Barnardo’s – Realigning a leading child care charity’s culture to fit with its values and its actual service delivery.

Client challenge

Barnardo’s was losing its supporter base through mis-perception about links with orphanages. The organisation needed a new positioning to reflect the current and future focus of its work.

What did we do?

It was clear from the start that the charity operated at the leading edge, the people who worked for it (whether employees or volunteers) were highly committed to it and the values were as strong as in Dr Barnardo’s day.  What was needed was a new ‘story’ that resonated with these qualities yet enabled everyone involved to articulate why Barnardo’s was as relevant in the 21st Century as ever.

Article 13 started with an extensive stakeholder mapping exercise alongside a communications audit. This revaluated who needed to be involved with the programme and the informal ways of getting things done within the organisation. We enabled the organisation to undergo an extensive participative culture change programme which included one to one interviews with opinion formers, analysis of existing data to build areas of common ground, group work, visual and verbal storytelling and participation.

Service users, volunteers, children’s services experts and practitioners, marketing and fund raising all built for themselves a new “script”. Article 13 collated this information into shared communication pieces including a new logo, a new ‘descriptor’ for the organisation ‘Giving children back their future’ as well as a corporate look that was contemporary and dynamic.

The results were immediate. Fund-raising increased; the new positioning was immediately taken up and fed back into the ongoing tracking of staff, opinion formers and potential donors.

How did we break the cycle?

Using a participative approach, Article 13 were able to engage with a range of stakeholders to tell a story aligned with the organisation and its activities in the 21st century.

© Article 13 2005