Just months after their rebrand, Raise the Future was chosen by the NBA as one of two nonprofits featured at the NBA All-Star Game. Their new brand gave them the power and purpose to show up proudly on one of the world’s biggest stages.
Originally known as “The Adoption Exchange”, the organization now called “Raise the Future” connects young people in the foster care system with adults who can play a meaningful role in their lives as caregivers, mentors, and adoptive parents.
But the organization faced a challenge with brand signals lacking the sophistication to properly represent such an impressive organization.
Among the various insights we uncovered through our research was a significant obstacle: the word “Adoption” in their name implied promises that weren’t always guaranteed, and the word “Exchange” inadvertently reduced the young people they were meant to support to commodities. To truly elevate the organization to the next level, we proposed a bold change—a new name that embodies their “why”: Raise the Future.
When we recapped the NBA event with our senior leadership team, everyone talked about how important our new brand and name were at this moment. It gave us power and purpose and sounded amazing ringing out in the stadium and in the press. So grateful for Mission Minded!
Ann Ayers
But a new name seemed like a risk. Would current and prospective partners still recognize them? After twenty years, the old name had some brand equity–albeit limited—so how would the transition be received? And the community—would they see this new name as a step pack or bold step forward? Couldn’t other elements of their rebrand, including a new visual identity and language, be enough to move forward?
Such questions were crucial as bold changes demand uncomfortable conversations. By focusing on their “why”, and keeping their mission and vision at the forefront of these discussions, we guided them to realize that this wasn’t about incremental steps forward, it was time for a transformative leap. And so, they leapt—with a robust brand strategy and an unapologetically bold new name and tagline, brought to life through a set of powerful messages and captivating visual identity, making each element of their brand sing together as one.
Today, “Raise the Future” has multiplied their support, added key partnerships, and attracted a top-notch new CEO. NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo even chose them as his All-Star Game beneficiary.
This organization’s old brand wouldn’t have galvanized this type of excitement and support. But their gutsy new brand does. It took courageous and visionary leadership (and audacious thinking) to move forward despite the discomfort, and it paid off in a big way.
