For a Kenyan NGO, receiving funding from an international donor often comes with more than financial reporting obligations.
Many grants also include requirements around communication, visibility, branding and acknowledgement of donor support.
These requirements can affect how an NGO presents a project on its website, social media, reports, publications, events, videos, signage and other communication materials.
For example, an EU-funded project may have specific requirements for displaying the EU emblem and funding statement. FCDO-funded programmes can have formal visibility arrangements covering how UK government support is acknowledged. Other development partners and foundations may have their own requirements.
This means Kenyan NGOs should not treat donor logos as simply a design element.
They are often part of the contractual and communications obligations associated with a grant.
This guide explains how NGOs can approach donor branding and visibility, particularly when building or redesigning their websites.
Important: Donor branding requirements vary by funder, programme and grant agreement. This article provides general website and communications guidance and should not replace the specific branding or visibility requirements contained in your funding agreement.
NGO donor branding guidelines are rules governing how an organisation acknowledges and represents financial or programme support from a donor.
Depending on the funder, they may cover:
Some donors provide detailed visual identity manuals.
Others provide a shorter set of visibility requirements within the grant agreement.
Some programmes may require a formal communication or visibility plan.
The important point is that there is no single donor branding standard that applies to every NGO in Kenya.
Donor visibility serves several purposes.
A donor may require public acknowledgement of its contribution to a programme.
This helps beneficiaries, partners and the public understand how the project is funded.
Clear communication about funding sources can contribute to transparency.
People can see who supports a programme and, where appropriate, understand how the programme fits into the broader development ecosystem.
Branding and visibility requirements can form part of the contractual relationship between the donor and implementing organisation.
For example, current EU guidance states that recipients of EU funding have a general obligation to acknowledge the origin of funding and ensure EU visibility. Specific communication requirements can be set out in grant agreements and programme-specific annexes.
FCDO guidance similarly describes branding requirements for implementing partners receiving UK development funding.
Incorrect logo use, missing funding statements or unapproved branding can create unnecessary compliance issues.
A website redesign is therefore a good opportunity to review donor visibility requirements rather than simply copying logos from the old website.
The biggest mistake an NGO can make is searching Google for a donor logo and assuming that the resulting branding rules are sufficient.
They may not be.
Start with the relevant:
The applicable requirements can vary between programmes.
For EU-funded projects, for example, the European Commission states that the grant agreement can contain specific or additional communication requirements, including requirements in an annex.
The same principle should be applied to other donors.
Your grant agreement should be the starting point, not a generic internet search.
An NGO normally has its own identity.
For example, its website may have:
A donor-funded programme may have an additional visual identity.
This creates a hierarchy that needs to be managed carefully.
The NGO should remain recognisable as the organisation implementing the work while appropriately acknowledging the donor.
The donor’s branding should not accidentally make the NGO appear to be a department or subsidiary of the donor.
Likewise, the donor should not be represented as supporting activities that fall outside the scope of its funding.
There is no universal placement rule.
The correct placement depends on the applicable donor requirements.
However, common approaches include:
For some funding programmes, the donor may require visibility across the website or on particular pages.
The EU, for example, provides specific guidance for websites and social media accounts and states that the EU emblem and funding statement should be displayed correctly and prominently.
This means your website designer should not simply decide where donor logos “look best”.
The placement should be checked against the applicable donor requirements.
This is one of the most common approaches NGOs take.
An organisation may have funding relationships with:
The result can be a footer containing a long row of logos.
This may look impressive, but it can create several problems.
It can become unclear:
A better approach is often to associate donor visibility with the relevant project or programme.
For example:
Education Programme
Funded by [donor]
Climate Resilience Project
Supported by [donor]
This provides much greater context.
Branding guidelines commonly specify exactly how logos may be used.
Depending on the donor, restrictions can include:
For example, the EU states that its emblem should not be modified or merged with other graphic elements or text. It also provides specific guidance about prominence and placement.
This is why the original approved logo files should be used.
Do not download a low-resolution logo from Google Images and add it to a website.
Large donors may have multiple logo or identity systems.
For example, FCDO’s current guidance distinguishes between the UK International Development logo and the UK aid logo, with the latter retained for certain circumstances.
This illustrates why NGOs should not assume that an older logo is still correct.
Before publishing a donor logo, verify:
This becomes particularly important when an old website has been redesigned several years after the original project started.
A donor acknowledgement is not always just a logo.
A donor may require specific wording explaining the source of funding.
For example, current EU guidance distinguishes between:
“Funded by the European Union”
and
“Co-funded by the European Union”
depending on the funding arrangement. The statement is intended to appear alongside the EU emblem.
FCDO-funded programmes can similarly have formal visibility statements that define how UK government support should be acknowledged.
Therefore, when creating a donor-funded project page, do not assume that displaying a logo alone satisfies the requirement.
Check whether the donor requires accompanying text.
Some donors require disclaimers explaining that the views or content expressed by an implementing organisation do not necessarily represent the donor.
These disclaimers can be particularly important for:
The exact wording should come from the relevant donor or approved project documentation.
Do not invent your own wording if a donor has supplied mandatory language.
For many NGOs, the website’s programme or project pages are one of the most important places to address donor visibility.
A well-structured project page might include:
Improving Youth Employment in Kenya
A concise explanation of the programme.
Funded by:
[Approved donor logo and funding statement]
Relevant programme achievements and indicators.
Reports, publications and other project materials.
This approach is usually more informative than simply placing a donor logo somewhere in the global website footer.
NGOs frequently publish:
Donor visibility requirements may apply to these materials as well.
Before publishing a document, check:
The website itself should also preserve this information when the document is uploaded.
For example, the publication page can identify the project and funding source rather than presenting the PDF as an isolated file.
Donor visibility can extend beyond the website.
Depending on the agreement, requirements may apply to:
An NGO’s communications team should therefore understand whether project-related social content needs donor acknowledgement.
The EU, for example, explicitly includes social media accounts among the communication channels covered by its visibility guidance.
Video content is increasingly important for NGOs.
Examples include:
Depending on the donor requirements, the video may need:
The organisation should determine these requirements before producing the video.
Adding a donor logo at the end of an already completed production may not satisfy a requirement for opening or closing visibility.
Events may also have visibility requirements.
Examples include:
Potential branding elements include:
Again, the exact requirements should come from the relevant funding arrangement.
Suppose an NGO operates a programme funded by three different organisations.
The website may need to acknowledge all three.
However, the NGO should not automatically place the three logos together without checking the applicable requirements.
Questions to answer include:
The NGO should document these requirements before designing the page.
Logo hierarchy is a particularly important design issue.
A website designer might naturally want to make the NGO’s logo significantly larger than all partner logos.
That may be appropriate in some contexts.
However, donor guidelines can impose their own requirements.
For example, EU guidance says that where other logos are displayed alongside the EU emblem, the EU emblem should have at least the same size as the biggest of the other logos.
This is a good example of why donor branding should be treated as a specification rather than a purely aesthetic decision.
The designer should check the rules before establishing the final visual hierarchy.
Not necessarily.
The answer depends on the donor, programme and contractual requirements.
Some arrangements may require notification or approval for particular communications activities.
Others may provide general branding requirements that the implementing organisation can apply without seeking approval for every routine website edit.
For example, EU guidance notes that beneficiaries should inform their project officer about major communication or dissemination activities.
FCDO guidance also provides formal arrangements for visibility and branding.
The safest approach is to determine the approval process during project setup.
If your NGO manages several funded projects, a donor branding matrix can make website management much easier.
A simple internal document could look like this:
| Donor | Project | Logo required | Funding statement | Disclaimer | Website requirement | Approval needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donor A | Project A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Project page | Check agreement |
| Donor B | Project B | Yes | No | Yes | Programme page | No |
| Donor C | Project C | Yes | Yes | No | Website + social | Check agreement |
The actual requirements should be taken directly from each donor’s documentation.
This matrix can then be given to:
It creates a single internal reference point.
If you are commissioning a new NGO website, donor requirements should be included in the project brief.
Do not wait until the final design stage to tell the web agency:
“We also have five donors whose logos need to appear.”
Instead, provide the agency with:
This allows the designer to build an appropriate system into the website.
For a large NGO with multiple programmes, donor information should ideally be manageable through the CMS.
For example, a project record could contain:
Project name:
Youth Employment Programme
Donor:
European Union
Funding statement:
Approved donor wording
Logo:
Approved donor asset
Project duration:
2026 to 2029
Programme status:
Active
The CMS can then display the relevant information consistently.
This is considerably better than asking a developer to manually insert logos into individual pages.
Hard-coded donor branding creates problems when:
A well-designed NGO website should make it easy for authorised staff to update programme and donor information without modifying the underlying code.
This is particularly valuable for organisations managing multiple grants simultaneously.
Donor branding should also be considered after the funding period.
Do not assume that a donor logo should remain on a project page indefinitely.
The grant agreement may specify:
An NGO should therefore have a process for moving projects from:
Active → Completed → Archived
The original project materials can remain available while the website clearly indicates the project’s status.
A donor may fund an important programme without becoming the organisation’s identity.
Avoid creating a website where:
A good website should communicate both:
Who the NGO is
and
Who supports particular programmes.
Donor visibility should not undermine accessibility.
For example, adding several small logos to a footer may technically display the donor information but make it difficult to read.
Similarly:
This is particularly important for organisations whose websites are intended to serve broad and diverse audiences.
A donor logo arrangement that looks acceptable on a desktop screen may become problematic on mobile.
For example, a row containing six logos may:
The web designer should therefore test donor visibility across:
The donor information should remain clear without compromising the usability of the website.
Donor branding also intersects with search engine optimisation.
A project page should not be created solely as a place to display logos.
It should contain useful, indexable information about:
For example, instead of creating a page titled:
Project 2026
consider:
Youth Employment and Skills Development Programme in Kenya
The donor acknowledgement can then be incorporated into a useful project page.
This helps the website communicate impact while also creating valuable search content.
Before publishing a donor-funded project online, check the following.
A donor logo may represent a contractual visibility obligation.
Treat it as project information, not simply as a graphic.
Donor identities can change.
Always check the current official guidance.
They do not.
The EU, FCDO, UN agencies and other funders can have different requirements.
This can make funding relationships unclear.
Associate donors with the programmes they actually support.
A logo may not be sufficient.
Check whether accompanying wording is required.
Do not recolour, distort or redesign donor marks simply to make them fit your brand.
This can create major design problems.
Include donor requirements in the website brief from the beginning.
Review completed projects and determine what visibility should remain after funding ends.
Donor visibility should never take priority over privacy, safeguarding or ethical considerations.
The agency can implement the requirements, but the NGO should remain responsible for understanding its contractual obligations.
If your organisation is redesigning its website, donor branding should be included during the discovery phase.
A good process is:
Create a list of active and recently completed donor-funded programmes.
Obtain current agreements, branding guidelines and communication requirements.
Determine which requirements apply to:
Determine how donor information will be associated with projects and programmes.
Design donor visibility into the website rather than adding it after the UI is complete.
Make project, donor and funding information manageable by authorised staff.
Check:
Have the appropriate internal communications or programme team verify the final implementation against the donor requirements.
Good donor branding is not about putting as many logos as possible on a website.
It is about clearly communicating:
Who funded what, what the project does, who benefits and what results are being achieved.
For Kenyan NGOs, this distinction is particularly important because one organisation may manage multiple programmes funded by different development partners.
A well-designed website should make those relationships clear without overwhelming visitors.
The best approach is to combine:
NGO donor branding guidelines should be treated as part of the project’s contractual and communications requirements, not as a last-minute graphic design exercise.
The specific rules will depend on the donor, programme and funding agreement.
For Kenyan nonprofits, the safest process is to obtain the relevant donor guidance, identify the requirements that apply to each project, and then incorporate those requirements into the website’s content structure and design from the beginning.
This is particularly important during a website redesign.
When donor requirements are considered early, the website can acknowledge funders appropriately without compromising the NGO’s own identity, user experience or accessibility.
A strong NGO website should ultimately make three things clear:
Who you are.
What you do.
Who supports the work.
That is far more effective than simply displaying a collection of donor logos.
Zedafrica is a creative technology company in Nairobi specialising in web design, development, UI/UX design and UX research.
For NGOs and development-sector organisations, we design and develop websites that bring together organisational goals, user needs, content, donor requirements and strong digital experiences.
If your organisation is planning an NGO website redesign, donor branding and visibility requirements should be included in the project scope from the beginning.
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