12 Nonprofits Honored for Exceptional Taglines: 2008 Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Award Winners

The Back Story

The Getting Attention Nonprofit Tagline Awards program came about when so many powerful taglines were submitted to the recent Getting Attention survey on nonprofit taglines. More than 1,000 taglines were submitted.

The awards, to be conferred annually, represent the best taglines in all nonprofit sectors. After the 62 tagline finalists were carefully selected, the 12 award winners were chosen by 3,062 nonprofit professionals who voted in an online poll.

Survey findings, the entire list of submitted taglines and details on finalists and award winners are featured in The Nonprofit Tagline Report (to be published September 2008).

2008 Award Winners

• Arts & Culture:

Where Actors Find Their Space/ NYC Theatre Spaces

This clearinghouse for NYC rehearsal and performance spaces uses a double entendre to go beyond a description of its services and highlight the value of its work.

• Civic Benefit:

Stand Up for a Child/ CASA of Southwest Missouri

CASA's tagline provokes anger, compassion and a desire to help, in just five words.

• Education:

Stay Close...Go Far./ East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania

This simple yet distinctive tagline from East Stroudsburg cuts through the clutter. Its straightforward character mirrors that of the school.

• Environment & Animals:

Helping Preserve the Places You Cherish/ LandChoices

LandChoices' tagline thoroughly communicates the value of its work while evoking one's most precious memories of walks in the woods, wildflower meadows and childhood camping trips. There's a real emotional connection here.

• Grantmaking:

Make the most of your giving./ The Greater Cincinnati Foundation

This clear tagline articulates the value of the foundation for donors considering an alternative way to give.

• Health & Sciences:

Improving Life, One Breath at a Time/ American Lung Association

This unexpected focus on the breath, so central to life itself, gets attention, and builds understanding.

• Human Services:

When You Can't Do It Alone/ Jewish Family & Children's Service of Sarasota-Manatee, Inc.

This tagline tells the story succinctly and powerfully: It's all about getting help when life becomes overwhelming. It makes a strong emotional connection.

• International, Foreign Affairs & National Security:

Whatever it takes to save a child/ U.S. Fund for UNICEF

UNICEF engages hearts and minds with its passionate focus on helping children. Who could turn down a request for a donation?

• Jobs & Workforce Development:

All Building Starts With a Foundation/ Building Future Builders

Voters enjoyed the word play here: It adds depth of understanding without being glib.

• Religion & Spirtitual Development:

Grounded in tradition...Open to the Spirit/ Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS)

MTS conveys the two equally important halves of its values and curriculum in a way that makes you think about the connection.

• Other:

A) The Art of Active Aging/ EngAGE

EngAGE surprises with the imagery of active aging and the use of the term 'art' to describe the way it does its work.

B) Because facts matter./ Oregon Center for Public Policy (OCPP)

This tagline introduces the nature of OCPP's impact in Oregon and entices the reader or listener to find out more. Its value proposition (the truth) is particularly compelling at a time when facts are frequently disregarded in public debate.

Want to Enter the 2009 Awards Contest?

Subscribe now to the Getting Attention e-updates on nonprofit marketing tools, tips and case studies plus details on entering next year's competition:
http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html

© 2002 - Nancy E. Schwartz. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Nancy E. Schwartz helps nonprofits succeed through effective marketing and communications. As President of Nancy Schwartz & Company (www.nancyschwartz.com), Nancy and her team provide marketing planning and implementation services to organizations as varied as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Center for Asian American Media, and Wake County (NC) Health Services.

Subscribe to her free e-newsletter "Getting Attention", (http://www.nancyschwartz.com/getting_attention.html) and read her blog at http://www.gettingattention.org for more insights, ideas and great tips on attracting the attention your organization deserves.

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