Non-Profit
Backcountry Squatters
Help a fledgling outdoor club that made seismic changes in women’s lives worthy of growing into non-profit status—without sounding like a privileged passion project. A smart hybrid strategy melded brand with boilerplate gave Squatters a powerful tool to launch strong, expanding to over a dozen chapters nationwide.
Brand Strategy
Brand Strategy
Results
Hangup: A meaningful mission got lost in lightweight language
The ladies behind Backcountry Squatters knew their college outdoor club was more meaningful than it sounded on paper—worth making into a national non-profit. But they struggled to articulate why. Without that “why”, Squatters risked sounding like it gave trips, training, and gear to already-privileged college students. They needed to sound like the critical non-profit they truly were.
Fix: Start with misconceptions, then craft a brand that crushes each one
I interviewed the team about their experiences, then rifled through research, learning about how women’s networks lead to greater career success, how nature regulates nervous systems, and how positive connection affects college students. Next, I crafted a brand manifesto that turned each potential “negative” into a “positive,” positioning Squatters as a non-profit worthy of support.
From one small club to 13 chapters, and growing
Backcountry Squatters instantly recognized the importance of their mission in the manifesto, finally seeing that elusive “why”. Armed with the ideas and boilerplate language, the fledgling non-profit was able to start cruising through a backlogged to-do list, including hosting events, fundraising, and even launching merch.
Photo: Greyson Johnson
“How do I eloquently say you f---ing crushed it and we are beyond stoked to have somone capture the heart of Backcountry Squatters in word form?
Darby Knoll | Executive Director of Backcountry Squatters
