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Understanding the needs of a charity
We have been helping charities for nearly 20 years; during that time our work has included designing and building websites, crafting logos, and managing social media campaigns. We’ve developed a firm understanding of the landscape and recognise the opportunities and challenges that exist.
Our experience, coupled with a broad in-house skill set, makes us a powerful asset for helping you achieve the results you’re looking for in a timely and cost-efficient manner.
Let’s look at a recent project:
Time for change
Lifelites provide children living with life-limiting conditions access to life-changing technology. By harnessing this innovative tech, children are given the opportunity to communicate, play, be creative, or control something for themselves. Partnering with every children’s hospice in the UK, the work of Lifelites impacted 2,500 children and their families in 2022. It’s easy to see why they’ve attracted patrons such as Dame Esther Rantzen, Rick Wakeman and the late Peter Bowles.
The problem
We’ve worked with Lifelites since their inception, but the ubiquity of modern technology is a far cry from when the charity began around 20 years ago. To quote the Chief Executive:
“The Lifelites brand and assets were created at the inception of the charity over 20 years ago and have had little modernisation or update since this time.
During this period, the Charity has significantly adapted its service model, moving from donating IT equipment, to delivering impact through the latest assistive technology. Now a modern and trusted provider of innovative services within the children’s palliative care and hospice sectors, the way Lifelites presents itself to the world is not aligned to the mission, objectives and delivery model of the Charity.”
The brief
Our challenge was to re-invent the Lifelites brand to accurately reflect the aims and values of the organisation and help them achieve their vision for the future. Central to this was a new logo - either wordmark, combination mark or emblem - that could stand tall in the children’s charity sector and reflect the ambitions of the new management team.
Ideas were to be centred around the mission and vision for the organisation, the brand persona and the core values of the charity: Dynamic, Inclusive, Collaborative, Empowering and Innovative (all of which became apparent during our face-to-face brand discovery workshops).
On an emotional level we wanted to tap into a sense of joy, youthful exuberance and escapism – to convey that this is a place where possibilities are limited only by imagination, where energy and excitement is formed. As the charity is based around utilising technology, special consideration should be taken to communicate this connection within the final logo.
…and here’s the new identity
Lifelites reimagined
The new brand approach gives Lifelites an opportunity to reach new and existing audiences alike, in a joyfully expressive and playfully intriguing way.
The playful rainbow arcs appear in many forms, capturing the dynamic nature of the organisation and illustrating the innovative use of technology.
Lifelites is embarking on an ambitious new strategy over the next five years, central to which is our belief that every child with a life-limiting condition should be able to engage and interact with the people they love and enjoy the world they live in.
In rising to that challenge and setting us on a brave path, Thinkology have been an extension of our small team, getting under the skin of what makes us unique, encouraging us to think differently and creating a vibrant, dynamic and hard-working brand identity to help us realise our vision.
We look forward to our continuing partnership as seek to convert our joyful new identity into unforgettable moments of connection and joy for the children and families we support.
Chief Executive
Having the opportunity to rebrand an organisation for whom we have worked for over 20 years we take as a great compliment, but we are also mindful of the responsibility that comes with it. Every project we undertake benefits from the discovery steps we take at the outset, regardless of what we think we might know, and this project for Lifelites was no exception. Not only do we find out more, but everyone within Lifelites discovered new things about the organisation, their audiences and most of all themselves.
If your organisation would like help discovering more about itself and how to then present that in your brand, please get in touch with one of the team for a chat.
Client Services Director
Helping children and families
As England’s largest social work charity, Frontline help create social change for children and families through excellent social work practice, leadership and innovation.
130,000 Children have been supported by Frontline social workers so far, and by 2025, 4,000 social workers will be part of the Frontline Fellowship.
Through the Frontline programme, Frontline recruit and teach a new, diverse generation of social workers specialising in child protection. Since 2019 we have helped Frontline to promote and recruit for this innovative programme.
…and here’s our work
Social campaign
Through the development and running of specialist targeted social media and online campaigns, run across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and the Google Ads network, we have helped ensure that Frontline are able to meet the need of the Local Authorities they work with up and down the country.
Thank you for taking the time to look at what we have to offer. If your charity is exploring ways to improve and you think we might be able to help, or if you’d just like a chat, we’d love to hear from you.
Client Services Director
Breaking the cycle of Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis causes 300,000 fractures every year in the UK, and it’s estimated that around 3 million people have the disease with the vast majority finding out only after they break a bone. It’s no wonder then that osteoporosis is known as the ’silent disease’.
The Global Osteoporosis Foundation (GOF) approached us with a very ambitious vision.
To eradicate the world of osteoporosis by the year 2040.
Where to begin
Whilst very common, osteoporosis is an entirely preventable and reversible disease and the foundation believe they can be a real catalyst for change. This new charity is dedicated to ensuring that osteoporosis is no longer such a debilitating condition across the world. While the team behind the charity have a wealth of experience and enthusiasm, they didn’t have a plan to communicate their vision.
Taking the first steps
Our initial piece of work involved research with the team and across the sector so that we could build a picture of the current landscape. From this we drafted a proposition and a practical and achievable strategy to provide a structured framework for actions and communications. As with all our projects, these discovery sessions are key to building a grounded understanding of the issues and opportunities and in ensuring achievable actions and measurable outcomes.
…and here’s our work
An approachable identity
Whilst the charity is called the Global Osteoporosis Foundation we identified a need to have a more approachable name – something that would explain the issue in simple terms and resonate with a non-medical audience. Sticks + Stones plays on the old adage, effectively updating it to read, ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but not because of osteoporosis’.
We have had the privilege of working with Simon, Matt and the team at Thinkology over the course of the last year. We started the charity some time ago, but it is through their input, drive and expertise that we are finally making the charity visible. Their input to date has been insightful and incredibly valuable and we look forward to further extending the relationship and the charity’s effectiveness.
Founder and Trustee
This is just the start
The first step in the overall strategy was to get a basic website up and running that provides people with a vision of the organisation and some helpful signposting to other web-based advice and guidance. The other vital part of the website development was to gather feedback from users on their experience of osteoporosis and to do this we designed an interactive questionnaire which not only provides tailored information as the user responds but also helps us build a picture of people’s circumstances and key concerns. In the future we’ll be feeding some of this anonymous data back out onto the website and sharing with other relevant researchers.
Working closely with our clients and taking time to understand their challenges and opportunities provides the fuel that’s essential for meaningful change. You may not have an issue as challenging as tackling the eradication of a global disease, but if you need help to focus and clarify on those all-important first steps, make no bones about it, we can help.
Managing Director