I just spoke with a brilliant young woman (shared with her permission), someone I’ve had the honor of working with through her organization for the past few years. She’s leaving her role. Burnt out. Overlooked. Done.

So please excuse me but I’d like to mention something obvious but I haven’t seen talked about anywhere on my feed… and I’ll let this marinate for a second.

The chairs (whether virtual, hybrid or fully remote) are emptying.

These chairs used to belong to the brilliant marketer who held the campaign together with duct tape and midnight tears or how about the program director who carried too much for too long? And don’t get me started on the communications lead who shaped your voice and then disappeared one day without even a goodbye email.

They’re gone.

And of course I have to see this from a branding lens…

Orgs have built brands that worship the mission but bury the people.

Branding Without Alignment Is Betrayal

As a brand strategist, I’m brought in when organizations want clarity, cohesion, and visibility. However, I often find is that the brand story told to the world is a mask, not a mirror. I often struggle with this during discovery sessions, often persuading leaders to tell me about their deepest darkest fears when it comes to themselves and their orgs. Most of these end up being people-related.

The external voice says “We care deeply about equity and community.”

The internal reality is unpaid interns, overworked staff, and managers who (regardless of the ‘”we have 20 paid vacation days’ policies”) haven’t actually used their vacations since Obama was in office.

That disconnect is unfortunate and dangerous. It breeds resentment, accelerates turnover, and creates a culture where the people who power the mission feel invisible in the story.

A brand that does not tell the whole truth is not a brand. It’s performance.

So I ask: where are your people in your story?

Are Your People Martyrs of The Mission?

The nonprofit sector is riddled with martyrdom. We’re conditioned to believe that the more tired we are then the more noble the cause. Joy feels indulgent. Rest has become a luxury and not a human right. That asking for help, capacity or compensation makes us “less committed.” This culture becomes baked into the brand, in the tone, the timelines, and eventually, much to my chagrin, the visual design. Argh.

How many nonprofit websites scream urgency but show no warmth? How many funder reports spotlight outputs but not the humans with real stories who made them happen? No wonder the best people are leaving. Our brand stories keep writing them out.

If Your Team Isn’t in the Brand, It Isn’t Honest

A mission-centered brand without people-centered strategy is incomplete because your team is your brand and if they are overlooked, the brand will eventually unravel no matter how good the messaging is.

So if you’re a leader, I have to ask:

• Where is your team in your story and are they part of your content strategy,
• Do your values live beyond your website and in your day to day practices with your team?
• When was the last time your branding process included a conversation about internal wellness?
• When was the last time a team member contributed in a real “non-performative” way to your future brand goals?

Let’s Heal…

To heal this ( and I do believe healing is possible ) we need to rewrite what branding means in the nonprofit world. We must align the values we preach to the realities of the people who preach them. Let’s start honoring boundaries and building breathing rooms for those who are committed to the cause we care about. We can’t keep losing our best people.