Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont
How a fresh mission and vision statement reinvigorated this nonprofit’s brand
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont (located in Charlotte, NC) is known for its retail stores and job training programs. But its services go far beyond helping people find work. Recently, the nonprofit organization decided it needed new mission and vision statements that reflected its higher purpose: to help people see possibilities, seize opportunities, and prosper. FUEL took on this brand messaging challenge to create bolder branding for Goodwill.
Goodwill Industries of the Southern Piedmont wanted mission and vision statements that were bolder and brighter to match its new purpose statement with language that more accurately represented the path it started many years ago and the exciting direction it’s continuing in now. And it needed help shifting the public’s perspective of the nonprofit from a retail store that sold used goods to a community leader that builds pathways to possibilities for all.
Working with a diverse team of Goodwill stakeholders, FUEL led a series of archetype workshops that allowed us to explore and reveal core truths about the organization—details that informed how we moved forward with the new language and positioning to reflect Goodwill’s role in the community. This was a crucial start to the brand messaging.
Through our workshops, we discovered Goodwill is the Visionary archetype,“capable of leading a peaceful revolution fueled by values, ethics, and soul toward a future of equality, meaning, and empowerment.”
Studying Goodwill’s history and programs through the lens of the Visionary, we saw several patterns emerging: commitments to equity, partnerships with the community, and a holistic approach to helping people pursue the life they wanted to achieve.
Empowered by the direction of its new archetype, Goodwill was able to embrace its role as a leader in providing equitable access to career opportunities for all—resulting in bolder, stronger messaging and language in its positioning.
Goodwill introduced its new vision and mission statements to donors and supporters at The Good Morning, Opportunity event. The new vision, mission, and positioning statements also received high praises from a focus group consisting of Goodwill team members, board members, and Goodwill Opportunity Campus participants.
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