Charity Video Production
Charity video production has a harder job than most commercial work, because it asks someone to act on behalf of somebody else. A product film can appeal to what the viewer wants for themselves. A charity film has to make a stranger care enough about a person they'll never meet to give money or sign up. And it has to do that without making the person on screen feel used.
We make films for charities that rely on real people telling their own stories, filmed with care and edited honestly. The storytelling is the craft, and the consent is the part we take most seriously.
What makes a charity film work?
The films that move people are specific. One person's story, told in their own words, does more for donations than a statistic about thousands, because a viewer can picture one person and can't picture a number. The donor who gives after watching somebody describe one hard winter is responding to that winter, so the film has to find it.
They're also honest. Charity audiences are quick to spot anything staged, and a film that looks too lit or too scripted creates distance where you need connection. A charity film should still look and sound properly made, and it can be beautifully shot without looking like an advert.
The last thing is a clear ask. Sadness on its own doesn't raise money. People act when they feel something and can see exactly what their gift or their signature will change, so the end of the film needs to be as carefully written as the start.
The films charities ask us for
Fundraising videos are the most common. They go out with an appeal, often the Christmas appeal, explain the need through one story and ask for something specific, usually in under two minutes, with shorter cuts for social media and email. Impact films show trustees and funders what their support has achieved, and they need to be credible as well as moving, because the people watching them read annual reports for a living.
Awareness campaigns are aimed at changing what people understand about an issue, and they don't ask for a gift directly. Thank-you films go back to existing supporters to show them what they made possible, which is the cheapest way to make the next ask easier. Case studies of individual projects can be cut from the same footage for bids and partnership pitches.
Churches and course providers
A good share of our charity work has been for churches and the organisations that run courses through them. We've made promotional films for Youth Alpha and for Alpha's youth leaders, for The Marriage Course and The Discover Course, and a course trailer for Stepping into the Supernatural. A course promo has a particular job: a church shows it on a Sunday or shares it in a WhatsApp group, and it has a minute or less to make someone sign up for the next run.
The films that work show the course as it really feels, with real participants and leaders rather than a presenter explaining the format. That's the same approach as the rest of our work, and it suits a church audience that can spot anything staged. There's more on that work on our page for churches and Christian courses.
Filming people in difficult circumstances
Many charity films involve people who are ill, grieving, recovering or living with something most viewers will never face. Filming them well takes more than a camera and a good interview technique.
Consent here means a proper conversation. Before anything is recorded we talk with each person, and with the charity staff who know them, about what they're agreeing to and where the film will be shown. We spend time together off camera first, so the interview carries on a conversation they've already had. We'll stop filming whenever that's the right thing to do.
The crew is kept small, often a director and a sound recordist, and we film in places the person chooses where we can. People who've had time to trust the crew say the true things rather than the safe ones, and viewers can hear the difference.
More films of this kind are on the brand film production page.
Making a charity budget go further
Most charities have less to spend than our commercial clients, and we plan around that without lowering the standard of the film. A single location and one person's story, told well, can do more than a production with five locations. We'll tell you honestly what's achievable at different budgets, and the cost guide sets out the ranges we work in.
The biggest saving is usually planning. If you need a fundraising film and an impact film in the same year, we'll plan them so both come from the same filming days, and the social cuts come from those days too.
Related work
Charity video production draws on two of our video production services more than any others. The interview approach comes from testimonial video production. A monthly package of social media video production keeps an appeal visible after launch day. The ASK Partners investor films show how much an unscripted interview can carry. Health charities should also read video production for healthcare, and you'll find every sector we work in on the industries page.
If you've got a story that deserves to be seen, tell us about it.
A thirty minute conversation with the team. No obligation.