Nonprofit land conservation group spreads word of name change

 When the Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast announced its rebranding as Big Waters Land Trust in December 2024, it was a change several years in the making. Over the course of its 20-year history, the Sarasota County-based nonprofit has protected more than 20,000 acres across 61 different properties in a seven-county service area. But as its reach and impact grew, its former moniker both caused some confusion and didn’t fully reflect the breadth of its work.

“People confused us with Gulf Coast Community Foundation,” says Christine Johnson, the nonprofit’s president. “We got calls in asking how to apply for a grant; they thought we were a foundation that gave money away.

“We had landowners that we are saving the most land with, and they’re inland landowners, and our brand and our name didn’t (resonate) with them,” she continues. “They didn’t think of themselves as being on the Gulf Coast. And then finally, it didn’t tell people why we do what we do. So we were looking for something that would accomplish all of that.”

Outside resources

Knowing it wasn’t an in-house job, the staff and board assessed their needs and wants and raised the money to put out a bid for the project. They chose Bold Bison Communications & Consulting out of Chicago, which had experience in the nonprofit and conservation realms. The firm knew about the organization, which had $37.11 million in assets and $7.13 million in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, public tax filings show. 

“We didn’t have to explain what it is that we do, and we didn’t need to explain why we do what we do,” says Johnson, 57. “They just had to get to know us.”

Over about a nine-month process, a deep dive was taken to look at what worked and what could be improved in how the organization and its impact were perceived in its multi-county service area. Different options were evaluated for a new name and Big Waters Land Trust proved the winner, which the nonprofit announced at its Annual Conservation Celebration.

“Everything that we do directly impacts the water,” says Sam Valentin, director of marketing and events for Big Waters Land Trust. “If you want clean, fishable, swimmable, drinkable water, you have to conserve the land.”

Courtesy image

A press release, mailer and other traditional PR efforts followed the announcement. Big Waters Land Trust also took to social media, tapping partners and supporters like Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Resilient Retreat, Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership to help get the word out by posing for photos displaying the organization’s new name, logo and branded swag.

“One of the things that we try to highlight through all of our messaging is that we can’t do it alone,” says Valentin, 38. “We are very much a collaborative organization that brings all these people together. Land conservation is a community effort, and everybody needs to be part of it."

Return on investment

The efforts have proven successful in spreading the word about the trust’s new name. And it’s helping start conversations with people who might not be as familiar with its work as some of its longtime partners and supporters. “It’s giving them that segue into learning more about us and getting involved and figuring out how they can be part of our ecosystem and help save land,” says Valentin.

Johnson estimates the nonprofit’s investment in the rebranding process and everything that stemmed from that — website changes, new business cards, etc. — topped $50,000. “I would say you really can’t do it right for less than that, when you think about not only having experts who know how to do this, but then you also have to have a budget for changing everything over,” she says. 

Johnson has some proof of the value of the investment: a video created to announce the nonprofit’s new name received a Silver ADDY Award for creative excellence from the Suncoast chapter of the American Advertising Federation and won the Amy Award as the highest-scoring entry in the public service category. “We really tried to put the mission front and center and make this impactful, mission-forward piece that connected the dots for people,” says Valentin. “And it’s just pretty exciting to see that something that we made for a very specific purpose has even more of an impact.”

Doing a rebrand like this takes time, and that’s Johnson’s biggest piece of advice for other nonprofits and businesses considering a name change. “Take your time and make sure what it is that needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and that it gets done right,” she says. “I’m so glad that our board took the time to do the market research and to raise the funds so that we could have a professional organization help us.”

This article originally appeared on sister site YourObserver.com.