Why Charities Should Use Video (and Why It's Worth The Investment)
- Feb 3
- 4 min read
Most charities don’t have a problem with passion. They have a problem with time, attention, and being heard. You might be doing incredible work every day, but if people don’t fully understand it, or don’t feel its impact, it becomes much harder to secure funding, attract supporters, or grow awareness.
This is where video really earns its place. At Duck Creative, we provide charity-focused video production and video marketing for organisations across the UK. We’re based in Gloucestershire, but we work nationally with charities of all sizes, helping them tell their stories clearly, honestly, and in ways that lead to real outcomes.
Video Helps People Understand Your Impact Quickly
Charity work is often complex. Community regeneration, healthcare access, suicide prevention, domestic abuse education. These are not easy things to explain in a paragraph or a funding application. Video brings everything together. People can see the environment, hear real voices, and understand the impact in minutes.
We saw this clearly working with Cotswold Canals Trust. They needed a charity film to support a National Lottery funding bid, showing how restoring the canal would benefit local communities, businesses, charities, and reconnect the canal to the national network.
The video focused on people, place, and possibility rather than technical detail, it gave the decision makers a reason to care, and they resonated with the voices in the video. That clarity helped the Trust secure £25 million in funding.
Video Production That Delivers Real Return on Investment
Charities are right to question every spend. Budgets are tight and scrutiny is high.
The reason charity video production works so well is simple. It should be designed to be used more than once, and be an evergreen piece.
A well-made charity video can support:
Funding and grant applications
Fundraising events
Charity video marketing campaigns
Social media and digital channels
Charity websites
Volunteer recruitment
Email communications
Stakeholder and partner presentations
When we worked with Hope for Tomorrow, we created fundraising and awareness videos showing the real impact of their mobile cancer care units. Patients, staff, and what happens inside the units.
One of those films was shown at a networking event and helped raise £15,000 in a single evening, (easily paying the cost of the video off). The same video continued to support fundraising and awareness long after the event. That’s what investment looks like.
Video Marketing Builds Trust Faster Than Anything Else
People don’t support charities just because they understand them.They support them because they trust them. Video marketing builds that trust quickly. With Charlie's Cancer Support, a Gloucestershire-based charity, the films showed the quiet but powerful difference they make every day. Community, art therapy, massage, wig fitting.
No hype. No overproduction. Just honest storytelling. For smaller charities, video production helps level the playing field. It shows credibility, warmth, and impact without pretending to be something you’re not.
Video Allows Sensitive Stories to Be Told Properly
Some charities work in areas that are deeply emotional and difficult to talk about repeatedly. We worked with Sunflowers Suicide Support to produce films explaining why the charity was set up and the support it offers to people bereaved by suicide.
The project also included five individual stories, told by relatives of those who had died by suicide. The films explored common misunderstandings, the long-term impact on families, and how the charity supports people through grief. Handled properly, charity video production allows sensitive stories to be shared with care, dignity, and control, without sensationalism.
Video Can Reduce Pressure on Founders and Teams
Video is not always about growth. Sometimes it’s about sustainability.
When we worked with Hollie Gazzard Trust, one of the key aims was to reduce the emotional burden on the founder, who was often asked to retell a deeply traumatic story.
We produced a range of films including:
Storytelling films so the charity didn’t have to keep retelling Hollie’s story
Fundraising and volunteer videos
Coverage of educational workshops that could be delivered without the team always attending
We also created animated videos explaining how the Hollie Guard app works. The animations clearly showed how the app can:
Alert trusted contacts when someone is in danger
Record audio, video, and notes
Provide evidence that can be used in court
Animation made complex, sensitive functionality easy to understand, accessible, and shareable, especially for people who may be at risk. Video allowed the charity’s message, education, and tools to scale without exhausting the people behind it.
Video Makes It Easier for Supporters to Take Action
Good charity videos don’t just inspire.They guide people clearly towards action.
With IT Schools Africa, the video showed how recycled IT equipment could transform education in African schools. It also clearly explained how people across the UK could donate old computers. The result was increased awareness, increased donations, and clearer understanding of how to help. This is where video marketing really works. It removes uncertainty and friction.
Is Charity Video Production Worth It?
Charity video production and video marketing help organisations:
Explain complex work clearly
Strengthen funding and grant applications
Raise more money
Build trust faster
Save time and emotional energy
Reach more people across the UK without increasing workload
Most importantly, it helps people understand why your work matters.
Let’s Be Straight About It
Good video earns its place and keeps earning it.
At Duck Creative, we produce charity videos that get used, reused, and actually make a difference. We’re based in Gloucestershire, but we work with charities across the whole of the UK.
If you’re considering video production or video marketing for your charity and want an honest conversation about whether it’s worth it, get in touch.
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