GM Social Investment supports social enterprises and trading charities, providing blended finance (a mixture of grants and repayable loans) to enable them to grow what they do and increase their social impact. This programme is delivered by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO), the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) support organisation for Greater Manchester.
The Brief
GM Social Investment asked us to design a campaign brand to promote their new social investment programme, which should appeal to eligible charities, social enterprises and not-for-profits across Greater Manchester. The designs needed to include a suite of graphics for a range of mediums across web, digital and print.
The Approach
Upon commissioning, Hitch held an initiation meeting to understand more about the strategic role GMCVO plays and the context of their social investment work and this piece of work. Hitch then conducted creative sessions in Partnership with GMCVO, collaborating to develop concepts for the designs. A number of designs were presented to the client, and refined following feedback. The final designs were tailored to fit with the varied suite of graphics including web banners, a range of flyers and leaflets, and banner stands for events.
The Results
GMCVO successfully launched their new blended finance scheme with the strapline ‘Growing great ideas for good’, enabling organisations to receive up to £50,000 investment to kick start growth across the region. They are currently working with a number of VCSEs, helping them to finance their great work, develop new initiatives and create a bigger social impact.
So far, four organisations have received social investment, with two more shortly to follow. These include TLC: Talk, Listen, Change, who support people to have safe, healthy and happy relationships. TLC: Talk, Listen, Change have received blended finance to commission a publicity campaign to raise awareness of their services since their recent rebrand. This will enable them to offer their valuable support to more people, and to provide more sessions at a reduced cost to ensure their services are accessible to everyone.
“We chose Hitch because of their expertise in delivering social change. We enjoyed working collaboratively to promote social investment and are really pleased with the final result”.