Barnardo’s has published a three-year strategy and rebrand, both of which have been co-created with children and young people.
The charity said increasing its income would be an important part of the new strategy, as well as measuring its impact.
It decided to refresh its logo after a poll showed around 50% of children could not identify the charity or what it did.
Barnardo’s said it hopes the new branding, which is designed to stand out in a digital age, will lead more people to donate and volunteer.
The charity, which recorded an income of £315m in the year to March 2023, spent £240,000 on the process of developing the new brand.
This included £185,000 on an initial research phase, involving children and young people, which also fed into the development of its new strategy and £55,000 on the creative delivery.
“This is an important investment in the future of Barnardo’s and means we’ll be able to reach younger and more diverse audiences. We want children to know who we are and trust us to support them, now and in the future,” it said in a statement.
“We have managed the spend on our new brand extremely carefully to ensure that the changes we are making to the look and feel of the charity are sustainable and help us continue to be here for the children, young people and families across the UK who need us.
“We believe that the risk of doing nothing far outweighed the risk of ensuring we’re fit for purpose for children and young people.”
Barnardo’s chief executive Lynn Perry said: “We hope this will help us inspire a new generation of supporters who share our commitment to changing childhoods and changing lives – there is so much need and we know we can go so much further in meeting it if we go together.”
Plan to boost income
The new strategy includes an aim to strive for excellent and inclusive services, emphasise the importance of evidence and measuring the impact it has.
“With rising numbers of children facing poverty, poor mental health and growing concerns about the changing harms online – at Barnardo’s, we recognised that children were on a burning platform,” the charity said.
“Need continues to grow and statutory commissioners are under increasing financial pressure.”
Perry said increasing income was an important part of the strategy.
“Our new strategy is designed to help us respond and make sure we can continue to deliver on our purpose,” she said.
“For all these reasons, we are strongly focused on our impact as a charity, and being able to demonstrate it – so we can show our partners, commissioners, funders, and most importantly families how we are helping children and young people to be safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful over the next three years.
“Increasing our income is an important part of how we will achieve this.”
Related Articles
