Why you need a style guide

Your brand isn’t only the way you communicate externally. It needs to be a clear reflection of who you are and what you stand for. As such, it has a much greater role than simply making things look and sound good.

 

Brand guidelines and style guides aren’t only for the bigger charities, who may have them developed as part of major branding exercises. It’s arguably even more important for small and medium charities to clearly define their brands – to be able to cut their way through the competition and generate more support.

 

So why is a style guide an essential part of your toolkit?

 

 

Provides consistency

 

Having one document, for the whole organisation to refer to, will make your branding consistent in every communication you send out. It will be the go-to reference for designers, writers and content creators.

 

Beyond that, it will help every colleague, even those who rarely have to write for the organisation, to do so confidently and on brand. For example, it’s especially useful if you have fundraisers working independently across the country, to make sure local events are promoted in a way that’s aligned to the bigger picture.

 

 

Gets buy-in from colleagues

 

A side-effect of this consistency is that it can re-iterate your organisation’s mission and values to staff, every time they refer to the brand guidelines. For example, every time someone uses the brand’s font to write a document, it reinforces that they’re part of a bigger organisation with shared aims and motivations. 

 

 

Encourages professionalism

 

A consistent visual language and tone of voice speaks volumes about your professionalism. If two people use the logo in slightly different colours, it will dilute the brand’s identity. But more impactful than that, it will seem sloppy and unprofessional.

 

The same goes for language. Using ‘wellbeing’ or ‘well being’ might not seem important when you look at that example in isolation. But publish a collection of reports in which the language flits between the two, and the overall effect is messy.

 

Having a consistent identity will reinforce that your organisation is trustworthy and reliable – especially important when asking supporters to part with money, or when sharing advice with users.

 

 

Promotes best practice

 

The tone of voice elements of your style guide are a great way to reinforce best writing practice to your colleagues. For example, the specifics of the way you write for your organisation are likely to include plain English and how to make content accessible.

 

Including examples of how to write in this way is a good way to gently reiterate and encourage people to write effectively. Readers are often busy and easily distracted, so your organisation’s messaging needs to be crystal clear to be able to engage them.  

 

 

Brings clarity for your reader

 

A language style guide can also help to bring clarity for the reader. Using plain English means that you’ll be avoiding using jargon that may be commonplace within the organisation, but confusing for others.

 

Also, having a shared way of writing about internal departments and consistent email signatures can help to avoid confusion and show that you’re a unified organisation.

 

 

Drives forward your mission

 

The way you look and speak says a lot about who you are. Having guidelines in place, that are underpinned by your strategy and mission, means that every time someone in your organisation posts on social media or writes to a new fundraiser, your underlying values and mission will be reinforced.

 

 

Establishes your brand

 

You need to make it easy for people to recognise you, whether they encounter you in web content, a social media post or Spotify ad. Having guidelines in place, and adhered to, means that regardless of which media you’re using, your identity (and therefore mission) will come across loud and clear. This is particularly important in the early-stages of brand development when you’re trying to establish yourself in the marketplace.

 

 

Boosts efficiency

 

Having a well put together and comprehensive style guide is a massive bonus when outsourcing work. Being able to hand over your guide to a design agency, freelancer, or PR consultant you’re working with will save time (and money).

 

The external agency will be able to pick up your style right from the start, minimising the need for lots of amendments and cost further down the line.

 

The same goes for having reports or longer documents edited or proofed (internally or externally). Having a brand reference document ready to give an editor will save time and prevent them having to check against websites and existing documents, which may be inconsistent.