Powerful Nonprofit Taglines - Seven Dos and Don'ts

The best taglines are quick to connect with your audience. Try to create a tagline that is a concise and focused call to action and avoid taglines that try to say too much, are too long or too vague.

Case Study: Does Smokey the Bear's Tagline Work?

Let's look at the widely recognized Smokey the Bear tagline as a great example. Most of you are familiar with: "Only you can prevent fires." I appreciate its emphasis on brevity, focus and calls to action. And the tagline really succeeds in attracting the audience, as it places a huge responsibility on "you" to stop the fires.

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However, one colleague had another perspective to offer: "There is a problem with creating this tagline. I often read how wildfires are fueled by public policy decisions about forest and prairie use and development." But this tagline limits public thinking about other avenues. Wildfire solves the problem, and undermines public debate about land use."

The answer

Very good point, but from my point of view, one tagline cannot cover everything. If it is designed to do so, it becomes too long or too vague. As a result, broad taglines usually fail.

First thing, I reviewed Smokey the Bear's mission and noticed that its primary focus is to educate people on how they can prevent wildfires. Although Smokey cites development policies as one of the four main causes of wildfires, Smokey's website states that 50% of wildfires are human-caused.

Not only that, Smokey focuses on educating people about wildfires and engaging them with advocacy in fighting fires. So the "you" in the tagline is not to exclude the idea of non-man-made fire but to engage the audience through the use of a very personal voice. For more information visit the website: http://www.smokeybear.com/wildfires.asp

What are the dos and don'ts of strong nonprofit taglines?

Dos and Don'ts tagline

Doing value

Make sure your tagline works in conjunction with your organization's name, positioning statement and key messages. The words of the tagline should be found in your positioning statement and key messages. Message consistency is the situation.

Emphasize action and/or emotion. Use verbs, not just nouns. You want your nonprofit tagline to actively engage your audience.

Examples of work:

"Saving the Kids Together" - Walk of Dimes

"Conveying Clinical Alleviation All over the Planet" - Specialists Without Boundaries

Make sure it's easy to pronounce and spell and sounds good to the ear.

Don't let your audience struggle. Remember, they are your best communicators - verbally.

What not to do

Don't be normal. Be basically as unambiguous and close to home as could be expected.

Weak - "Building a Better New York"

This slogan could address a development organization or the city chairman's office. In fact, it is the tagline of a non-profit organization that provides legal services to other non-profits

Mighty - "Connecting Lawyers and Communities"

From a similar non-profit organization in another city.

Don't create a tagline that your organization can't get behind 100%.

Your nonprofit needs to be able to deliver what you promise. When you do this, your organization establishes its credibility. When you don't, you lose what you might have.

Don't introduce your tagline before you try it.

Before you commit to your best choice, get feedback from at least 10 members of a key internal and external audience. You may discover one of two things: they don't get it, or you yourself aren't 100% comfortable with it.

Try not to change your slogan at least a few times per decade. Your audience will remember this, and unless your nonprofit makes drastic changes to its programs and services, there's value in keeping the same tagline for a decade or more.