Educo: Brand and Strategy in the Nonprofit Sector

The executive committee of Educo, a children-focused development NGO, is discussing the draft of the Global Impact Framework that will guide the organization for the next 10 years. The case then explores the landscape of developmental NGOs in the 2020s, a landscape that is rapidly changing, forcing these organizations to rethink their objectives, how they raise funds, what programs carry out, and how they present themselves to the world. The case then explores Educo's complicated history. Born as Intervida in the 1990s, accusations of embezzlement - although the charges were eventually dismissed - forced the nonprofit to rebrand and reorganize itself in 2013. What was once one of the most recognizable names in the landscape of Spanish nonprofits, is now a relatively obscure organization, despite retaining strong funding and a sizable and loyal - although aging - donor base. Educo operates over 100 development programs in 15 countries, promoting a better world for children and involving 630,000 people in 2,000 communities. But its donor base grows smaller every year, and the company has difficulty attracting new, younger, donors. Overall, funding has been slowly declining. The executive committee knows that Educo has to rethink itself. What should Educo be? What should Educo do? And moreover, how to implement and communicate it effectively inside and outside the company?