Why charities need to tell their own story

Public mistrust in how the traditional mainstream media, social media and celebrities report on the work of charities is growing, according to a latest study.

The findings have emerged in research published in 2024 by online fundraising platform Enthuse.

It is urging charities to tackle this sense of mistrust of the media among the public by ensuring they can effectively tell their own stories using their channels, including social media feeds and their websites.

Here we look at the research and how charities can most effectively tell their own stories.

Media mistrust

The research from Enthuse found that almost half of people do not trust traditional media, including newspapers, TV, and radio, to accurately report on the work of charities. This proportion rises to almost two thirds when people were asked about their views of social media content about charities.

Its research found that 48% of people “mistrust what they see, hear or read about charities in traditional media”.

“The figure is even starker for social media, with around two thirds (62%) stating they mistrust information about charities that they see there,” adds their report. Enthuse points out that a factor in mistrust of social media posting is a wider “healthy level of caution around stories they see on social media.”

Celebrity endorsement of good causes is also mistrusted, by half the public.

In the face of this mistrust, the online platform’s research says, “the key for charities is telling their own stories on their own channels.”

It also points out that almost three in four people have “either moderate or high trust in what they hear directly from charities and their websites”.

How to tell your own story effectively

The findings may prompt many charities to reconsider how they use the media, social media influencers, and celebrities to tell their story. But how can they maximise the impact of their own story telling?

Charities are urged to focus on the following approaches.

User generated content

Charities’ secret weapon in the search for authentic storytelling is their own beneficiaries, supporters, staff, and volunteers. They are the best cheerleaders of a charity’s work as they see the impact of support first hand.

Their personal reflections should be used more frequently by charities as they look to tell their own story.

Already there are a raft of examples of charities utilising user-generated content effectively. This includes charities giving over their social media accounts for a day or an entire week to beneficiaries or staff members to generate engaging storytelling and give posts a personal touch.

Among the highest profile has been the Share the Mic anti-racism campaign. This included female charity leaders handing their social media accounts to global majority supporters and staff.

Video diaries have also been used effectively, such as by BBC Children in Need to highlight how funding is directly supporting young people.

Motivational leaders

Effective communication is vital for all charity leaders to engage and motivate their staff and stakeholders. This needs to translate to charity’s media channels too. Charities should use their strong leaders to clearly explain the importance of their work and add a personal human face to their organisation.

This can be engaging and show the strength of the organisation to deal with crises and effectively use donors’ money.

Among the most effective recently has been Victoria Beevers, the Chief Executive of The Sleep Charity, which supports those with sleeping problems.

In 2023 she as was named strategic leader of the year by Charity Comms in its annual inspiring communicator awards.

“Her strategic vision led the charity through the difficulties of the pandemic and the development of innovative ways the charity communicates to a wider audience, like the charity’s eLearning platform,” said judges.

Eye-catching content

Charities are urged to ensure their content is eye-catching and imaginative to raise awareness and attract donations on their own media channels and provide a strong angle for the media to follow. Using corporate and other partners to help tell this story can also be effective.

Among the most effective recent campaigns to help a charity tell its own story has been Alzheimer’s Society’s link up with the Football Association to raise awareness of dementia. This includes YouTube content from the charity, showing England players experiencing what it’s like living with dementia using a special “empathy suit”:

Using Artificial Intelligence (AI)

There are a raft of affordable AI tools that can help charities improve their content. This includes using Article.Audio to improve accessibility of content by converting text into spoken word, in a variety of speaking styles and languages depending on audiences.

But be careful when using AI that authenticity is not lost, such as when using AI avatars on video content or generating AI images.