Nonprofit Wars

Organizational brand is important, and some nonprofits will fight over controlling all aspects of it, as this article from the Wall Street Journal reports.

An excerpt.

“As the leading breast-cancer charity, Susan G. Komen For the Cure helped make "for the cure" a staple of the fund-raising vernacular.

“The slogan is so popular that dozens of groups have sought to trademark names incorporating the phrase. Among them are "Juggling for a Cure," "Bark for the Cure," and "Blondes for the Cure."

“Komen sees this as imitation, and it's not flattered. Instead, it's launching a not-so-friendly legal battle against kite fliers, kayakers and dozens of other themed fund-raisers that it contends are poaching its name. And it's sternly warning charities against dabbling with pink, its signature hue.

"It is startling to us that Komen thinks they own pink," says Mary Ann Tighe, who tangled with the breast-cancer charity over the color for her "Kites for a Cure" lung-cancer fund-raiser. "We cannot allow ourselves to be bullied to no purpose."

“Komen's general counsel, Jonathan Blum, said in an email: "We see it as responsible stewardship of our donor's funds."

“Trademark turf battles characteristic of sharp-elbowed corporations are erupting across the typically amicable world of nonprofits. Charities raising money for the same cause are getting into dust-ups over fonts, logo designs and other branding minutia.

“Nonprofits say the details are no small matter. Some groups contend they have lost sizeable donations when donors mistakenly wrote checks to another charity with a similar name.”