Question

Topic: Taglines/Names

Affordable Housing Non-profit Needs A New Name

Posted by Anonymous on 1/24/2014 at 1:25 PM ET 250 Points
We are a non-profit community development corporation offering a wide range of services that center around affordable housing, and we need a new name. Our current name is too long and doesn't effectively communicate what it is we do as an organization.

We create and sustain affordable housing by:
-providing and managing affordable housing units
-offering home buyer education courses and foreclosure counseling
-providing grants to assist income-eligible home buyers with their down payments
-low-interest home loans to income-eligible home buyers
-providing subsidized loans for rehabilitation/repair of homes and/or for access modification for elderly or disabled homeowners
-completing retrofits of energy inefficient homes to make them as environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient as possible
-running a program that uses housing as a platform for essential services for the elderly, such as nutrition, fitness, health, education and general support.

We also have a Real Estate Development program, in which we take on large community development projects, sometimes in conjunction with other organizations, to benefit communities in need of revitalization.

Basically we are a one-stop-shop for affordable housing, but we do much more than JUST affordable housing. We plan to have "Community Development Corporation" as a descriptor in our name, but we would like a succinct, catchy, easy-to-understand name that could stand on its own to go above the CDC descriptor.

For example, this is a name I came up with but some members of the Board didn't like it:

Holistic Housing Opportunities
A Community Development Corporation.

We would prefer the name be no more than three words long, and no more than 5 or 6 syllables.

Any help is appreciated!
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Mike Steffes on 1/24/2014 at 2:17 PM Accepted
    Affordable Housing, Energy, and Services
    A Community Development Corporation.
  • Posted on 1/24/2014 at 2:27 PM Author
    Thanks so much for the response! We're hoping for something with more of a creative edge, so we don't sound so non-profit-y. I'm been thinking about Compass Housing, or Encompass Housing.. if there was one word for "all roads lead home" that would be perfect, but we may need to settle for that as a tagline.
  • Posted by Moriarty on 1/24/2014 at 3:05 PM Accepted
    I'll start with a few suggestions based on "all roads lead home"

    homeward
    the path home
    towards a new home
    a roof over your head

    Now: as a direct marketer when someone says "but some members of the Board didn't like it" - I always ask them who's paying the bills? Are they all getting together to pay - or is it someone else? I know they won't listen, but believe me, listening to clients makes marketing one helluva lot more effective.

    You did have Encompass. Encircle? Engage? Instead of "affordable" have "sensible" - or does that lose the impact?

    Sensibly priced homes.
    A way to sensibly priced homes
    Your way to a sensibly priced home.

    Names - Local Housing Focus (not quite the center of the circle, but near enough - and snappy).

    The local housing focus

    I'm tired! It's been a long day. What do you think?
  • Posted on 1/24/2014 at 3:25 PM Accepted
    Why wouldn't you pick up on some local reference in the name -- like the name of the town, a local landmark, etc.?
  • Posted on 1/24/2014 at 3:33 PM Author
    Thanks, Moriarty... I will think on those for a while. Mgoodman, our current name has a locator in it, and we're trying to get away from that for a few reasons.

    Our name right now is Central Vermont Community Land Trust. The problem is, our service area extends beyond Central Vermont and is continuing to widen, not to mention that there are a ton of "Central Vermont" organizations around. We typically refer to ourselves as CVCLT, but there are orgs called CVMC, CVCAC, CVHHH, and a bunch more. We'd like to drop the "CV." The only other good local reference would be "Green Mountain," but there are also many "Green Mountain" businesses and organizations. We want to distinguish ourselves. Another problem with the name is that it is too much of a mouthful, and no one knows what a Community Land Trust is (plus we do more than just operate under the Community Land Trust model). And finally it is a branding nightmare because people are always shortening our name by calling us "Vermont Land Trust" which is a completely different organization with a different focus and vision. So we REALLY need a name change. We had one all set to go and then found out that there were legal copyright/TM issues with it.

  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 1/25/2014 at 6:20 PM Accepted
    Who's the target of your name: funding sources, government, local businesses, or those in need?
    Who's the audience you serve: where are they located, why would they choose your services, etc.?
    From a big-picture perspective, what is it you do (you've listed a lot of directions & services, but where's the "sweet spot")?
    How long have you been in existence? How many people have you helped to-date?
  • Posted on 1/27/2014 at 9:21 AM Author
    The target is funding sources and those in need. We have a goal to be better known, understood and supported in the community, which includes existing and potential donors, but also the people we serve and the community "at large" so that they have a better understanding of who we are and what we do.

    The "sweet spot" is kind of tricky, since we don't focus on any one area more than another. I guess overall it would be defined as affordable housing, but that is a broad area. We have an overarching goal of ending generational poverty in our communities, but that's kind of a pie-in-the-sky goal and not one that we typically advertise openly.

    We've been around for about 27 years.

    Thanks again for all your help.
  • Posted by saul.dobney on 1/27/2014 at 10:50 AM Accepted
    Focalpoint Community Housing

    Habitage

    Behome

    Landings
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 1/28/2014 at 10:47 AM Member
    Here's an odd suggestion: Cavalcare. Starting with your current name (Central Vermont Community Land Trust), take the first letter in each word (CVCLT) and artistically rearrange the letters. It's an old Latin word meaning "to ride" (as in horses), and is related to a cavalcade (a parade/series/chain) - which does apply to your offering. The "care" part of the word is useful to show that you're a non-profit as well.
  • Posted on 1/30/2014 at 11:15 AM Author
    Thanks again everyone. I think we're just going to have to continue banging our heads against the wall until we come up with something. Our ED really wants something that rolls of the tongue and can become an easily recognizable brand. We were going to do Full Cycle Housing but were unable to use that name due to legal issues. Full Cycle really captures what we do, since we offer many services, all of which relate to housing at their core (even if they are not directly related to a roof over your head), and which are available to our clients regardless of where in the housing cycle they are (first-time homebuyer education, foreclosure counseling, support and services at home for the elderly, affordable housing for low-income renters, real estate development, etc).

    It feels like an impossible thing, to find one name that encompasses all of this, but I thought reaching out to some people who aren't so close to this work might help. Thanks again for all your suggestions and please keep them coming, if you have any other ideas!
  • Posted by Moriarty on 1/30/2014 at 2:59 PM Member
    Hi.

    I'll have another go, but I doubt your ED will like them. Only whenever you have problems of "the impossible" kind, your customers usually have the answer.


    How about

    Vermont Indoors - affordable homes for all who live here
    Homing Vermont
    Chez Vermont [vague, and you're not in Canada!]
    Vermont's Places
    HomePoint Vermont - everything to do with affordable homes.

    Any better?
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