Names & Trademarks

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Names & Trademarks

Organization Naming Conventions, Copyright Information and Phraseology

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Full Legal Organization Name:

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Northeast Ohio, Inc.
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio, Inc.

Name for General Purposes:

Ronald McDonald House Charities® of Northeast Ohio
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Northeast Ohio

Acceptable Abbreviations:

RMHC® Northeast Ohio / RMHC Northeast Ohio
RMHC® NEO / RMHC NEO

PLEASE NOTE:

  • A space is used between RMHC and Northeast Ohio or Ohio (RMHC NEO).
  • Do NOT use a hyphen (RMHC-NEO) or the word “of” (RMHC of Northeast Ohio) in abbreviated versions.
  • “The” should never appear in front of, or as part of, the organization name.
  • The full legal name, including “Inc.” should be used in all agreements, signed forms, formal letters, donation acknowledgement letters/receipts, and legal instances.
  • All mentions, in all communications and documents MUST include the local chapter information “Northeast Ohio” or “NEO”. The global organization, RMHC® is a separate legal entity.

Basic Trademark Rules (for detailed rules, consult RMHC Branding Guidelines):

  • The first or most prominent instance of Ronald McDonald House Charities and RMHC in any written piece MUST include the registered trademark symbol (®) positioned and superscripted as above. It is not necessary in subsequent mentions.
  • The tagline “Keeping families close®” is a registered trademark and must include the registered trademark symbol, and:
      • Always be used as a standalone statement.
      • Never be used in a sentence, in either its original form or a variation thereof. For example, “We keep families close” or “Thank you for keeping families close” are not acceptable phrases.
  • Registered organization and program names, including RMHC®, Ronald McDonald House®, Ronald McDonald Family Room® and Ronald McDonald Care Mobile® should not be made plural or possessive. For example:
      • “RMHC’s mission” should be “the RMHC mission”
      • “hundreds of Ronald McDonald Houses” should be “hundreds of Ronald McDonald House programs”