Lessons from dating apps
Written by Niki Juhasz
Yes. No. No. No. Oh absolutely not. Maybe?
Millions across the US choose to swipe right on, or decidedly say no thank you to, potential partners on dating apps every month. And much like hopeful (or jaded) singles swiping through profiles, your potential supporters, partners and stakeholders often make the decision to learn more about you – or write you off – in mere seconds.
I bring this up because thinking about your organization’s brand personality as a dating profile…can actually be a great exercise! As a matter of fact, after a conversation about this very topic, Forthright friend and partner the John Rex Endowment (JRE) embarked on this exercise.
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Creating Your Organization’s Dating Profile
Step 1. The JRE team started by researching dating app best practices. They looked at ways to create a great profile, studying everything from messaging to images to tone.
Step 2. They then answered real dating profile questions for their organization! Here’s what it looked like.
The Category
What It Looks Like in Action
John Rex Endowment, but we’re also known as JRE or the Endowment/foundation.
Name
Location
Raleigh, specifically serving Wake County.
*JRE doesn’t date outside of Wake County!
Capacity building funders and advocates for children’s health and well-being. Disrupter.
Our mission is to strengthen organizations that center racial equity and justice to improve the social emotional health of children living in Wake County.
Job Title/Work
We are working to be gender neutral. Because of this acknowledgment, we have decided to eliminate the use of “Mr. and Mrs.” from our Board of Director documents. We will also pay attention to how and when the Endowment uses pronouns, especially in our formal documents (i.e., bylaws).
Gender
We want to be accommodating and leave the decision on how to meet up to the individual. We are comfortable with a hybrid working and meeting arrangement. We are open to meeting virtually, in person, and ok with virtual or in-person participation during meetings.
COVID Dating
Nonpartisan
Politics
- A relationship — understanding that we may have to date for a while before we decide to get in a relationship with one another.
- Our intentions: long-term relationship (3-5 years).
- Partners who focus on system-level change with a racial equity lens in order to improve the social emotional health of children.
Looking For
Pro tip: Be clear on what you’re looking for. In the dating app world, this can be a fling, marriage, or anything in between. In your organization’s dating profile, it means creating an extremely clear vision.
Are you looking for long-term funding relationships with one big foundation?
To build donor relationships with hundreds of mid-level supporters?
By figuring out your goals and specific target audiences, you can ensure you’re always speaking strategically.
- Nonprofit organizations, other funders, and government agencies who center racial equity and serve the social emotional health of children.
- Someone comfortable with risk.
- A change agent.
- Someone who LOVES children.
JRE’s Ideal Partner
- Approachable
- Trustworthy
- Equitable
- Confident
- Fun
- Feminist
- Grounded
- Transparent
Describe the Endowment in a Few Words
Sometimes. It depends on the room we’re in. If we wear makeup, it is a soft/natural/neutral look. WE DO NOT WEAR pantyhose/stockings!
Does JRE wear makeup? If so, is the makeup a soft/natural look or a full face/glam beat? How often?
Pearls! Sometimes hoop earrings…
What kind of jewelry does JRE wear?
It depends. We see ourselves in places where all of these shoes may fit the occasion.
What kind of shoes does JRE wear: heels, flats, boots, sandals, sneakers, all of the above, none?
- How we adorn ourselves: simple eloquence
- First impression: casual dress, approachable
- Matching the situation
- Respectful of who we’re meeting with and the environment
- Considering: the audience, our intentions, and the message we want to convey
What would JRE wear on the first date? After a few dates? After years of dating someone?
Step 3: JRE then incorporated what they learned about themselves and their goals into their organization’s branding – from making their language less formal to the pictures they use. (They truly committed to this exercise, and I love it.)
The JRE team reported that this exercise was fun, hysterical and also incredibly helpful in refreshing their brand.
Have fun with it!
