• New York Times, Monday, July 12, 2010 1 PM

The YMCA is yielding to the vox populi and is rebranding itself as, simply, "the Y," Stephanie Strom reports. The nonprofit was founded 166 years ago as the Young Men's Christian Association. "We're trying to simplify how we tell the story of what we do, and the name represents that," says Neil Nicoll, Y president and CEO.

At the same time, the Y is launching efforts to emphasize the impact its programs have in local communities on youth, healthy living and communities, from promoting sidewalk building in Sioux City, Iowa, to trying to increase the distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables through bodegas in Louisville, Ky.

Jonah Disend, CEO of a brand strategy company named Redscout, points out that adopting a shorter name makes a lot of sense as the world becomes increasingly enamored of communicating in byte-size snippets via the likes of Twitter, IM and mobile phone apps. But, he warns, don't throw out the tradition of the organization with the excess verbiage.

"It's particularly a danger in the nonprofit space, where the story and awareness of the history and mission is critical when trying to raise money," Disend says.

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