Investing in your brand and building a strong brand strategy, which is aligned to your vision and mission, is essential to the overall success of a charity. There are around 168,500 charities in the UK – all with compelling stories and meeting an otherwise unmet need. To claim their space in a crowded market, it is essential to create a strong brand that demonstrates identity and impact.

A brand is creating:

• Trust.

• Strong values/identity.

• Strategy for growth.

• Recognisable, engaging logo and design.

• Marketing and advertising.

During the pandemic hospices evolved, many offering more services than ever before. Yet, investment in storytelling and brand has not developed at the same pace. Whilst UK hospices support approximately 300,000 people each year, we are not reaching everyone we could, due to misconceptions.

Demelza rebranded in 2023 with the key objectives of positioning our brand to change the perception that children’s hospices are for end-of-life care only. Creating a strong brand that our stakeholders can recognise visually whilst understanding our services and how to access them.

Building a brand strategy, including:

• Removal of ‘hospice’ from our logo and bringing services to life through storytelling.

• Breaking down misconceptions through showcasing joy.

• Increasing awareness with marketing investment.

• Creating trust – demonstrating impact and outcomes.

Evaluating qualitative data over the last year shows the increased impact of our investment:

• New supporter growth 7%.

• Social media engagement growth 50%.

• Social media audience growth 20%.

• Referral growth 32%.

• Income growth 14%.

Investing in our brand, being research-led with our decisions and driving our brand strategy has enabled us to reach more families, increase income and grow engagement with professionals.

Brand should be your first investment as it underpins all areas of success across your hospice.