this alone. Utilize your budget to find designers, photographers, and branding experts to collaborate with you on these essential tasks.
- Evaluate Your Current Visuals: Look at your logo, website, social media graphics, and print materials. Do they all look cohesive? Are they visually appealing and modern? Are you using video (this is critical to engage younger supporters)? Identify areas where an upgrade would make the biggest impact.
- Work with Creative Brand Experts: New icons, graphics, logos, photos, and videos will give your brand a fresh, relevant, and updated look. Choose experts who understand the importance of your visual identity to your overall brand.
- Invest in High-Quality Photography and Video: Consider setting up a photo shoot with your staff, volunteers, and beneficiaries to capture authentic, high-quality images that showcase your impact. These images can be used across your website, social media, and print materials for a more relatable and impactful visual presence. Bring in a videographer to create short, powerful videos or even a mini-documentary series about your organization’s recent wins and upcoming goals. This could be the start of a new digital annual report.
- Create a Visual Style Guide: To ensure your new visuals are consistently applied, invest in a style guide that outlines how and where to use your logo, fonts, colors, and imagery. This can help your team maintain a cohesive look at every piece of content you produce.
Just like refreshing your brand messaging, upgrading your visual identity is a one-time investment that will have a lasting impact on your organization’s appeal and recognition. High-quality, engaging visuals help you make a stronger impression, increase supporter engagement, and inspire better awareness of your mission.
Use It, Don’t Lose It!
There are countless ways to use your surplus budget, but I think these two recommendations will reap limitless rewards for your organization. As the year draws to a close, an unexpected budget surplus offers you a unique opportunity to invest in long-lasting impact.
By refining your brand messaging framework and upgrading your visual identity, you’re strengthening the foundation of your organization’s brand image and creating fresh, compelling ways to connect with your supporters. These strategic improvements will foster deeper engagement with your existing supporters and elevate your brand to reach new ones. When you invest in how your story is told and seen, you invest in relationships, trust, and the momentum needed to carry your mission forward.
