Introduction
North Dakota has thousands of people who want to help.
It also has hundreds of organizations that need it. Serve ND exists to get those two groups in the same room.
Officially, Serve ND is the North Dakota State Commission on National and Community Service. Practically, they run AmeriCorps in North Dakota. They administer the funding, run the annual grant competition, support the organizations that host AmeriCorps members, and connect North Dakotans who want to serve with programs across the state, from tutoring in schools to early childhood classrooms to summer parks programs and rural community work.
They cover service at every level in every corner of the state, and that’s precisely where things got complicated.
The Challenge
In 2025, Serve ND came to us with a growth problem that was really a messaging problem.
They wanted more members, but there was no clear or consistent brand story to grow from. Key partners were left guessing about who Serve ND was, how the pieces fit together, and what they were being asked to do. Confusion was costing them members you never knew you almost had. Before anyone could grow anything, the story had to make sense, and fit within the overarching, national brand, AmeriCorps.
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The Solution
As always, we started with a blueprint. We defined their core capabilities and the real benefits of joining as a member.
We prescribed two archetypes, Caregiver and Creator, which set the voice attributes: warm, reassuring, caring, gentle, and empathetic. Then we defined who they were speaking to: North Dakota nonprofits, retired part-time workers, and stay-at-home parents and flexible workers.
Selected slides from brand blueprint
Then we looked outward at the market landscape of other nonprofit organizations, studied how they were showing up online, and mapped where Serve ND could show up differently. Serve DN doesn’t have a direct competitor, however, there are many opportunities to volunteer with other groups in North Dakota. Taking a look at the landscape helped to clarify Serve ND’s differentiators, and why a volunteer would choose to give their time to Serve ND:
- Proactive service to the community, not emergency relief
- Diverse opportunities for service
- Rural focused programming
That gave us a positioning statement: Serve ND is for nonprofits and North Dakotans with part-time flexibility who want to strengthen their community and find personal purpose.
It also gave us a brand idea: Service is Our Calling.
So, we had our strategy in hand.
But here’s the thing about Serve ND. They do a lot.
There are levels within levels, programs within programs, and partners connected to partners. All of it is good, and none of it is simple. Untangling and clarifying it became the biggest lift of the entire project.
So we started with architecture, mapping everyone involved with the organization: AmeriCorps, Grantees, Host Sites, and Members.
Once the levels were confirmed, we defined how they interact with each other.
New Beginnings
With the foundation set, we moved into the Messaging Kit itself.
We applied the brand voice to each level, with specific examples of how that actually sounds out loud. We built a levels glossary as a quick explainer for anyone who gets lost in the structure.
We built a Use This, Not That table as a guardrail against the words that cause the confusion in the first place.
And we wrote FAQs for every level, with answers short and simple enough to use in an actual hallway conversation.
Then we got to the fun side of messaging: descriptor, tagline, brand story, and talking points.
- Descriptor: Community Service through AmeriCorps
- Tagline: Service Starts Here
We finished with three mini messaging kits, one each for Primary Grantees, Host Sites, and Members, so every level can explain who they are, what they do, and how they connect back to Serve ND, in their own words and voice.
With the words locked in, we got right into design.
Visual Strategy came first, and we landed on Your Troop, a world built on a feeling of belonging, an organic aesthetic, and bold lettering.
Then we moved into sketches. We presented five, and the winner was a bold one with a distinct ND wordmark.
Then we brought it to life with natural hues of yellow, brown, and gold, plus a deep blue borrowed from AmeriCorps, aligning Serve ND’s brand with its parent brand. It is familiar enough to signal the connection and distinct enough to be their own.
A finished brand sitting in a folder doesn’t grow membership. So once the brand was complete, we built it out everywhere growth could come from. We created a brochure, name tags, postcards, a water bottle, tradeshow materials, stationery, custom icons, and so much more.
But one final challenge still remained… How do we activate this brand across the various levels of membership and empower alumni?
After the brand was complete, we sat down with the Serve ND team to discuss their current customer journey, as well as all their brand touchpoints. We distilled that information into a content roadmap, and mapped out a plan for a full year’s worth of brand activation projects.
Today we continue to fully build out the brand on retainer in a long-term partnership.
The Result
The brand is out in the world, and Serve ND is making their mark in our community and beyond.
If you’re interested in making a difference and becoming part of something bigger, click here to learn more.
