2 steps for a strategic naming process
Written by NIKI juhasz
A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege of sitting down with a bunch of Concrete Roses.
No, I wasn’t in a garden or a Tupac tribute concert.
The Concrete Roses are the Hope Center at Pullen’s (HCP) youth advisory board. This group named themselves the Concrete Roses to celebrate their ability to thrive in the midst of adversity.
These young adults work with HCP to advise the nonprofit team on programs and policies, ensuring lived experiences of youth who have been in foster care have a prominent seat at the table. (Spoiler alert: including lived experiences is our first best practice of this email).
I joined the Concrete Roses to facilitate a workshop on one of my favorite topics: naming and branding. Preparing for and leading the session reminded me just how many best practices nonprofits can (and should!) apply when running a naming or renaming project.
I’ve included a few of our easy-to-incorporate favorites below.
start with research
Say it with me. History matters. By understanding the history, you can ensure you’re considering every angle – and creating a name that is inclusive, thoughtful and impactful.
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For example, I was meeting with the Concrete Roses to name a new apartment complex for youth aging out of foster care. The apartment complex will be in Raleigh’s historic Method Neighborhood.
To empower themselves to learn more, and honor what came before them, HCP invited Carmen Cauthen, who wrote “Historic Black Neighborhoods of Raleigh,” to speak with them and take a walking tour.
Then, during our workshop, we talked about this history and how we could incorporate it during our naming process. We also discussed who will live in the apartment complex – youth who have aged out of foster care – and how their lived experiences and their own history could impact the naming.
prioritize your audiences’ experiences
This advice is simple! As you brainstorm, remember to keep it easy:
Easy to say. Godiva. Sriracha. Porsche. These are just a few of the brand names I’ve been saying wrong for….well literally most of my life. During the workshop with the Concrete Roses, we shared lots of laughs about brand names that no one knows how to pronounce. You don’t want to cause your potential audience to feel embarrassed or confused because they don’t know how to pronounce the name or prevent them from referencing you because they could accidentally say the wrong thing. This is important in making the name inclusive and accessible as well.
Easy to spell. Imagine a potential new donor Googling you – and not finding you because they can’t spell your name. Or, in the case of the apartment complex, a teenager getting extremely lost trying to find the building, or a delivery driver showing up at the wrong place. The easy solution? Make your name easy to spell and unique.
Easy to remember. The best names are recognizable, meaningful and easy to understand. During the naming workshop with the Concrete Roses, we started by thinking about what connotations or emotions the group wants youth who have aged out of foster care to have when hearing the apartment complex name. We also considered what donors and supporters may hear or imagine when they see the name. We then incorporated these thoughts into our naming brainstorm, making the name memorable.
(You will also need to be sure to think of the legal steps, too – especially if you’re naming an organization. But that’s a question better left to your lawyer.)
Ultimately, the Concrete Roses successfully brainstormed a name for the new complex….you’ll have to wait to find out what it is, because we’re planning a big reveal!
But I’ll give you a hint. The team selected two names: one for the apartment itself, and one for the common room. (And yes, the common room name DID make some of us tear up.)
Naming is personal. It’s a powerful part of your brand and will impact how your most important audiences engage with you – so make it count!
