The brand leader, usually your CEO or executive director, is the articulator and champion of your organization's vision and values. He/she monitors the branding process to make sure the brand strategy remains true to those values.

The brand steward(s), usually a ranking member of your management team, makes sure that all applications of the brand are executed well and accurately and keeps the brand strategy on target on a day-to-day basis. During the development phase, the steward also calls the meetings, sets the agenda, and keeps the design process on track.

The board representative makes sure the concerns of the board are accurately reflected in the brand strategy and reports back to the board as progress is made. In exceptional circumstances, (e.g., when no board member is able and/or willing to serve on the branding team), this function may be filled by the brand leader. I recommend, however, that you recruit someone with branding expertise to your board if branding is a major opportunity and/or issue for your organization.

Whether a professional or a staff person who writes well, the writer's job is to help develop the brand using words and concepts that compliment the look and feel, or "trade dress" (typography, color palette, imagery, logo, etc.), created by the designer. The words and images must work together to create a cohesive "voice" for your brand, and the voice must be authentic and have depth in order for the brand to resonate. In my experience, it is often difficult for an outside person to pull this off unless he or she has had a long relationship with the organization in question.

With the exception of the brand leader, the graphic designer is the most important person on the branding team: It's his or her job to bring the emotional (i.e., visual) component of the brand to life. Whether someone on staff or an outside consultant, the designer has to "get it"; if he/she doesn't, your design process is in trouble - and no amount of research or discussion is likely to save it. If you do decide to hire an outside design consultant, assemble the rest of the team first so that every team member can have a say in the decision. Doing so will boost morale by showing the team it has control of the process and help ensure that the team has confidence in whichever designer you choose.

Before you choose a designer, spend some time — alone and as a group — developing an awareness of design styles and branding strategies. You can start by talking about the brands you love or hate, focusing on why they work or miss the mark. You might also want to look at graphic design annuals such as those published by Communication Arts, the premier publication in the graphic design field; PRINT magazine, publisher of the Regional Design Annual; AIGA (the American Institute of Graphic Arts), the largest organization for graphic design professionals in the United States; and Graphis, an important international design publication, to get an idea of the kind of work that's being done now. Most of these publications are available at libraries, good newsstands, and bookstores, and all have Web sites; AIGA and Communications Arts even offer searchable databases of designers on their sites. Remember, if you see a designer whose work appeals to you, be sure to share your discovery with other members of the team so that all members have an opportunity to develop a keener awareness of design, as well as each other's likes and dislikes.

The Brand Audit

The next step is to conduct an internal brand audit. The audit should include an accounting of all the "tools" used to build your brand: brochures, letterhead, program literature, newsletters, annual reports, Web pages, marketing materials, signage, uniforms — anything related to your organization's current as well as future identity. Make a chart and note how successful each of these has been in promoting your brand. Be sure to write down the purpose of the piece, its importance, and its priority in terms of the organizational scheme of things. Don't worry if, during the audit, you discover that you have three brochures where one would suffice or marketing materials that work at cross-purposes with your fundraising appeals. The purpose of the audit is to expose exactly those kinds of redundancies and inconsistencies, while "mapping" all current applications of your brand and generating ideas for the design process about to unfold.

Last but not least, make a list of the organizations you compete against, as well as organizations in your field, and divide the list among members of the team. Have them research the organizations on their list with an eye to identifying brand elements that work or fall flat. Make sure you consider a representative sampling of branded materials — logo treatments, advertisements, Web pages, etc. — for each organization on the list, and be sure to include some physical objects — annual reports, business cards, brochures, and the like. Pay particular attention to how other organizations have solved branding problems you may be facing, as well as problems that seem to defy solution. And don't forget to identify the "promise" — the fundamental message — inherent in each brand.

After you've completed your research, compare your notes with other members of the team and, for each organization, ask yourselves the following:

This is one of those rare occasions when what matters is what you can casually observe. If you don't "get" what a brand is trying to convey, then the chances are good that the brand or its strategy is flawed.

After you've gone through this process for a number of organizations, take a careful look at your own brand and ask yourselves the following:

Design is planning. All of these exercises will prepare you and your branding teammates to actively participate in the birth of your brand. Remember Crosby's words: "The brand is a living thing." It's up to the branding team to develop a brand with life and a heartbeat. But the brand also has to have sufficient depth and breadth to allow it to grow and adapt to changing circumstances. And circumstances will change — that's about the only thing you can count on.

In my next article I'll discuss how to evaluate design proposals and select a graphic designer who will fit your organization's needs and expectations. Until then, keep looking and asking questions. Good design is a process, and the more you know and understand, the more control you'll have over the process.

Writer, strategist, and art director DK Holland has been developing award-winning programs that include branding, licensing, promotion, and product development for companies such as Mattel and Citicorp for thirty years. She was, until 2001, a partner in the Pushpin Group, an internationally acclaimed design and illustration firm based in New York City. Currently the principal of DK Holland, llc, a communications consultancy that works exclusively with nonprofits, her clients include the Literacy Assistance Center, New Internationals, the Sustainability Education Center, World Reach, the Buckminster Fuller Institute, and Sisters of Charity New York. DK serves on the board of directors of the Alliance for Nonprofit Governance, which she is in the process of re-branding; is an editor of Communications Arts magazine and the author/art director of a dozen books on graphic design; and teaches in the graduate school for nonprofit management at New School University. She lives in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.