The Global NGO is a private funder of independent groups working for rights, equity, and justice. Between 2021 and 2024, it underwent numerous transformations – while at the same time right-wing, anti-philanthropy sentiment was growing. On a practical level, there were new operating models in some countries and concerns about their reputation as an employer.

Strategic decisions moving forward needed to be based on data. Working with Tonic, Global NGO used interviews and workshops to identify the key challenges, creating talent acquisition resources to sit alongside its new global job board strategy. In late 2024/early 2025, it began share of voice tracking and a competitor review, then added further research to this including a survey of 600 NGO professionals. Because it operates in 120 countries and competes for talent in many sectors, it needed to build a consistent framework that would draw the best response. The result was over 500 pages of insight.

The research showed that Global NGO could capitalise on social listening as other organisations had slashed their own, and a need to reflect a new culture more focused on impact. The key message became ‘Work Worth Doing’ and the campaign ran over Meta and LinkedIn for three months. This first ever employer brand campaign achieved almost 3 million impressions and 42,532 visitors to Global NGO’s career page. The research has had an impact internally too, as the people team now have much deeper knowledge of the Global NGO talent market.