3 Design Tips for Improving Your Brand Presence on a Limited Budget

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Studies show that visual learners make up 65% of the population. As a result, design and visual communication have become even more important to the mission of your nonprofit or ministry. While design and branding are so vital, charitable organizations usually have very limited budgets and resources. Your organization may not have the means to hire a full-time graphic designer, but in this day and age, you have many tools at your fingertips.

Tip 1: Use free templates from resources like Canva or Adobe Express. 

Since many teams use Canva or Adobe Express, try digging deeper into the template library to ensure your content will be unique from other organizations.

These templates can often be customized to match your brand colors and fonts. You can even add your logo. Try to keep a consistent color scheme and use consistent fonts throughout all of your design pieces to maintain a recognizable brand.

Tip 2: Consider hiring a high-school or college student as a design intern. 

Design students are always looking for ways to enhance their portfolios and gain practical experience. In fact, many college programs require an internship as a part of the degree program. This is also a great way to build connections between your organization and the local school or college. And while your nonprofit may not have the budget to pay an intern, there is a chance that a local student may be interested in your mission and willing to volunteer their time to help promote your cause. It never hurts to reach out and ask!

Tip 3: Partner with a local design program for a semester-long project. 

If your community has a local college or university with a design program, contact a professor or instructor and ask if your organization can be involved in a rebranding or design project for the class. For example, one of my graphic design courses involved a semester-long group project where we collaborated with a local business to design a new logo and materials to go along with it. Even if you don’t need a new logo, the students may be able to make templates for you to use for social media promotions, brochures, flyers, business cards, and more.

Bonus tip: Keep designs simple, clear, and consistent. 

You may find yourself a graphic designer by default with little to no design experience. Don’t fret! When in doubt, less is always more. Just because you can add bells, whistles, stickers, and sparkles to your designs doesn’t mean you should. Resist the urge to add unnecessary elements and other distractions. Stick to your main message and make sure it’s the primary focus of your work.

Let’s take a look at some infographics that offer three tips for starting an outreach for fathers. I started out listing the three tips on the graphic in a simple and clean way. It’s okay, but a little bland. To enhance the graphic, I incorporated icons that conveyed the tips more effectively and captured the reader’s attention. I used the navy shades in True Charity’s brand colors, rather than the bright orange, green, and blue, as navy shades are easier on the eyes. Remember, less is more: Since I will be sharing an in-depth description of these tips in the social media post alongside the graphic, I didn’t have to include all the information on the graphic. I will also include a link to the full article for anyone wanting to learn more.

One last tip: If you’re ever in doubt, reach out to a design pro for feedback. 

He or she may be able to give you some quick tips or suggestions on how to improve your designs. Particularly when it comes to printed materials, it’s wise to have a professional examine your files, since printers have specific requirements. Who knows? You may even be able to establish a great working relationship.