How to create a charity introduction video

Videos are a powerful way to tell your charity’s story. Research show that videos help to raise awareness, build trust, and engage audiences. It’s a great way for potential supporters to learn about what you do and motivate them to become involved with your cause.

With an increasing number of people consuming videos online, now is the time – if you haven’t already – to think about producing an introduction video for your charity.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to producing a video for your organisation.

Brainstorm ideas

Get together with your colleagues to discuss ideas for the video and bullet point what you plan to include. Think about where you want to film the video and who you want to include in it, such as volunteers and people who have been supported by your charity.

Think about your audience

Think about your audience when producing an introduction video. Who are you trying to reach? When developing your wider communications strategy, you may have considered your audience profiles. If you haven’t, now is the time to do this work as it will help you to figure out what content will appeal to your audience.

You can use survey responses, donor records, and anecdotal insights to create audience personas for the people you’re trying to reach. This information will help you to decide what information to include in your video.

Develop a clear plan

Your video needs to have a purpose and a clear message otherwise it will be confusing for people watching it. Be clear on what you’re trying to achieve.

You may want to ensure your video features people to make it more human and emotive. For example, people who have been supported by the charity. Approach people who you want to include in the video and make sure you have their consent for filming.

You also want to make sure your video is branded with your charity’s colour scheme and visuals. Add your logo too.

Do consider your budget and work out how much money you have available to produce the video. Can you afford to commission a video production company that can do the script writing, filming and editing, or will you need your team to do this?

As part of your plan, think about how you’re going to promote the video. This includes making your video visible on the homepage of your website and directing supporters to it through social media and email marketing.

Also, do put your video on your YouTube channel home page. You can set it as the main video that people see even if they’ve not subscribed to your channel.

Write your script

Every piece of communication you produce for your charity needs an introduction and a call to action. The same goes for introduction videos.

A good video introduction is authentic and connects emotionally with the audience. Make sure you’re genuine as this will help people relate to your cause.

At the end of the video, you need to tell supporters what to do next, such as visiting a landing page on your website. Make the call to action a text overlay.

Consider the length of your script. Research shows that videos under two minutes long have the most engagement. The wordcount for the script should be no longer than 300 to 400 words.

Find a videographer

You need to find someone to film and produce your video, whether it’s a video production company or a freelance videographer.

It’s good to get recommendations from other charities who have produced films and source quotes from at least three companies and individuals. This will help you to make a well-informed decision about who to work with.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can use a smartphone to record your video. Put the phone on a tripod to keep it steady. You may also have digital communications colleagues that have video editing and production skills.

Do think about your lighting too as this can be tricky to manage when filming. Lighting by Rotolight, Lume and Godox are recommended. A useful tip is to purchase a green screen for the background.

Editing and production

If you don’t have the budget to pay for a video production company, you may want to consider editing software such as Vimeo. It includes ready-made templates for charities to customise and offers free trials.