This week’s reading covers strategic planning and strategic communication. Strategic planning is a process I’d contend that should be done before communication strategy is done. Strategic planning involves everyone in the organization and it’s crafted around the mission statement. It provides guidance, concrete description of the impact and goals that the organization wants to achieve and help with resources allocation.

On the other hand there is communication strategy. One of the aspects of communication strategy in a nonprofit is branding. Branding is the process of developing an intended brand identity. Brand identity is how you (the maker) want your target audience to think, feel, and act with respect to your brand and brand image is how your target audience actually ends up thinking, feeling, and acting relative to your brand. As outlined in the readings, nonprofit leaders need models that allow their brands to contribute to sustaining their social impact, serving their mission, and staying true to the organization’s values and culture. Branding played a huge role in the case study of Komen and Planned Parenthood. Branding is a tool for managing the external perceptions of an organization. I felt that the position that Komen took when she decided to defund Planned Parenthood affected  her organization’s brand, thereby rendering  her to lose  funding and some of stakeholders and impacted the organization’s core performance.