When it comes to marketing, there is no bigger — or more important — assignment than the rebranding of an organization; a new logo, tagline, and/or graphic standard not only creates the critical "first impression" most people have of your organization, it conveys a powerful message about its values and mission. While most books on rebranding target the advertising-rich private sector, and most books on graphic design for nonprofits focus on fundraising, Branding for Nonprofits, produced by communications consultant DK Holland, takes a detailed but reassuring look at how the rebranding process can and should be handled by nonprofit organizations.

Holland is an experienced art director and principal of DK Holland, LLC, a communications consultancy that works exclusively with nonprofits, ranging from the very small (Fort Greene Park Users and Pets Society) to the very large (AIGA, an association of graphic artists with forty-six chapters and 15,000 members). Including such a range is one of Holland's tools for demonstrating that all sorts of nonprofits need to pay attention to rebranding, which is often overlooked as organizations focus on service delivery and fundraising. "Ironically," she points out in her first chapter, "solid branding could help tremendously in these areas." Holland proceeds through the book to give examples of how a transformed brand helped different organizations — most of them already in growth or change mode — win more attention and funding.

Where Branding for Nonprofits shines is in its clear, specific breakdown of the process of building and launching a new brand. Though Holland recommends the use of professional outsiders, she insists that the job of rebranding can't just be handed off to a consultant — people inside the organization must contribute their expertise and familiarity with the organizational mission for the final brand to have meaningful success. That said, all of the organizations she profiles benefited from professional design services (either purchased or donated) or advice from board members who happened to have careers in marketing or graphic design. If you don't already have such input, Holland recommends you invite someone with branding experience to join your board.

Although the book is a compact read at under 200 pages, Holland does a thorough job of laying out the stages of the rebranding process, from conception to implementation. She also does a good job of explaining where problems can occur as well as how, with the right amount of questioning and discussion, they can be solved. She even shows how to anticipate whether your new brand will pass muster with funders and other stakeholders. Of all the chapters in the book, however, I found the one on implementing the new brand, "The Big Switcheroo," the most engaging: Holland uses the example of Sweden's change from driving on the left side of the road to driving on the right to show how the timing of a big shift is critical. She then provides a rich description of all the ways your new brand can be applied, from business cards to public speaking event materials.

In the interests of full disclosure, Branding for Nonprofits grew from a series of articles in Philanthropy News Digest called Nonprofits by Design. Starting in June 2003, the series ran approximately every two months, and included all but two chapters of the book ("Looking Inside the Funders' Mind: The Board, Staff, and Branding" and "On the Evolution of Branding: You've Come Such a Long Way, Baby!") and the book's useful index and glossary of design and marketing terms.

Written in a friendly, conversational style and stocked with plenty of illustrations, Branding for Nonprofits is an accessible, informative guide to the rebranding process. And though I'd recommend it to any nonprofit, regardless of size, I believe it is best suited for organizations with a certain level of resources to spend on graphic design; a small nonprofit with no designers on the staff or board and little or no budget for hiring a graphic designer will have to reimagine a lot of the processes described here. However, if your organization is concerned about its image and the effectiveness of its current brand, you're already one step along in the process. Reading Branding for Nonprofits will not only help you see what lies ahead, it will go a long way toward ensuring that the journey is accident-free.