At brandiD, we love finding things to celebrate, daily. What we love even more? When we get to celebrate a personal brand coming to life online. The brandiD celebrates column here on the blog spotlights the launch of our clients’ online headquarters.

Future Foundation is an Atlanta-based nonprofit that provides educational, health, and life skills programming to more than 1,500 at-risk youth and their parents annually. The foundation was founded by former NBA player Shareef Abdur-Rahim and his wife, Delicia, and was established in 2001. Up until recently, the foundation was run by Shareef’s sister, Qadirah Abdur-Rahim.

Happy (online) birthday, Future Foundation!

Tell our readers: What was the main challenge Future Foundation was facing prior to working with brandiD?
Qaadirah: We were about to launch a new strategic plan in 2016 and had begun our hunt for an off-site marketing team because one of our strategic goals was focused on marketing—specifically, positioning the Future Foundation as thought leaders in our space, as well as a “second family” to the students we served.
We knew that thought leadership and our inclusive family framework would help us attract the attention of new audiences, expand the awareness of our brand, and increase our chances of acquiring new funders and additional sources of revenue. But our biggest problem was our marketing budget.

Like many nonprofits and small to midsize businesses, we didn’t have extra funds to bring highly skilled branding and marketing strategists onto our staff, and we certainly couldn’t afford to hire a C-suite marketing executive.

What were you most looking to get out of partnering with brandiD?
Qaadirah: We were looking for brandiD to partner with us to become our off-site marketing team so that we could procure the expertise necessary to rebrand and position the foundation effectively, while avoiding the full-time commitment—and expenditure—of salaried employees.

We needed a team of branding and marketing experts who were as versatile and flexible as they were skilled, and an off-site partner who could work with us on a project-by-project basis. And we found that in brandiD!

What did you enjoy most about the process of working with the brandiD team?
Qaadirah: From the minute I first spoke with Rachel, I could tell that she ‘got’ it. She understood that the Future Foundation’s position as a thought leader would naturally come through the way I personally branded myself. That was a huge part of her strategy.

So, we hired brandiD to not only rebrand Future Foundation and Future Foundation’s website, but to brand me, too. After our work began, I found a number of things that impressed me about working with the team.

The first thing was that they have a really thorough and well-refined process. They do a great job of information gathering to help them thoroughly understand what the need is. Their approach is very structured and helps keep you on track.

I really think their established process was crucial for the Future Foundation, and can be an extremely attractive feature for any small to midsize business trying to establish processes of their own.

It helps us achieve the consistency and stability we need, and provides the guidance and the structure to make sure we’re able to execute on the project and get the job done. Most non profits desperately need the structure that brandiD provides.

Is there anything else you appreciated about the process?
Qaadirah: Yes. I love the talent of brandiD’s team, from the brand strategists and copywriters to the website designers and developers.

The talent of the team has not only helped us create the content we needed to position us as thought leaders and promote our second family framework, but it’s also helped us implement the technical features to engage more effectively with our online audience and ultimately improve the longevity of our organization.

I’ve vetted a lot of marketing firms over my 17 years at the Future Foundation and I can say that the brandiD team is just really talented. They’re all very good at what they do and they produce high-quality work every time. Every project brandiD does for us continues to build on the one before and each one helps us increase the capacity and long-term sustainability of the Future Foundation.

We know it’s early, but what results, if any, have you seen from working with brandiD?
Qadirah: The work that was done to enhance and position my personal brand began to pay off immediately. As soon as my new LinkedIn profile went up, I started getting keynote requests.

Likewise, the rebranding of the Foundation though strategic content creation and re-positioning efforts—as well as a full rebranding and upleveling of the Future Foundation website—has led to significant growth–both in awareness and in donor dollars.

It didn’t take long after we began working with brandiD to see our visibility increasing and then our revenue. All of that has to do with our messaging, our new website, and the experiences we’ve been creating through our projects with brandiD.

What would you tell others about working with the brandiD team?
Qadirah: I can always count on brandiD to produce exceptional work and that’s why we come back again and again. They’ve become our marketing team, and we trust them and their quality. That trust will keep us together for a long time.

Thank you, Future Foundation, for working with us to make the web more personal. ⛱

Learn more about Future Foundation’s work and mission at www.future-foundation.com today.

To read the case study about our ongoing work and marketing partnership with Future Foundation, click here.