Across many countries, hospices still battle outdated perceptions; most commonly the belief that they are places older people go only to die. Yet hospice teams know the truth: they support people of all ages, many of whom live for months or years with their diagnosis. They provide expert clinical care, emotional support, community connection, and the chance for people to live with dignity and meaning for as long as possible.
While this work is universally powerful, it is not universally understood. With most hospices receiving only a small portion of statutory funding, public understanding and donor trust are essential. And in a noisy digital world, brand personality has become one of the most effective tools to strengthen that trust.
Personality Builds Emotional Connection—and Emotional Connection Drives Giving
Supporters today are flooded with campaigns and causes. As communication becomes more automated and generic, authenticity stands out. People want to support organisations whose voice feels human, relatable, and aligned with their values.
Research shows that emotionally led campaigns significantly outperform rational messaging. In hospice fundraising, where compassion and hope are core, emotion is especially powerful. A clear brand personality becomes the emotional signature that donors connect with. It helps them feel who you are, not just understand what you do.
Trust grows when supporters sense authenticity. And trust fuels sustained giving, advocacy, and long-term loyalty.
Finding Your Hospice’s Distinct Personality
While every hospice shares a commitment to high-quality care, dignity, and compassion, these universal values don’t differentiate you. Your personality — the distinctive way you bring those values to life — is what sets you apart.
To communicate personality, you first need to define it. This starts with understanding your organisation’s superpowers and how those superpowers can be used to fulfil the ambitions or quell the tensions of your ideal supporter. To help with this exercise, we created our Animal Instincts brand personality quiz (growthanimals.com/brand-quiz/). It’s based on the famous Carl Jung’s Personality Theory and, in just two minutes, reveals your own individual animal personality, along with your brand superpowers.
It’s helpful in two ways. First, it’s insightful for public-facing leaders and spokespeople to know how they may be perceived, and which of their attributes to shine more of a light on to portray a certain image.
Second, when identifying the personality of your organisation, a helpful exercise is to imagine the brand as a person and answer the quiz on its behalf. We typically find that it helps the organisation’s brand to arrive at its authentic superpowers that feel genuine and emotive, as opposed to your typical cliched ‘strengths’ that donors often hear (eg. trustworthy, quality, passionate, etc).
Next, take this newly invigorated personality and bring it to life in your visual identity and messaging. Think distinctive brand characters, such as the Churchill Dog or the Octopus Energy Octopus. Brand characters are proven to generate 6 times the recall of standalone brand logos, according to a study by IPSOS. Furthermore, punchy and emotive messaging resonates and cuts through the noise. (According to a recent Forbes article, we’re exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 ads each day!).
Bring Your Personality to Life Across Every Touchpoint
Once defined, your personality should be visible everywhere, subtle in some places, bold in others, but always present.
Digital Communications
Your website, emails, and campaigns should instantly convey who you are. A warm and nurturing hospice may choose gentle tones and soothing imagery, while a proudly pioneering hospice may use vibrant visuals and confident, future-focused language.
Social Media
This is where your personality can shine most vividly. Highlight everyday hospice stories, spotlight staff and volunteers, celebrate small victories, and adopt a conversational tone. Authenticity beats polish every time.
Events and Face-to-Face Interactions
Fundraisers and volunteers are ambassadors of your personality. When they embody your tone, whether welcoming, bold, reflective, or playful, supporters feel the experience more deeply.
The goal is coherence. When supporters hear, see, and feel the same personality everywhere, trust grows.
Welcoming Supporters Into Your Story
A personality-led brand doesn’t talk at supporters — it draws them into a shared mission.
If your personality is hopeful, show donors the futures they help shape. If you are community-centred, invite supporters to co-create events and activities. If you are bold about talking about death, use your voice to help people have healthier conversations. If you are playful or creative, add moments of lightness to your appeals and stewardship.
When donors recognise themselves in your tone and values, giving becomes personal and meaningful.
A Lesson from Beehive Care
In Sussex, the local arm of the care provider Abbeyfield was looking to branch out as an independent care provider, with their Ferring based hospice the centre point for their organisation. By leaning into their local community-centred approach, we developed a personality-filled new identity for them that was colourful, emotive and authentic. As Luke Knight, Marketing Manager at Beehive Care said, “by taking the time to truly understand what makes us unique, Growth Animals were able to transform our brand from just another care home into a vibrant, thriving community.”
For hospices, the message is clear: clarity, empathy and personality amplify your impact.
Measuring the Impact of Personality
Although personality feels intangible, its results are tangible:
- Higher email engagement
- More social interaction
- Improved donor retention
- More organic advocacy
- Supporters using language that mirrors your intended traits
If supporters begin describing your hospice as “brave,” “gentle,” “joyful,” or “forward-thinking” and those traits match your chosen personality, your brand is resonating.
Final Thought
Every hospice has a heart. But what distinguishes you is the way you express it. A clear, authentic brand personality helps supporters understand you, trust you, and want to walk alongside you, financially, emotionally, and as advocates.
In a world hungry for humanity, your personality is not decoration; it is one of your strongest strategic assets.
Chris Thornhil
A charity trustee and co-founder of Growth Animals marketing and branding consultancy, serving the third sector
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