BRAND SUCCESSION PLANNING: HOW TO TRANSITION THE BRAND OF AN ORGANIZATION WHEN THE FOUNDER LEAVES

In brand succession planning, nonprofit arts organizations must plan how to best transition their marketing along with their founder. Branding in nonprofits is not a new topic, but often organizations are unaware of just how connected their founder is to their outward facing communications. This paper seeks to explore the relationship between founders of nonprofit arts organizations and their organization’s institutional brand. The conclusion of this paper describes how organizations can best plan for transitioning their brand and marketing messaging along with that of their founder, to avoid losing trust from constituents when new leadership takes over.