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The country is awash in red today as millions support the fight against heart disease by uniting for National Wear Red Day. This icon day is a cornerstone event of the American Heart Association’s (Cone client) year-round Go Red For Women initiative and has helped raise millions of dollars - and supporters - for the cause.

The Cone team goes red for National Wear Red Day 2010

Go Red For Women has transformed the issue of heart disease - the number one killer of women in America – to be more approachable and engaging through a multi-faceted program. Today’s sweeping support of National Wear Red Day on TV, in the news, on the Internet and in the workplace is evidence of the immense passion supporters have for this cause.

Its ability to capture the hearts and attention of the public makes it no surprise that the American Heart Association (AHA) came out as one of the top nonprofits on The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100. The organization serves as a beacon for others in its ability to engage the public and create an army of supporters for the cause. Here are just a few of the reasons the AHA resonates with the public:

Strong corporate partnerships – Macy’s, Merck, Campbell’s and Jiffy Lube (Cone client), among others, are supporters of the Go Red For Women campaign, offering additional resources to help drive awareness of the cause.

Celebrity endorsement – Actress Jennie Garth joined the Go Red movement as a celebrity spokesperson for 2010, helping drive additional attention to the issue. Past spokespersons have included Marie Osmond and Andie MacDowell, who continue to engage in and drive awareness of the cause.

Iconic color – The AHA has created a movement around the color red and the red dress, establishing it as a symbol for the fight against heart disease.

Multi-channel engagement – Go Red For Women has penetrated the communications landscape, with messaging for the cause in print and broadcast channels, through social media, in the workplace and even on mobile phones.

Brand ambassadors – Go Red For Women owes its success to the millions of passionate supporters who rally for the cause by fundraising, advocating and educating others about the disease.

All of these, and more, contributed to the AHA Go Red For Women's honor as one of the top Public Relations Campaigns of the Decade by the Holmes Report. To learn more about Go Red For Women or National Wear Red Day, visit www.goredforwomen.org.

Temperatures are dropping and the holiday season is approaching, causing an outbreak of the “warm and fuzzies.” Yes, the giving season is upon us, and this year is already proving to be the most digitally driven to-date. Nearly every holiday cause campaign underway has an online component, thanks, in part, to growing consumer comfort interacting with brands via new media – up 32 percent from 2008.

Despite all the glittery online promotions, it’s important to recognize consumers are still hesitant to donate online. The 2009 Cone Consumer New Media Study showed some American new media users are concerned whether their donations will have an impact and others would rather donate offline. But that’s not to say online donations cannot be powerful. A leading holiday fundraiser and one of Cone’s Nonprofit Power Brands, the Salvation Army overcame the odds when, in 2008, online fundraising for its iconic Red Kettle campaign contributed an additional $10 million to annual revenues. However, the nonprofit was savvy enough to use new media fundraising as a complement to its offline efforts, ensuring donor comfort and convenience whatever the medium.

To help build confidence and trust among your online supporters this holiday season, keep in mind some best practices for new media fundraising:

• Demonstrate tangible impact: illustrate for consumers how their donation is being put to work by showcasing goals achieved in real-time
• Tap emotion: demonstrate why your cause is important to donors through emotionally compelling storytelling
• Provide value to contributors: don’t leave your donors hanging once they open their wallets – make them feel special by providing a badge of honor to display on their social networks or offer additional opportunities to support the cause
• Make it social: incorporate tools that make your campaign easy to share and pass along

The Big Warm Up installation, Boston

Doing its part to warm communities, Land’s End recently launched the Big Warm Up to encourage winter coat donations to the country’s homeless. The campaign embodies many of the best practices, having a robust online campaign that marries with its offline efforts - and, it just happens to be installed right outside our office windows.

Last week, 13 winners of the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards were announced, giving due credit to this often-overlooked but powerful marketing element.

Over 4,800 nonprofit professionals voted for taglines that best delivered the vision and mission of the organization, putting power in the hands of practitioners who live and breathe nonprofit branding. Winners spanned a range of issues and represented organizations that focus on local, national and international causes, indicating that any nonprofit can benefit from a clearly communicated brand.

A theme among the winners is a clear connection to the organization’s mission. Essentially, the winners followed the simple yet often disregarded best practice of “say what you do.” In fact, Cone’s research showed nonprofits who clearly state their issue focus in their brand names reaped the benefit of stronger consumer relevance – a key component to strong reputation. For more tips on how to foster a strong nonprofit brand, check out the "10 Essentials for Enhancing Brand Power," part of The 2009 Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 report.

For the full list of tagline winners, check out the Getting Attention blog.

In Cone’s recent nonprofit brand report, we encouraged organizations to consider adopting “New Currencies” as an essential element to help boost their brands.  These alternative forms of philanthropy include non-cash support such as in-kind donations, pro bono service and skilled volunteerism.  Every organization needs dollars-in-hand to fulfill its mission, but when the financial resources of companies and consumers are dwindling, savvy nonprofits recognize the value to be found in more creative tender.  These currencies allow organizations to expand the scope of sponsorships and engagement opportunities, and foster relationships even when traditional financial contributions are waning.  At a time when the nation is flush with volunteers – according to a new study from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Americans donated 8 billion hours of volunteer time in 2008 – this trend likely won’t reverse even when the economy recovers.

The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University found these philanthropy vehicles to resonate particularly well with Gen X donors.  Citizens in their 20s and 30s are more interested in social advocacy and engagement philanthropy and are more likely to want to work directly with organizations instead of just donating money.

The future landscape of philanthropy will include the next generation of not only high net-worth donors, but high-engagement contributors who want to offer their skills and engage in a more meaningful way.  As this shift occurs, nonprofits will need to prepare to accommodate this influx, including establishing the necessary space, guidance and structure for eager volunteers, a challenge many organizations are already experiencing.  Yet, for this effort comes the reward: the valuable assets skilled volunteers can provide include legal advice, IT support and consulting services, to name a few.

Want to build a brand relevant to your supporters? Then say what you do in a crisp and clear way.

The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 found that organizations who clearly state their issue focus in their brand names are perceived by consumers as more familiar and personally relevant. For example, the National Cancer Coalition captured higher consumer relevancy ratings than organizations whose names were more ambiguous. Clever or creative branding is good, but clarity makes communication easy - donors, volunteers, clients and potential advocates can easily understand who you are and what you stand for.

Another brand element to consider: your organization or program tagline. Does it support the mission of your organization? Does it say what you do? To explore this topic, nonprofits and foundations of all sizes can enter their taglines in the 2009 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards. Visit Nancy Schwartz’s blog for more details about the friendly competition and to submit an entry.

Since yesterday’s launch of The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, we’ve had many great discussions about the research. Every conversation starts with the same question. “What is it about the Top 10 that makes them the Top 10?” The answer, in a word, is ENGAGEMENT.

Whether 100+ years old, or newer kids on the block, these nonprofits are experts at leveraging multiple points of consumer engagement. Many have bricks-and-mortar facilities (YMCA, The Salvation Army, American Red Cross, Goodwill, Boys & Girls Clubs) or in-your-face marketing (Habitat, American Cancer Society) that keep them top-of-mind with consumers, donors and other stakeholders.

Other common threads include:

• Their services have broad appeal to an array of stakeholders
• They are entrenched in hundreds or even thousands of local communities across the country with extensive consumer touch points
• They provide a credible voice and are a sought-after resource to help in difficult times
• They have successfully partnered with companies to reach a broader array of constituents with a clear call-to-action
• They have derived significant revenue through cause commerce (selling goods or services that help fund their cause)

It’s also notable that six of the Top 10 Nonprofit Power Brands are domestic social needs organizations (The Salvation Army, United Way of America, American Red Cross, Goodwill Industries International, Catholic Charities USA and Habitat for Humanity International). This sector is thriving as Americans turn their attention homeward since the devastating disasters of September 11 and the 2005 hurricane season. And, in these tough economic times, individual support of nonprofits providing life’s basic necessities has actually increased, and we expect this sector and its organizations will only sustain their upward momentum.

Visit our Web site to get branding insights straight from the Top 10, or to hear from the CEOs of the United Way, Catholic Charities and the American Cancer Society.

The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 is officially in the marketplace, and not surprisingly, amid all the chatter about who is ON the list, there is some about who is NOT. So, how did we choose the 100 leading organizations to evaluate? The answer is quite simple- we used Forbes 200 Largest Nonprofits list to give us a starting point. Check out additional info on the filter criteria.

We looked at 100 impressive organizations, but in the end that’s a fraction of the 1.5 million total nonprofits in the U.S., so there are bound to be some favorites that aren’t on the list. To the right, on our blog poll, we’ve listed a few notable absences. Who did you miss?

• The YMCA of the USA’s brand is worth almost $6.4 billion, making it the nation’s most valuable nonprofit brand.
  
• The American Cancer Society is the single most relevant nonprofit among American consumers.
  
• The domestic social needs sector is the most valuable nonprofit sector in the nation.
  
• Yet, by not fully leveraging their powerful brands, some nonprofit organizations may be leaving millions of dollars in potential unearned revenue on the table.

Intrigued? Then check out Cone’s latest research – The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100 – released today. In collaboration with Intangible Business, Cone valued the brands of some of America’s leading social, environmental and animal organizations. We’re excited to share with you this first-of-its-kind research that explores the unique relationship between nonprofit brand image and financial performance, which culminates in the nation’s first complete list of the top 100 nonprofit brands.

On the Cone Research and Insights page, we share the complete list and accompanying report, as well as much more, including insightful commentary from the CEOs and executives of many of the Top 10 organizations (for a sneak peak at the Top 10 list, see below).

We’ll discuss the research in greater detail right here in the coming days, but first we encourage you to take a look. Feel free to share your thoughts with us here – we’re looking forward to a robust discussion around nonprofit brand value.