You’ve probably had the moment where you wanted to push for better design at your nonprofit, but decided not to. Likely because you didn’t want to sound difficult, high-maintenance, out of touch, or insert whatever adjective fits given the very real constraints your org is navigating.

Sometimes it’s easier to let the conversation slide, especially when budgets are tight, timelines are compressed, and there are a dozen other priorities competing for attention. And when leadership doesn’t immediately see design as essential, it can feel risky to raise the issue again.

The tension usually isn’t only about whether design is important. It’s also about leadership not always having a clear picture of what the return on design actually looks like, which makes it harder to discuss in a way that feels grounded, responsible, and aligned with the organization’s goals.

If you’re the brand owner or communications lead, advocating for how your work shows up in the world isn’t extra. It’s part of the role. The challenge is learning how to make that case without turning the conversation into one about taste, preference, or aesthetics.

Why Leadership Often Misses What You See

Your leadership team and board have deep context for your org’s work. They understand the intent behind programs, the nuance of internal decisions, and the constraints the team is operating under. That context fills in gaps for them automatically.

Donors don’t have that same lens.

They’re encountering your organization through annual reports, campaign pages, presentations, and emails, often with very little background and even less time. What people see visually often influences what they assume about how organized, thoughtful, or effective the work behind the scenes is.

This is where belief-building design comes into play. When design creates a clear throughline from mission → programs → outcomes → next steps, people know where they fit and what action makes sense.

It creates confidence before a single conversation happens, especially when organizations are rethinking year-end fundraising or trying to stay top of mind with funders throughout the year.

When design is reduced to aesthetics or applied inconsistently, the opposite happens. Even strong programs can unintentionally signal disorganization or uncertainty, simply because the materials don’t carry enough context to reflect the quality of the work.

→ Click here to get the free Belief-Building Annual Report Playbook

How to Help Leadership Understand the Impact of Design

You don’t need to convince leadership that design exists. They already know that. What usually needs reframing is why design decisions affect outcomes they care deeply about.

Design directly shapes donor trust, board confidence, fundraising results, and credibility with foundation officers and major donors. When those connections are made explicit, the conversation becomes less subjective and more strategic.

Rather than talking about what looks better, it helps to talk about what removes friction. Clear design reduces confusion, shortens explanations, and makes it easier for donors to say yes because the story feels complete and coherent.

This is the shift that allows design to be discussed alongside planning and budgeting, instead of being treated as an afterthought once everything else is decided.

Why “Cheap” Design Often Costs More Than It Saves

One of the most common objections to investing in design is cost, especially in nonprofit environments where every dollar feels scrutinized. But the real cost of underinvesting in design often shows up in less obvious ways.

Rushed or inconsistent design tends to create more revisions, longer approval cycles, and repeated explanations for the same materials. It leads to internal frustration, misalignment across teams, and donor-facing assets that staff feel hesitant to use confidently.

Over time, that erodes trust externally and morale internally. The work still gets done, but it takes more energy, more time, and more emotional labor from the people closest to it.

When design is treated as a credibility tool rather than a visual upgrade, it becomes easier to see how intentional investment actually protects staff capacity and donor relationships, rather than draining them.

Practical Ways to Advocate for Better Design in Real Conversations

Position design as a credibility issue, not a creative preference

Leadership conversations tend to go further when design is framed around trust, ease of understanding, and reputation instead of visual polish. Boards care far more about protecting the organization and maintaining donor confidence than about color palettes.
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Start here: Try reframing the conversation with language like, “This isn’t about making things look nicer. Donors need to feel confident investing in us.”

Connect design decisions to fundraising outcomes

Belief-building design supports a clearer story, which helps donors understand impact more quickly and feel more confident giving. This chain of logic aligns closely with how leadership already thinks about growth and sustainability.
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Start here: Walk through how a confusing page or deck could slow down donor understanding or weaken a fundraising conversation.

Explain the hidden costs of underinvesting

Design that feels “good enough for now” often creates delays, rework, and inconsistent messaging across channels. The cost doesn’t disappear, it just gets redistributed into staff time and slowed progress.
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Start here: Name where time is already being spent fixing or explaining materials that could be done right, with strong deisgn from the start.

Use tangible examples instead of theory

Abstract arguments rarely change minds, but concrete examples often do. Showing leadership exactly what a donor sees, and where confusion might arise, makes the issue real.

Start here: Bring one current piece of collateral and calmly walk through it from an outsider’s perspective.

A Paragraph You Can Share Directly With Leadership

If you need a simple way to advocate without creating a full presentation, this language is designed to be copied and shared as-is:

“If we want donors to see us as stable, trustworthy, and ready for larger or continued investment, our materials need to reflect that. Inconsistent design isn’t just a visual issue. It’s a credibility issue, and credibility directly affects giving.”

More Than Design

At the end of the day, the design conversation is about how people outside your organization form beliefs about your work and mission, and how those beliefs affect trust, confidence, and follow-through.

If you’re interested in learning more about belief-building design and how it shows up in practice, The Belief-Building Annual Report Playbook is a helpful place to start.