The Donkey Sanctuary's new branding
The animal charity hopes the £17,000 rebrand will increase income from small donations
The Donkey Sanctuary has completed a £17,000 rebrand in a bid to appeal to more young people.
The charity, which looks after 400,000 working mules and donkeys worldwide and had an income of almost £27m in 2010, began discussing a rebrand nearly two years ago.
Research among some of the charity’s volunteers and donors showed they thought the old identity of the charity lacked the emotional appeal necessary to engage younger donors.
Mark Cross, brand manager for the Donkey Sanctuary, said: "In order to protect our position as the market leader in this area, it was necessary to balance our income, which was skewed in favour of legacy income over small donations.
"There was a need to appeal to a wider, younger, online market in addition to the older, female, demographic that has kept us going until now."
In the past, the charity’s leaflets, posters and mailshots all had their own identity and colours and the aim of the new identity was to consolidate all communications into a single brand.
As part of the rebrand, the Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, which provides donkey-assisted therapy for children with additional needs and merged with the Donkey Sanctuary in January, was incorporated into the charity’s brand.
"Our supporters demand that we spend very little on marketing, around 10 per cent, so we will use natural wastage until our old materials are used up," said Cross.
An overhaul of the charity’s website, which has already gone through a superficial change of its logo and colours, is due to go live in early 2013.
