Whether you can capture your essence in three little words, or it take eight – a tag line is a powerful way to create the most memorable and clear statement of what makes you unique in the eyes of your audiences. It can be the cornerstone of your other consistent brand messages; and the work that you do to arrive at and agree upon the right tag line can be a process that will clarify priorities for your whole organization.

It’s hard to narrow your focus.

Making a decision to select one idea from all of the powerful values and beliefs at the heart of your organization is tough.  It’s also crucial to your ability to communicate quickly and readily that which is most important and will differentiate you from others. Nonprofits in particular have a lot to say about their mission.  But they acknowledge that, when it comes to talking about their work, they aren’t saying it well enough.

You’ll find an interesting article on the GettingAttention.org blog, written by Nancy E. Schwartz; the organization’s president. It’s called “Getting to Aha! The Nonprofit Marketer’s Top Challenge“.

In the article, Ms. Schwartz talks about a 2012 survey of 1,566 nonprofit leaders. 84% of nonprofit leaders surveyed characterize their messages as difficult to remember. 71% point to their tag lines as least effective.

Why does the tag line matter? I don’t even have one.

Your audiences are busy, harried, and overwhelmed. For the most part, it’s a safe bet that they often don’t have time to read through complex explanations of your mission and services. A well chosen, powerful tag line can create a memorable connection to your most important idea; and because of it’s brevity, will be used more than any other message you develop, in more places – from email signatures and conversations, to your website, to business cards and stationery.

How do I get to a powerful tagline?

1. Find the words that are the most important cornerstones of your mission, services and focus. If you have multiple (and diverse) departments and programs, it will be an inclusive exercise to identify what words rise to the top that are shared between all of your programs – remember that your joint exercise is to define what is important and different about the organization as a whole, not its parts.

2. Keep the audience at the center of your message. How do you want your audiences to feel about you? Tag lines are benefit oriented, and they set the stage for your tone and voice as well as conveying the thing that makes you stand out from the crowd. They can attract to you the customers and stakeholders who see themselves as members of your club.

“You’re in good hands” (Allstate)

“Like a Rock.” (Chevrolet)

“Because I’m worth it” (L’Oreal)

2. Take a look at what other organizations like yours are saying. Is everyone’s message the same? Does it make an important idea somewhat homogenous? If everybody is saying the same thing, it may really be the key idea, or it may be clutter. Think carefully about how your organization is unique. You may have the same goals, but perhaps your approach is completely different.

“Listen to the future” (Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras)

“Where learning takes flight” (Aviation Museum and Discovery Center)

3. Talk to your key audiences. This can be a casual discussion, survey, or focus group; but a tag line is meant to convey quickly to your audience the idea that is relevant to them. It’s not all about you, it’s all about them.  You may find in those discussions that you’ve chosen words that carry negative connotations for them, or words that simply mean nothing to them, but much to you. Make adjustments where they are indicated. This is a great step for learning more about the voice and tone that will resonate with your audiences. Is direct and straightforward better? Does your voice need to be friendly and personal, or professional and grave?

“Nothing stops a bullet like a job” (Homeboy Industries – Workforce Development)

Holding power accountable” (Common Cause)

4. Once you have a tag line, use it consistently. You will want to make it part of your branding style guide; and inform all of your staff members about how and where to include it in their messages.  Make sure that when they use it, they get it right. And give it time to take root.