Nonprofit Network Co-Branding
Increasing network awareness with a flexible design system
Background & Challenge
While nonprofit growth is typically guided by consultants, boards, and committees, a nonprofit’s visual identity tends to evolve organically. This evolution happens whenever a visual communication need comes up: internal teams create a logo for a new sub-brand, professional designers are hired for short-term visual support like an annual report, or outside agencies provide pro-bono work in a limited capacity, such as for a campaign or website. In this way, the brand grows over time on an as-needed basis, with each involved entity adding their own interpretation piece by piece.
There’s nothing wrong with this form of organic visual evolution, and it can actually be an indicator of a nonprofit’s authenticity during certain phases of growth. An unpolished visual style can demonstrate need, earnestness, and community support in a way that’s hard to manufacture.
However, this form of visual evolution is most often driven by short-term needs, and it can come at the expense of long-term vision. An internal team’s resources will always go to the most pressing needs, and pro-bono resources are often limited, either in length of commitment or in project scope. When the internal team is putting out fires, and the external resources lack holistic perspective, important needs can go overlooked.
One such oversight limited Thriving Wisconsin– Although they administered a network of over 30 member agencies across 72 counties and 11 tribal nations, Thriving Wisconsin had never established a clear way to present their relationship to those members, resulting in a lack of public awareness about the network. Without consistent guidelines for presenting the network-to-member relationship, Thriving Wisconsin’s support and collective impact were essentially invisible.
The Moment
In the process of rebranding Supporting Families Together Association to Thriving Wisconsin, this need was brought to the forefront. As a new visual identity was being developed, the member agency co-brand would be a key to strengthening awareness of the network.
The Work
Ravenwood Design Group stepped in to address this need, developing a cobrand system that would:
Clarify the relationship between Thriving Wisconsin and its member agencies.
Design for scale, accommodating any number of future members and varied local logos.
Work consistently across print, digital, and outdoor media channels
The result was a flexible co-brand system that fit seamlessly with member agency logos, and could grow as new members joined.
Additionally, RDG created a toolkit to empower member agencies to produce on-brand materials independently, including:
Software-agnostic templates for posters, social media graphics, and billboards
A clear brand guide covering how to create and use the co-brand lockups
Flexible guidelines for creating consistent visual communication across media
This toolkit ensures that every member agency has the right tools and knowledge to uphold the network’s visual standards, enabling consistency (and awareness) statewide.
Impact & Takeaways
Stakeholders now see one cohesive voice across the entire state, boosting recognition and reinforcing network authority.
Local agencies produce professional, on-brand materials without waiting on centralized design support.
New member organizations easily fit into the co-brand framework– no retooling required.
By equipping Thriving Wisconsin and its member agencies with an easy-to-use co-brand system and toolkit, RDG helped transform a patchwork of identities into one powerful statewide network, ready to champion early childhood advocacy with clarity and confidence.