Charities use video production in many ways, such as fundraising, sharing updates with stakeholders, as part of a project evaluation, general charity promotion, social media, etc. A great tool for many of these purposes is charity testimonial films – hearing from staff, volunteers and service users directly.
Building Trust Through Authenticity
We know video is an effective marketing tool for organisations, and explainer videos are great, but seeing and hearing real faces and sharing their real stories is almost unbeatable—especially when building trust. Featuring real people, especially beneficiaries or volunteers, builds credibility with your audience – providing social proof – and your audience are more likely to remember faces.
One of the beauties of a testimonial film is that it’s usually in a questionnaire format, with the interviewees answering honestly with just a little preparation. This gives us delightful unscripted moments that are more candid, with laughter or perhaps sadness; the authenticity draws the audience in and boosts your video marketing.
Scripted content mostly comes across as more stifled and less genuine in feeling. It doesn’t create the same passionate response that you need, as the language is often not as natural as spoken word as it’s been carefully calculated. The delivery is more stilted (unless the interviewees have done media training, but that’s often not the case). This can often make the speaker more nervous as they desperately try to remember lines or read alongand get it perfect. And, of course, you lose the unexpected moments.
Storytelling Techniques for Impact
With a testimonial film, you can still create a story, which is done through the experienced editing you get with a professional video production company. They work to weave together all the various clips of interview footage into one powerful story, complete with a narrative arc. Often, it can be over an hour of responses alone – to transform into a few concise minutes – this edit takes real skills and experience.
Filming can be done with one speaker or a group of people sharing different but similar stories, including staff, managers, service users, clients, and volunteers. This mix can show the impact and generate a feeling of agreement. There are many ways to film a testimonial film, they don’t need to look the same.
An emotional arc like this will guide the audience through a range of emotions—struggle, hope, and triumph.
Using a professional video production company for your testimonial film
Many organisations and non-profits make charity films and edit themselves. Still, we can see time and time again that they are stretched for resources, and video content is only sometimes consistent or professional.
Often, as a charity professional, you’ve already got so many roles and any additional volunteer time that you’re inevitably doing. Creating an impactful video is a big job and can be daunting, and many organisations don’t have the regular funding to hire an in-house videographer regularly.
However, with specific funding, professional video production becomes more accessible, as it can be added to the fund application. Or, if fundraising is done, it can be included along with all the other promotional activities in the fundraising amount.
There are many benefits to using a video production company for the video, especially one with experience working with the 3rd sector like Digital Finch. They will understand the challenges and the right tone to reach and work with you collaboratively to create your story while doing the heavy lifting.
It starts at preproduction, with researching and understanding your organisation and the interviewee’s story deeply before filming. The goal of the video, who the audience is, and where it will be seen should also be considered.
On the day (s) the filming crew arrives, they are usually friendly and hardworking. During the interview itself, an experienced director will establish Comfort with you. They work to build rapport with the interviewee to help them feel at ease during filming and bring out honest and thoughtful answers.
An experienced director will work with you to develop a questionnaire that gets the information you need, using open-ended questions, such as “How and why?” which encourage detailed, heartfelt responses. They will broadly follow the planned questionnaire, listen actively, and ask follow-ups to draw out richer stories.
The camera operator and director will also consider the composition of the shots for the best look, lighting, and sound quality to ensure clear audio and high visual quality and maintain the video’s professional look and feel.
A professional charity videographer will also have the post-production skills, equipment, and knowledge to draw the best from the filmed footage. For example, they will edit for impact and use pacing, music, and visuals to evoke emotion and keep viewers engaged. A professional will use charity branding for maximum impact and recognition, for example, subtly incorporating your charity’s logo, font, and colours to reinforce brand identity with any captions and the vital CTA.
Accessibility is essential; a video production studio should add subtitles to reach a broader audience, including those with hearing impairments or non-native speakers. They will also have made sure that the colour ratio is clear for any graphics like names or additional captions and that the visual hierarchy of text is correct—meaning that people take in the information in the correct order and it’s easily visible.
Repurposing Content
Creating social media snippets from a longer charity film or case study video is usually quick for a professional. The video company can curate the best-highlighted sentences and extract powerful quotes or moments for shorter, faster-paced social media video posts, such as Instagram Reels or TikTok. Depending on the amount of footage, it could be one video or a social mini-series.
Short versions can also be added as links in email campaigns. For example, a short form video can be included in newsletters to update donors.
Then, you can use the full-length video in meetings, events, on the website and on any landing pages to provide context on your charity’s impact.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
One major issue when interviewing people for the camera is consent. We all need to ensure interviewees understand what is being asked of them and where the video will be played, and then provide consent to be filmed and for their stories to be shared.
A video production company will also work with you when dealing with sensitive content. They’ll be mindful of how vulnerable subjects are portrayed, ensuring dignity and respect. This can be done through interviews, editing, adding anonymisation if needed, or avoiding specific topics. The video production company can guide you through the process of obtaining consent, ensuring that interviewees fully understand the implications of sharing their stories. They will also advise on how to handle sensitive content with respect and empathy, ensuring that the final video is both powerful and ethical.
Safeguarding vulnerable people can be alternatively done using animated video production, like a charity explainer video. In this kind of video, real voices can be used instead of a professional voiceover, which gives an authentic feel. However, animation is shown with animated characters or a more conceptual design instead of anyone’s real faces. This is great for working with young people, for example.
Summary
Testimonial films offer charities a unique and powerful way to connect with their audiences. They showcase original stories that build trust, inspire emotion, and drive action.
By featuring real voices—whether staff, volunteers, or service users – and supported by staff where needed —these videos create a relatable and emotional narrative that connects.
While charities may face challenges with limited resources or expertise, partnering with a professional video production company ensures a polished, impactful result that aligns with their mission and reaches a wider audience. From pre-production planning to editing and accessibility enhancements, testimonial films can become a versatile tool for storytelling, fundraising, and awareness-building.
If you’re looking for a testimonial film for your charity, please get in touch; we’d love to help!
