JANUARY 2012 | Download & Print PDF | My View Archive

Guest Column | January 2012

Sarah Rick Lewontin, Bellwether

What’s in a name? That well-used Shakespearean quote is on the minds of many organizational leaders these days – and it seems 2011 was a year of many new names for well-established nonprofits in Washington. A few examples: St. Andrews Housing Group is now Imagine Housing, Cascade Land Conservancy is now Forterra, and Housing Resources Group (my organization) is now Bellwether Housing.

Why change a well-established name? In general, when an organization’s name causes confusion, or no longer describes what it does, or doesn’t match the organization’s personality, it may be time for a change.

For Bellwether, the name change was part of a larger strategy to raise awareness of our mission, our accomplishments and the benefit we provide to our communities, in order to build support. When we reached out to people in the community, we heard more than once that – with the exception of our residents, employees and colleagues in the affordable housing industry – people didn’t know anything about Housing Resources Group (HRG). That made sense; from its founding in 1980 HRG had followed a deliberate strategy of doing good work while keeping a low profile. However, now that the need for affordable places to live, and our work to meet that need, has become so much more visible, we knew it was time to change our low profile to a higher one! We had to consider whether an investment in a new name might help that effort.

Another factor was our organization’s personality and reputation. People who do know us describe the company using words like innovative, collaborative, joyful, and caring. Yet the name Housing Resources Group sounds staid, institutional, and conservative. Hmmm. Not a good match.

So the HRG Board and staff leadership made a commitment to identify a name that would give us an opportunity to introduce our good works to people who haven’t heard of us, and would be a better reflection of our organization for those who do know us. The process we used, with guidance and support from brand strategy consultants at Parker LePla, was straightforward and remarkably smooth. We developed criteria for a name, the PLP team brainstormed and presented us with a list of suggestions that met as many of the criteria as possible, and board and staff members discussed the options several times before agreeing on Bellwether. A bellwether is a leader, someone who takes initiative and inspires others. We believe the name Bellwether describes our leadership in providing affordable places to live.

Once we agreed on the new name, the real work began – visual image and tag line, legal registration, a new website, business papers, a communications plan, contracts, licenses, signage, and a thousand more details!

We unveiled our new identity to the public on October 13, the morning of our inaugural fundraising breakfast.

The reaction? Highly positive! People tell me that our new name has more motion, more forward movement. The tag line, “afford more than rent”, has struck a particular chord.

There were a few reactions I didn’t expect, although I probably should have. Some people asked if our company had been acquired. (It wasn’t.) There was a bit of confusion about the legal name, which is Bellwether Housing, because our logo doesn’t have the word “housing” anywhere. A few of my acquaintances wondered if I got a new job. (No, just a new company name.)

Changing our name was an exhausting effort and I’m amazed and grateful at the whole team who made it work. And you may wonder if it was all worth it. That’s where I started this column – describing why we decided to do this, in order to point out that the name change wasn’t a frivolous exercise, but had a purpose. We’re on the way now, and I’ll be able to tell you in a year or two how well we met our original goal of trading our low profile for a highly visible one!

And it’s important to remember that although our name is new, our mission remains the same. Building on more than 30 years of success, Bellwether will continue to provide excellent affordable apartments that enable low-wage working people, their families, and low-income seniors to live independently throughout their lives. We will continue to set the pace by developing and managing apartment communities, providing consulting and technical assistance to other nonprofits, coordinating with service providers for residents who need them, and advocating for resources that support affordable places to live.

Sarah Rick Lewontin
Executive Director
Bellwether Housing