Project Brief
Nonprofit Founders Club
Nonprofit Founders Club is a membership organization supporting aspiring nonprofit founders—primarily women aged 35-55—to launch, fund, and grow their organizations. The target audience consists of purpose-driven individuals in administrative roles who want to quit their jobs, start nonprofits, and leave a legacy by helping others. We built a visual identity anchored in The Explorer archetype (70%) using a bold purple and pink palette, geometric design elements, and structured content templates that reflect their journey to fulfill their purpose and create meaningful change in their communities.
The goal was to create a system that felt both empowering and accessible, reflecting the founders' desire to make a difference while maintaining credibility in the nonprofit education space.
Strategic Rationale
This brand system was built to support personal mission fulfillment without corporate limitations. Nonprofit Founders Club operates in a space where competitors default to formal, institutional branding. This warm-yet-credible approach differentiates them through The Explorer archetype positioning, which reflects the target customer's desire to discover their purpose and navigate the nonprofit journey with expert guidance.
The comprehensive content guidelines ensure that all graphics, course materials, and social posts maintain visual consistency while feeling accessible and empowering. Small class sizes and intensive grant writing focus create intimacy while maintaining professional standards.
Tools & Approach
Brand Strategy: Explorer archetype-based positioning (70% primary), customer psychographics focused on purpose-driven women (35-55) wanting to start nonprofits, positioning against competitors Urban Awareness and Nonprofit Ready through intensive grant writing and small class sizes.
Visual Identity: Purple (#310459), pink (#216D87), gold (#E1CC8D), and deep purple (#6206A5) color palette with 30/30/30/10 allocation strategy, Josefin Sans typography system (Bold for headlines, Regular for body copy), Rhesmanisa script for decorative elements.
Design System: Figma/Adobe Illustrator for logo variations, complete color system with PANTONE specifications, iconography including social media and cultural symbols, brand vocabulary locked to maintain messaging consistency.
Customer Research: Detailed psychographics documenting hobbies (helping others, community events, church), core values (be good to others, help people), biggest fears (not fulfilling their purpose), and professional goals (quit job, start nonprofit, leave legacy).
Brand Identity System
Logo suite: Multiple "NONPROFIT Founders Club" lockups including stacked and horizontal variations with decorative flourishes.
Color system: 4-color palette with 30/30/30/10 allocation strategy (purple, pink, gold, deep purple) with PANTONE specifications.
Typography: Josefin Sans Bold for headlines, Josefin Sans Regular for body copy ensuring accessibility and modern elegance, Rhesmanisa script for decorative brand moments.
Icon system: Custom iconography reflecting community support, nonprofit mission work, and cultural symbols.
Brand vocabulary: Locked phrases focused on purpose fulfillment, helping others, legacy creation, and community impact to guide messaging consistency.
Content Marketing System
Membership materials: Monthly training templates, masterclass presentation layouts, grant writing workbook designs, resource library graphics.
Social media templates: Facebook group graphics for Black Fund Finders community, Instagram posts for booking announcements and new member welcomes, Pinterest-ready vertical graphics for nonprofit tips and funding opportunities.
Course materials: Intensive grant writing course templates, small group class presentation designs, student journey roadmap graphics.
Email marketing: Newsletter templates for funding opportunities, monthly training announcements, member success stories, community spotlights.