If you have ever watched Television during the daytime, then you will most likely have seen adverts for various charities and appeals. Organisations who inform about their mission and what they need to provide support to those affected by the problem they are trying to help solve. Very often, these advertisements can be an uncomfortable watch, using shock tactics to get you to pledge money. Though this can be effective to some extent, we believe that the way charities use videos and photography to spread their message has changed.

Video and photo does not have to be shocking, it can be friendly and warm, inviting you to find out more about an organisation and what they do. Nowadays, with social media being a primary way for charities to keep fans updated, a photo or video showing what activities the charity have been taking part in is essential to staying relevant in the minds of supporters.

Many charities seem to think that the main focus should be on the person or people who benefit from the help given. However, a look on the inside is just as powerful; showing those people who are behind an organisation can be hugely powerful for creating a sense of familiarity and, most importantly, trust in the charity in question. Some charities will have celebrity ambassadors for occasional appearances which can be great for a boost in brand recognition, but long term focusing on the people running a charity day to day can be a more sustainable way to go with marketing and connecting with supporters.

An excellent example of a charity being open is Voluntary Action South Leicestershire (VASL); when they organised their first post pandemic event they decided to have it captured by us on video and also through photographs. This was to create a record of the day for those who attended, once online it also allows for VASL’s fans and supporters to see what the charity has been doing and the people who help to run it.

The video in particular shows many of the core team and staff in VASL who run the day to day operations and enable the support that VASL provides. The event entailed, most importantly, a good chance for people to catch up after the pandemic, but also a number of question and answer sessions that went into detail about how various schemes are ran and how they are going.

These questions and answers along with the introductions and MCing, formed the basis for the videos narrative, rather than just a couple of shots with a music track the audio gives viewers a chance to understand VASL further and take onboard the charity’s mission. The video shows those key people who are able to provide the help, care and support that VASL provide to improve the lives of those who are lonely or isolated. VASL’s team are super friendly and hardworking and I’m sure anyone watching the video will see a great charity they may wish to support.

As previously mentioned, we also captured photographs for the event which have been used on socials and allowed for that all important post event interaction.

Here is a lovely review that we received after the videos and photos were sent off:

“We used Yellow Glove to Video and Photograph our Company event. From the first point of contact Jasper was incredibly helpful and we quickly booked him. He was so professional and clearly understood what we were looking for. The end results were exactly what we had hoped for and I couldn’t recommend him highly enough. Professional, reliable and great results. Thank you”

Another charity we have worked with is the Workers Educational Association (WEA), a charity that I had not heard of until being booked to capture their yearly WEA Awards for their Tutors and Learners all across the UK. Upon recording the interviews of the award winners I found WEA to be an incredible charity doing amazing work, I always end up telling people about it when they ask me about our favourite video projects.

The interviews of the Tutors and Students was a privilege to capture, I found myself feeling humbled after many of the interactions and I’m told that the response to those videos was a similar one. Creating these videos was an authentic way to show how WEA works and the real people helping to create and being on the receiving end of the change they make in the UK.

From the awards we were able to establish a style for the future interviews with WEA learners and tutors, we created set title cards to align with brand fonts and colours that can be repurposed for other projects if needs be. To compliment the videos we also captured photography of the awards winners for the magazine publication the charity has and the thumbnails for the videos.

The possibilities for charities are great, we can capture everything from a narrative based video with actors to a video introducing the team who run everything. There’s so many different ways to get the word out about what your charity does.

I really believe that more charities need to follow the examples mentioned; by representing those who work in a charity and those have experienced what difference the charity has made to them, people who see the videos and photos really get a sense of trust from seeing something so genuine and not aiming to shock or guilt trip. With a digital world that is more and more focused on video, it is important that you have media created that fits in with your branding and is true to your organisation.

If you’re running a charity or a member of the marketing team and you’d like a chat about video or photos then please do get in touch! We’d love to hear what kind of videos and photos you’d like captured.