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Army brand valued
The Salvation Army is named the second most valuable nonprofit brand in America, behind the YMCA, in the recently released Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, a first-of-its-kind research study.
Cone, a strategy and communications agency engaged in building brand trust, collaborated with Intangible Business, a leading independent brand valuation consultancy in over 12 countries, to evaluate leading social service, environmental and/or animal-related nonprofits based on financial data, a consumer survey and other metrics.
“Through this valuation, we want to help nonprofits better understand how to protect and evolve their brands to generate as much revenue as possible,” says Alison DaSilva, executive vice president of Knowledge Leadership and Insights, Cone. “Valuing their brands gives them a license to demonstrate to companies and other partners that there is an established and justified cost to aligning with their organization.”
As a crucial component of the valuation, Cone conducted a proprietary national survey of 1,000 American adults to gauge the familiarity and personal relevance of each organization. These results, combined with other perception factors, including media coverage and the percent of revenue from direct public support, reveal the “brand image” of each organization.
By examining both a nonprofit’s image and its revenue, the research also uncovered a disconnect between some organizations’ brands and their financial performance. When either significantly outperforms or lags the other, it is an indication that there is unmet opportunity left on the table, in some cases millions of dollars in potential revenue.
“The goal of a brand valuation is to determine the amount of money a brand contributes to a nonprofit’s revenue,” explains William Grobel, international business valuation director for nonprofits, Intangible Business. “This critical synergy between an organization’s financial performance and its brand plays a significant role in generating additional funds to put toward mission services.”
The study revealed a number of insights into nonprofit issues. For example, 10 domestic social needs nonprofits were included in the top quarter of the list, proving that while the nation faces economic crisis, domestic social needs are most valuable to people. Though a majority of the environmental/animal-related nonprofits ranked in the bottom half of the list and had low brand rankings, these organizations have the highest growth spikes in revenue of all nonprofits studied.
Top 10 Nonprofit Power Brands:
1) YMCA of the USA
2) The Salvation Army
3) United Way of America
4) American Red Cross
5) Goodwill Industries International
6) Catholic Charities USA
7) Habitat for Humanity International
8) American Cancer Society
9) The Arc of the United States
10) Boys & Girls Clubs of America
From a Cone press release. Visit coneinc.com/nonprofitpowerbrand100 for a complete copy of The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 and a detailed methodology.