Service
Brand, Communications & Public Trust
Say what you are, clearly, to the people whose support you need.
Who this helps
Leaders responsible for a consequential organizational decision.
- Nature centers, land trusts, conservation groups, and environmental education institutions
- Health and human services nonprofits and community-based providers
- Membership-based and multi-program mission organizations
- Nonprofits preparing for a campaign, program expansion, or public milestone
What we will accomplish
Positioning, messaging architecture, brand development, and communications strategy for nature and conservation organizations and health and human services nonprofits, built on two decades of practice with mission-driven institutions.
- A clear position that distinguishes the organization without overstating it
- Messaging that board, staff, and volunteers can all deliver consistently
- A visual identity system that looks as credible as the work
- Communications tied to specific goals: membership, gifts, visitation, advocacy
- A website and content structure that serves visitors and search alike
- Confidence in speaking publicly on issues central to the mission
How we work
Understand. Reveal. Choose. Build. Learn.
The same plain, five-stage method guides every service. The depth of evidence and participation is sized to your assignment.
- 01
Understand
Gather the evidence and perspectives needed to see the situation accurately.
- 02
Reveal
Make strengths, constraints, differing perspectives, and underlying causes clear.
- 03
Choose
Frame the real options, tradeoffs, priorities, and decisions.
- 04
Build
Create the substantial working document or roadmap, with responsibilities, resources, measures, and first actions.
- 05
Learn
Review implementation, test assumptions, and adjust while staying grounded in the mission.
Depending on your priorities, your engagement may include
The written proposal specifies the exact deliverables, timing, participation, and fixed fee for your assignment.
- Communications and brand audit across materials, web, and social presence
- Audience definition and stakeholder mapping
- Positioning platform and messaging architecture
- Brand identity development or refinement, in coordination with designers
- Brand and editorial standards guide
- Website content strategy, information architecture, and search-informed structure
- Membership, donor, and visitor communications planning
- Annual report, case, and campaign communications
- Media relations approach and spokesperson preparation
- Crisis and sensitive-issue communications counsel
One focused assignment example
A focused assignment might clarify positioning and core messages, then identify the highest-priority website and communications changes.
Timing and your participation
A defined brand, communications, or public-trust assignment begins at $12,500. A full brand redesign or specialist creative execution is priced individually.
Participation is agreed at the outset. It may include the executive director, board chair, senior staff, trustees, and selected stakeholders whose perspective can materially improve the work.
Organizations often reach out when
- The organization is hard to distinguish from peers in its region
- A merger, name change, or new facility requires repositioning
- Membership or donor acquisition has slowed
- The website no longer reflects the organization's work or scale
- A campaign requires a coherent case and consistent voice
Investment and payment
Beginning at $12,500
Focused Consulting Engagement
Every service can begin as a Focused Consulting Engagement at $12,500, with a defined assignment, deliverables, timing, and fixed fee established in the written proposal. Broader work may be structured as an Organizational Strength Review or Integrated Strategic Direction when the need spans multiple areas.
Every assignment considers connections across the whole organization. Detailed work stays focused on the areas agreed in scope. Range drivers include interviews, board participation, sites, and specialist responsibilities. Travel or specialist expenses are included only when agreed in the proposal.
For larger engagements, the standard schedule is 40% on booking, 30% after the evidence and listening stage, and 30% on delivery. The final schedule is stated in the written proposal.
Major fixed-fee engagements include eight hours of implementation counsel during the 90 days following delivery.
Questions
Before you decide
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Start a conversation
Bring the decision in front of you.
A complimentary 30-minute conversation helps establish the situation, fit, and a sensible next step. Detailed analysis and written recommendations begin with a paid engagement. Every engagement is principal-led; appropriate collaborators are added when the scope calls for specialist expertise.
Related: Fundraising & Sustainable Revenue, Participant Experience & Access, Strategic Planning & Implementation
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