While it’s long been acknowledged that brands live primarily in the minds of those who perceive them and, as the residual impression one has of a brand, those impressions cannot be owned, it’s interesting how much marketing management still perceives branding as an inside-out kind of exercise.
In the not-for-profit sector, where having a cause to believe in is a large part its DNA, many marketers find it difficult to truly connect with the people for whom the cause has meaning, and where, sadly, institutionalized participation can mean little more than giving at arm’s length.
Child’s i Foundation changes all that. With an inspirational founder, Lucy Buck, and a mission to be a social community first and foremost, Child’s i is dealing with the desperate plight of child abandonment in Uganda where abject poverty means that every year, hundreds of abandoned babies are left to die, by the side of the road, in bus shelters and car parks, by desperate mothers who have lost the means to cope.
Child’s i is a social organization with the spirit of ‘by a community, for a community‘ at its heart. So when it came to thinking about the brand, we looked to our community for guidance about what it is about Child’s i that resonated with them too.
Focused on making connections that move people, with strength of vision and clarity of purpose, Child’s i is an example of just how much can be achieved by doing this. When four of us got together in a room to think about the essence of Child’s i, we had a tweet-up too and what it generated was a fantastic conversation.
We can believe in brands we’re a part of. Child’s i is a team of fantastic people, with a wide range of diverse skills from all over the world, each with the desire to create a positive change and contribute time, money and love, the kind of contribution that we can all appreciate. It’s a work in progress that we can see happening in real time, and that sense of being in something, a dynamic movement and force for change, is the glue that keeps us participating in the cause together.
As a social organization, with over £100,000 raised so far this year, and with Lucy’s achievement of winning the Vodafone World of Difference Award recently under her belt, Child’s i is creating an impact. The lease on the first transitional centre for abandoned babies is signed and Lucy’s going to Uganda to set it up next week.
I’m honoured to be Child’s i’s Trustee for brand communications and community because it is a brand to believe in and what they can be like. Our brand tweet-up recognized our aspirations, that one day, all charities will be made like this as the next generation of not-for-profits and all brands can be, too, as a manifestations of promises made, as organizations with brands that stand for intentional social benefit and of purpose beyond product that people can really buy into.
Child’s i has immense talent all around it, passionate people that are creating meet-ups and innovative fundraisers, on and offline. It’s the people who show up and contribute that make it special and unique, it creates formative experiences, and the impact of connecting and generating a dynamic solution to a pressing problem is a deeply fulfilling one.
If you’re interested in what we’re doing at Child’s i, please join in by checking out our awesome Buy a Brick wall for our home. We’d love with some delight to welcome you as a part of our community and for you to see the difference that we all can make collectively.
