Transform East and Southern Africa (Transform ESA) is a programme funded by the UBS Optimus Foundation (UBS-OF) aimed at catalysing a movement to support children to thrive in families. Spring Impact is looking to contract an experienced strategic communications partner to support in brand building and the related communications activities necessary to create a Collective of organisations to further this aim. 

At present, we are recruiting for Phase 1 of our work, envisioned to run up to the end of July/August 2024. Preliminary contract dates will therefore run from end of March/early April 2024 for approximately 5 months (subject to due diligence checks). 

Applications are open until 23/02/2024, but we will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis. 

About Transform ESA

The vision of Transform East and Southern Africa (ESA) is to create a regional model that helps child protection systems develop and grow quickly,  safeguarding child and family wellbeing. Focused on ensuring every child can grow up in a safe and loving home, the programme aims to leverage successful systems change approaches and family-centred solutions from across the region. Transform ESA is part of the global Transform Collective, which is a global movement focused on the development of sustainable and scalable solutions, building the evidence to influence policy change and funding for family care, and to shift philanthropy and voluntourism away from orphanages. UBS-OF has contracted Spring Impact to serve as the backbone organisation to deliver this work across the East and Southern Africa context, alongside Wasafiri. 

Ultimately, the Collective aims to:

• Enable vulnerable children to grow up safely in nurturing families and communities;
• Redirect millions of dollars in donations away from institutions and towards quality family-based care systems;
• Reform child protection systems to better protect children and strengthen families; and
• Reduce the number of children living in institutions.

Scope of Work 

A vital part of the programme will be building a shared brand for the Collective that speaks to relevant audiences, while taking into account UBS-OF branding and marketing requirements. The objective of branding and communications work is to anchor the Collective in a vision and identity that is relevant, uplifting, and resonates with potential members of the Collective as well as other key stakeholders. 

Specific elements of the work may target different audiences, but the aim is to build a movement, and therefore the overall identity of this movement should ideally be appealing to all stakeholders, such as: international and national non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and community-based organisations (CBOs); funders, especially African philanthropists; people with lived experience of care, e.g. care leavers’ networks; and government actors. 

We are looking for an agency to complete the following: 

• Conduct research to understand the sector and audiences as needed, e.g.: desk research, interviews with key stakeholders, etc. 
• Lead on the design and development of an effective brand identity and strategy that speaks to key audiences, e.g.: suggesting compelling names for the Collective, creating an engaging and distinct visual identity, and positioning the brand appropriately in the larger landscape. 
• Develop an appropriate communications strategy and messaging for this phase of the Transform ESA programme, including designing a one-pager about the Collective that can be disseminated to potential Collective members and external stakeholders. 
• Support with the creation and communication of content for external audiences, e.g.: promoting the mission of the Collective, findings of research or thought leadership, etc. 

We envision that our communications partner would take the lead on all communications tasks, with input and co-creation from Spring Impact, Wasafiri, our funders UBS-OF, and any other relevant audiences. 

There is the potential for further work during the implementation stage of the programme (Phase 2) to support strategic communications to effectively accelerate the movement, dependent on interest and capabilities. However, we are currently only contracting for phase 1 of the work, detailed above. 

Experience and Qualifications Required

We are ideally looking for an organisation with a presence in East or Southern Africa that has expertise in strategic communications and branding. 

Requirements:

• Design capabilities.
• Experience in branding strategy / brand building.
• Ability to design and implement communications strategy.
• Previous work in East and Southern Africa  region.
• Demonstrated experience working with NGOs and third sector.

Advantageous: 

• Presence in East and Southern Africa region.
• Experience with movement building.
• Experience specific to relevant sectors such as early childhood development, family separation, child protection.

Proposal Submission Guidelines

We invite you to submit  a proposal of no longer than 3 pages, which should contain the following:

• Why you are interested in this work and how you meet the required criteria.
• Examples of previous relevant projects, including images or links to materials produced where possible.
• Proposed resources and detailed costs for the duration of the engagement.
• Any additional information that you feel is relevant.
• Evidence of expertise in the sector (optional).

The proposal should detail all relevant costs and resources. There is no specific budget range provided at this stage, and we encourage you to propose what is fair and reflective of the project requirements.

No additional attachments are required at this stage, but competitive bids may be asked to provide further evidence of previous work as well as CVs or biographies of the professionals who would undertake the work should the contract be awarded.  

Please send all proposals in Word or PDF format to Krisztina Pakozdy at [email protected]. If you would like to discuss further or have any questions, please also feel free to reach out.