Howard Levy

Nonprofit Branding, Marketing & Fundraising Expert

I am a brand strategist, award-winning creative director, marketing, and fundraising expert with a 30-year track record of helping organizations revitalize their brands, engage their audiences, and raise more money.

As President of Red Rooster Group, I bring a unique understanding of nonprofits, behavioral science, sophisticated messaging strategy, and data-driven campaigns to help organizations frame their message, create effective outreach strategies, and motivate action.

Recent Accomplishments

• Handled strategy, fundraising, and marketing that helped one of the country’s largest providers of homeless services to grow from $38 million to $65 million in 3 years.
• Helped launch a new financial certification and business by conducting market viability research, determining pricing, brand, and value proposition strategies, and producing B2B and B2C websites, sales collateral, videos, presentations, and more.
• Launched a farm certification seal for a coalition of farmers, labor unions, food distributors, retailers like Costco, and nonprofits like Oxfam
• Helped the atheist movement to frame their message in an affirmative way to generate positive media coverage for their rally in Washington, DC.
• Developed new names, brands, and websites for national organizations, leading to their growth.
• Raised millions of dollars for organizations through direct mail, email campaigns, peer-to-peer fundraising, and capital campaigns.

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My Background & Expertise

Nonprofit Branding Expert

I have helped countless organizations to revitalize their brands:

• update their missions to meet the moment
• changed their names without losing their history
• reframed their story to expand nationally or internationally
• created cohesive visual identities to connect fractured chapters

Using Behavioral Science to Drive Fundraising

Seeing a need for the social sector to take advantage of behavioral science principles, I created the Actionology Fundraising Action Pack — the first card deck specifically designed to help nonprofits apply the psychology of behavioral economics to fundraising.

Writer

I have written hundreds of pieces of marketing content for emails, brochures, websites, newsletters, and other marketing communications materials. He has written on marketing and branding topics for various nonprofit publications and blogs including BoardSource, B2C Marketing Insider, Candid, Charity Channel, eJewishPhilanthropy, Fundraising Success, GuideStar, NonprofitPRO, Nonprofit Advantage, Ventureneer, and WildApricot.

Public Speaker

I have led workshops on branding, communications, marketing, fundraising, and other topics at nonprofit conferences and venues, including the Foundation Center, Support Center, American School Foundation Alliance, Association of Junior Leagues International, Horizons National Conference, National Council of Nonprofits, NJ/NY Fundraising Conference.

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What Do You Want to Accomplish?

I work with executive leadership at organizations that want to make an impact with fresh thinking and bold ideas.

I’ve dedicated my life to helping nonprofits address a range of issues. I’ve spoken with thousands of nonprofit executives, so I have heard it all — the large problems and the small ones. I relish taking on the large and complex challenges. I have been directing our team at Red Rooster Group in doing just that for several decades.

I love the challenge, and I work hands-on with senior leaders who have the vision and audacity to propel their organizations forward with new approaches.

With a background as an activist, journalist, marketer, and award-winning creative director, and experience in behavioral science and data analytics, I bring together divergent thinking to generate breakthrough strategies.

Interested in discussing the possibilities? Let’s connect.

Red Rooster Group

Full-service marketing, branding, and fundraising agency with a 30-year track record of success in helping organizations improve awareness, engage their audiences, and raise more money. 

• We bring top-level organizational strategy combined with brand strategy, marketing strategy, and fundraising strategy under one roof to provide efficiency and effectiveness for mid-sized organizations.
• We use a behavioral science approach to increase donor engagement. We are the first to codify behavioral principles for fundraising into an Actionology Card Deck that can connect with donors’ motivations, develop the appropriate story, structure donation levels, and create urgency.

Brand Development

• Market Research
• Messaging
• Naming
• Visual identity
• Brand Standards & Templates

Marketing Strategy

• Marketing Materials 
• Websites
• Outreach & Campaigns

Fundraising Strategy

• Donor Analysis
• Communications
• Case for Support
• Annual and Year-end Campaigns
• Email and Direct Mail