Challenge

Outdated perceptions and a lack of differentiation were limiting Shepherds of Good Hope’s potential for donations, recruitment, and social impact. In their own words, “People just think of us as a soup kitchen. If only they knew what we actually do, they’d be more inclined to give.”

Insight

To Shepherds’ clients and donors, “hope” can mean a lot of different things. It’s stability. Food and shelter. Harm reduction. Skills training. Opportunity. Community. And more. To be effective, the new brand needed to communicate Shepherds’ role in helping people find their way to hope—in all its forms.

Solution

The “north star” for our brand system turned out to be, quite literally, the north star. We used this traditional symbol of wayfinding, this beacon of hope, as the iconic focus for the visual brand. We also took advantage of the structure of the organization’s name (“Shepherds of…”) to make explicit the full range of its vital programs and their impact.