We’ve been making films for charities for over fifteen years and one thing has never changed: the most powerful thing a charity can do is tell a real story well. In 2026, that feels more important than ever. Competition for donations is fierce. Audiences are fragmented across more platforms than ever before. Attention spans are short, and trust in institutions, even charities, has taken a battering in recent years. At the same time, the gap between the need and the public’s awareness of that need has never been wider.
So how do charities cut through? The answer, as it’s always been, is through story.
Social feeds, newsletters, podcasts, ads: the average person is exposed to thousands of messages a day. Most of them wash over us without leaving a trace.But a well-told story, a real person, in a real situation, with something genuinely at stake? We know that gets through and sticks. It moves people to act.
This is why we’ve always believed, and why our new charity showreel shows, that the most effective charity communications aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets or the most sophisticated production. They’re the ones with the most human story at their heart.
When we worked with Independent Age on A Life Worth Living, we weren’t making a film about statistics on loneliness in later life. We were telling the story of one person’s experience: what it feels like, what it costs, and what a difference the right support can make. The data doesn’t move people, it’s the person that does.
Working with Centrepoint, we weren’t making a film about housing policy. We were making a film about what home means and what happens when you don’t have one.
And we weren’t making a film about animal welfare legislation for the RSPCA. We were making a film about a dog called Elton, and the people who stepped in to help him. You feel it before you think it. That’s the power of story.
Trust is earned through authenticity. Audiences, particularly younger donors and supporters, are increasingly sceptical of polished, corporate-feeling communications. They want to see the real thing. Real people. Real impact. Real emotion. Great storytelling, rooted in genuine human experience, is the antidote to that scepticism.
Algorithms favour engagement, not announcements. Whether it’s Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn, the platforms that charities rely on to reach supporters are built to amplify content that people connect with emotionally. A heartfelt, well-crafted film will always outperform a fact-sheet dressed up as video. The algorithm doesn’t care about your messaging framework. It cares whether people watched to the end, shared it, felt something.
The cost of apathy is too high. The causes that charities champion such as loneliness, homelessness, animal cruelty, food poverty, housing insecurity are not abstract. They are happening to real people. The challenge is making audiences feel that proximity. Storytelling collapses the distance between a supporter sitting at home and someone whose life could be changed by their support. Nothing else does that as effectively.
We don’t need to tell you that video dominates digital communications. But what matters is how video is used. A film that simply describes a service or lists impact statistics is a missed opportunity. A film that tells a story — with a beginning, a middle, and an end; with characters you care about; with something genuinely at stake, that is something people will watch, share, and remember.
Making films for organisations like the RSPCA, Mind, Shelter, Centrepoint, Age UK, and the Citizens Advice Bureau has taught us a lot about what works.
The best charity films aren’t really about the charity. They’re about the people the charity exists for. The moment you put a person at the centre, you have them.
The best charity films also trust their audience. They don’t over-explain. They don’t hammer the message home with repeated on-screen text. They find the story, tell it with care and craft, and let viewers draw their own conclusions. That trust is repaid with engagement. And the best charity films are made in genuine partnership. The organisations we work with know their beneficiaries better than anyone. Our job is to help translate that knowledge into something that moves people. We help you find the story inside the facts, and set it in motion.
We’ve just released our new charity showreel, and It’s a window into the kind of work we love making most, stories that matter, told with intention and craft, for organisations doing vital work in the world.
If you’re a charity thinking about how video can work harder for you, we’d love to talk. Not about production specs or deliverables but about your story. What it is, who it’s about, and what you want people to feel when they watch it.
Because in a world full of noise, the right story, told well, still has the power to change everything.
Get in touch: info@nutmegproductions.co.uk
020 7993 6205
