Power To Give
Positioning Statement, Purpose Statement, Brand Pillars, Brand Story, Website Copy
Agency Partner
Power To Give is a BC-based charitable foundation with a fresh approach to grant-making. In collaboration with the Briteweb team, I led this brand strategy project, which included a purpose statement, positioning statement, brand personality and audience profiles—as well as a robust messaging framework, portions of which you’ll find below.
Brand Story
Power to Give is a charitable foundation and philanthropic network that facilitates better giving, for bigger impact. We’re here to give money away, so that’s what we do—no barriers, no bureaucracy, no bullshit.
Canada has some big social and environmental problems to contend with, but we get that it’s not our job to solve them. Instead, we turn to the people working on the ground who are in the best position to address what’s right in front of them. Our job is to find those people—those no-nonsense, get-shit-done grassroots organizations—that know how to address the challenges their communities are facing, then give them what they need to do what they do best.
The way we see it, people don’t get into social impact because they’re passionate about writing proposals. They choose this path because they want to affect actual change—so we free them up to do just that. That’s why we don’t seek proposals; we find our fundees, rather than the other way around. Our funding applications are quick and concise. Our reporting process is streamlined and straightforward. Our funding is unrestricted, so if what an organization needs to thrive is to, say, hire a communications rockstar...they can hire a communications rockstar.
And if an organization wants to try something radical—to take a bold risk in the hopes of a big payoff—then we support that too. In fact, we love it. As a foundation, we’re doing things differently, and we appreciate impact leaders who do the same—even if there are missteps along the way. Even if it takes a little longer to see results. That’s okay with us.
Because at the heart of what we do is trust. We do our due diligence on behalf of funders, of course. We review financials and do site visits. And then we go with our gut. We believe that when you give someone with passion and promise the opportunity to rise to the occasion, they will. And they do. We haven’t been wrong yet.
Our focus on bigger impact—and our investment in impact leaders—isn’t strictly financial. We’ve seen time and time again that magic happens when big thinkers come together and pool their time, talent, treasure and ties. That’s why we gather in inspiring locations, digging deep on leadership development and facilitating critical conversations about what’s possible for philanthropy in Canada and beyond. Between gatherings, we’re here to provide whatever’s needed: resources, an introduction, a listening ear.
Because if we’re all more or less after the same thing—a better, brighter future for our people and the planet—we figure it makes sense for us to work together. To us, that’s better giving. Join us.
Positioning Pillars
Sometimes what makes an organization different is too complex to articulate in a simple positioning statement. In those cases, I opt for positioning pillars, each of which communicates one of the brand’s major points of difference. Together, the pillars encapsulate how Power to Give’s approach is distinct from that of other charitable foundations.
We bet on those who know best.
What do we know about what a remote Indigenous community needs to thrive? Not enough. That’s why we don’t prescribe solutions to problems we don’t fully understand—instead, we find the talented and tenacious leaders working on the frontlines in their communities, and give them the money they need to do their good work. And if what they need to do changes over time? All good. Or if they need to use our funding to hire someone great? That works too. Our funding is always unrestricted, giving impact leaders the flexibility to pivot in the face of inevitable change.
We approach philanthropy with a business mindset.
Traditionally, nonprofits and other social impact organizations have had their hands tied by outdated ideas about how a nonprofit should be run—like eliminating overhead and minimizing risk. Fortunately, we’re not traditional. We believe innovation is tough to pull off from such a small box, so we give organizations (almost) free reign to do whatever will maximize meaningful social returns for their community. And we invest in developing promising leadership the way they do in the for-profit sector, because we know—we’ve seen—the degree to which strong leadership makes all the difference.
We believe we can do more good together.
Intractable social and environmental issues are intractable for a reason. They’re often systemic, deep-rooted and multi-pronged. Meanwhile, the organizations and leaders who work on tackling these persistent problems often work in parallel—a wasted opportunity, we think, to identify synergies and find opportunities to join forces. The Power to Give network exists to facilitate connection-making and collective-action-taking, for greater good.
We know lasting change takes time.
Challenges that have been brewing for a generation or more aren’t going to go away overnight, and that’s okay. Our relationships are long-haul, and our funding renews year after year, so grantees have the time—and the peace of mind—they need to create meaningful lasting change.
We believe in less paper-pushing & more change-making.
We hold our grantees accountable, of course, but we ask for the information that’s required to assess progress toward established goals, and no more. No one pursues a career in the impact sector because they’re passionate about writing proposals, or compiling reports. We take the administrative burden off nonprofit leaders, so they can leave work each day feeling like they chipped way at a real-world problem—not like they made a dent in a never-ending pile of paperwork.
We gather promising leaders in inspiring locations—and let the magic happen.
We act as conveners in the Canadian charitable sector. Time and time again, we’ve seen what can happen when social entrepreneurs and philanthropy’s big thinkers come together and exchange ideas, resources and connections. Genius. Magic, even. That’s why we gather in an inspiring location each year to dig deep on leadership development, and facilitate critical conversations about the pressing environmental and social issues our country faces—and how best to tackle them, together.
We tolerate risk-taking. In fact, we embrace it.
Traditional foundations tend to be protective of their money, making them wary of risk. Like mutual funds. Us? We’re more like VCs. We understand what it takes to innovate. We get that big hits require big swings, which can also mean big misses. Are we rooting for wins? Absolutely. But if things don’t go as planned, all we ask is that our grantees learn from their missteps, recalibrate and move forward—because that’s how breakthroughs happen.
We give our time to free up others’.
Time is a precious resource. We know this. Our time is our team’s greatest contribution to the people and organizations we work with—both our funders and our grantees. And it’s not just about the hours they save; it’s about the benefit of our years of experience in this sector, made available to support them. It’s how we add value to every dollar that flows through us. For our funders, our time finding, vetting and developing organizations that align with their philanthropic priorities means they can give with confidence and intention. For our grantees, the time we invest takes pressure off theirs. Our approach is designed to free up as much of their time as possible, so it can be spent on what matters.
