BACKGROUND

With a £30+ million income and a devoted donor base of over 30,000, The Donkey Sanctuary is the world’s largest equine charity. In 2014, they wanted to increase awareness, reach and income by opening a series of charity shops across the UK.

In the past the charity did not have a robust, brand-led product gift strategy. A loose collective of products, branded with The Donkey Sanctuary logo were sold in their shops and through a commercial operation called Donkey World.

THE CHALLENGE

We were asked to create the strategy, big idea, name and interior concepts for their first shop, which was to open in Otley in North Yorkshire. The idea needed to capture the the spirit and experience of the Sanctuary in Sidmouth and across the UK.

We were also asked to review the charity’s product approach for gifts and recommend a way forward as part of a wider retail strategy that would broaden their reach to younger audiences.

THE SOLUTION

We began with the idea of ‘Sanctuary not shop’. ‘For the love of…’ was the name created for the shop capturing the fact the shops were miniature donkey sanctuaries in their own right, lifting the best-loved experiences and products from the visitor centre in Sidmouth and transporting them to another part of the country. It was all about taking the devotion, loyalty, care and affection, and drawing that through the retail space, even down to how staff were recruited and where and how products were sourced from the local area.

We created a go-to destination for the local community, somewhere to get a great coffee, somewhere to purchase something you liked and to know that it was going to do some good. Somewhere to learn about the scale of and type of work done by the Charity around the world every day. In addition, live webcams were fed into the shop from the local Sanctuary in Leeds to connect the shop to the purpose behind the Charity.

A key part of our approach was to collaborate with the senior team at The Donkey Sanctuary to learn from their experience. A mix of carefully selected donated goods, branded products, great food and drink in a cafe would deliver the ‘Sanctuary not shop’ concept.

For brand products we discovered that ‘one size did not fit all’ – they needed a range that would appeal to different audiences, for different gifting moments and at different price levels.

Our recommendation was to develop three product ranges;
Designer Donkey, Donkey Antics and the Souvenir Range.

Based on this strategy a small range of products were designed, produced and tested in-store and in their catalogue.

RESULTS

The shop has been a great success and a test bed for the concept with more stores planned soon. Although we can’t reveal figures, sales are remarkable. In almost all cases the initial stock sold out in weeks both online and in their shops. The ranges are now being expanded and are expected to make a significant contribution to the Charity’s income as a wider online and off-line retail strategy is developed.

CREDITS

Illustration: Geoff Appleton