Category: nonprofit communications

Your Design Is Full of CRAP

How to use the four principles of graphic design to create images that engage audiences and make your organization look good As a 20+-year professional veteran of the graphic design field – most often working with nonprofits – I believe an organization’s marketing materials need no, require good design. In my experience good graphic design has…

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5 simple ways to use infographics in your communications that will make people pay attention

5 simple ways to use infographics in your communications that will make people pay attention

If you dream of making your content more engaging so people actually read it, try adding some simple infographics. This engages the reader by making it easier for them to understand your point. It’s kind of like a visual pull-quote. Here’s five ideas – and lots of examples – of how you can use simple…

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[Interview] Julia Reich On Identifying Ideal Donor Personas & Why They Matter

[Interview] On identifying ideal donor personas and why they matter

The following is a transcription of an interview I did with Noah Barnett of Causevox. In this episode we talked about how a nonprofit can identify and craft their ideal supporter personas and how these profiles then influence your fundraising messages. Here‘s the recording if you’d prefer to listen to the interview. Noah: Hey everyone. Thanks for tuning…

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6 things I learned about graphic recording at the IFVP conference

6 things I learned about graphic recording at the IFVP conference

Earlier this week I attended the annual conference of the International Forum of Visual Practitioners for the first time. I’ve been curious about this area of practice for a while, but could I be any good at it? I’d read The Graphic Facilitator’s Guide, Brandy Agerbeck’s first book. She’s a leading practitioner and thought leader…

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Ideal Audience Personas

How to create an Ideal Audience Persona: three reasons & a worksheet

Knowing who you are as an organization and how you are perceived is a critical part of the branding process. Once you’ve got a handle on your mission, vision, values, and messages (congrats!), you’ll want to start disseminating your brand identity to the world. But do you really know who you’re trying to reach? A…

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In the Mood for a Mood Board

In the mood for a mood board

A Mood board is a tool that can be used during branding to help organizations get a sense of how their brand is evolving. Mood boards are a collage of: Colors Textures Patterns Images I’m a creative person and graphic designer. Even if I’m not working on a project that involves designing visual identity, I’ll start to…

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