At Turnbull Marketing Group, we specialize in working with small and growing nonprofits. That means that a lot of our clients come to us with little understanding of what a brand is, let alone how to protect theirs.

Last week, I presented a three-hour workshop, Nonprofit Branding Demystified, for Project LIFT, a City of Raleigh initiative. During the workshop, we explored what a nonprofit brand really is, how (and how not) to create one, and what it means for small organizations.

We also spent some time analyzing several case studies, including Komen For The Cure. Touted as the #1 most-trusted brand according to the Harris Poll, Komen has been involved in some heated debate recently over their "Buckets For The Cure" promotion with KFC.

Komen has damaged its brand primarily because it broke the fundamental law of nonprofit branding.

If your answer to that question isn't a resounding, YES, then you need to read on. And if your answer is, "What's that?" then you really, really need to read on.

When it comes to writing and distributing press releases, small nonprofits often have any excuse handy to avoid the dreaded task:

• Press release? Huh? What's that?
• Our news isn't really "news-worthy"
• We don't have the time to write a press release
• We don't have the contacts to distribute a press release
• We don't have the money to get a professional press release written and distributed

Raise your hand if you've used at least one of these excuses to put off writing a press release.

Ok, class, you can all put your hands down. I think we get the point.

Have you thought lately about your nonprofit's tagline? Does your nonprofit even have a tagline?

After your logo, this is one of the biggest influencing factors for how people react to your organization's mission. Your tagline sets the tone and helps determine if people will remember what you do or forget you all together.