# 5 favourite fundraising videos – picked by the professionals

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/04/14/5-favourite-fundraising-videos-picked-by-the-professionals/
- Published: 2021-04-14T09:49:52+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**GOSH Charity’s Liz Tait and National Zakat Foundation’s Nazia Hassan are among
the charity professionals sharing with us the fundraising video that has caught 
their eye, and why.**

#### Age UK – Love Later Life

**Chosen by Nazia Hassan, Head of Marketing at [National Zakat Foundation](https://nzf.org.uk/)**

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> “This is a beautiful example of how you can promote your brand purpose: ‘valuing
> the ageing nation’, and deliver your tactical objectives such as ‘raise funds’,
> in one execution.
>  
> “Their new approach was governed by research that raised the need to challenge
> perceptions of old people. This advert does just that in a number of clever ways.
> Its unconventional and simple cinematic style spoils the viewer, and causes a 
> feeling of surprise that it’s ‘just a charity advert’. Seldom do we see charity
> fundraising adverts that have this level of sophistication and avoid guilt-led
> messaging to provoke sympathetic emotions.
>  
> “Here is an example where we are encouraged to demonstrate prosocial behaviour
> towards a group who are otherwise left behind and unsupported. The diversity of
> subjects, growing from a young age to old right in front on your eyes, provokes
> me to think how might I look when I age, or will I see someone that looks like
> me.
>  
> “Sadly on this occasion, no one quite represents a 30 something Muslim women, 
> with South Asian roots. In 2021 and the rising culture of wokeness, it’s ever 
> more important to represent intra-community differences too, whether it be faith
> or other. That said, this advert does attempt to deliver a message of inclusivity,
> but perhaps they could launch a new one representing even more of us!
>  
> “Most striking part of this advert is the poem overlaid with the film – Ageing
> is not a disease to be cured. This statement instantly brings me into the fold,
> indeed I will age just the same, no matter how hard we search for the elixir of
> life. All these components win me over to their brand purpose. Age UK will celebrate
> me when I am old, so I should celebrate them now. In other words, I should advocate,
> I should find out more, I should give funds.”

#### Age UK & Cadbury: Donate your words

**Chosen by Liz Tait, Director of Fundraising, Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s
Charity ([GOSH Charity](https://www.gosh.org/))**

> “This collaboration between Age UK and Cadbury is a brilliant example of an effective
> corporate partnership. While the video raises awareness of loneliness, it also
> had a fundraising campaign alongside it. Cadbury donated 30p from the sale of 
> each chocolate bar, and the campaign helped to sell a million bars of chocolate
> and also galvanised 460,000 people to ‘donate their words’ during its run.
>  
> “I chose this video as it is a great example of a corporate partner being really
> engaged with the charity’s cause through shining a spotlight on what the charity
> wants to help fix (in this case loneliness in older people) while the wider partnership
> also raises funds to support the services the charity delivers.  Partnerships 
> and creative content like this are an essential part of diversifying a charity’s
> audience and reaching people who may not have a connection to the organisation.
> We’re very lucky at GOSH Charity that our corporate partners are behind everything
> we do, and are always thinking of new and innovative ways to help tell our charity
> story to their audiences.
>  
> “This video works so well because it’s a great illustration of emotive storytelling.‘
> Donate Your Words’ was released about six months before the UK went into lockdown,
> and watching it a year after we were all told to stay at home, it feels more relevant
> than ever. 30 hours of isolation doesn’t seem like much, but when you take away
> all the coping mechanisms you may have used over the past year – Netflix, video
> calls with family, messaging friends, or even stepping out in the garden if you
> have one – it dawns on you how difficult this must be. This has been the reality
> for so many people who have been living alone and shielding to protect themselves
> and others from Covid-19.
>  
> “Sue Perkins is a great choice for this film. She’s such a well-known face in 
> TV and comedy across generations, and really gets across how the novelty of the‘
> experiment’ wears off. Boredom becomes frustration, and eventually anxiety. You
> get a sense of why people become withdrawn and, at the end, why a visit from another
> person can bring so much light into your world. At GOSH Charity we always use 
> real GOSH families in our films as this helps bring a sense of authenticity to
> the message. Although it’s not confirmed whether the woman who Sue greets at the
> end uses Age UK services, the storytelling and message is so strong, you assume
> she has been supported by Age UK, which rounds off the whole film really well.”

#### Amnesty Netherlands

**Chosen by Ian Carr, Head of Fundraising (Coventry), [Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice](https://www.zoes-place.org.uk/)**

> “I’ve chosen a 5-minute charity video that has stayed with me for a few years 
> after first seeing it in 2018. It is a Dutch film for Amnesty International where
> volunteer members of the public are hypnotised to go through the experiences of
> a refugee and why they are seeking refuge in the Netherlands. I can safely say
> it’s the most powerful charity video I’ve ever seen.
>  
> “The mechanism of using hypnotism to put people through the real life events of
> someone from a war torn country really puts the viewer into the world and is very
> effective. An already moving and fascinating story, the film’s ending is even 
> more emotive as the volunteers watch what they went through under hypnosis and
> are introduced to the lady whose real-life experiences they replicated. The originality
> of this concept and the stark and insightful look at the cause puts the volunteers
> and the viewer in the shoes of the refugee and immediately raises questions about
> what it would be like to go through this horrific time. Personally, although it’s
> a cause nothing like the cause we work for here at Zoë’s Place Baby Hospice, it
> had a huge impact on me and I am sure would with anyone watching it.”

#### Battersea Dogs & Cats Home & FCB Inferno: Rescue is Our Favourite Breed

**Chosen by Victoria Laing, Individual Giving Manager, [WaterAid](https://www.wateraid.org/uk/)**

> “I love the attitude of the Battersea ads. A great proposition with a different
> way to hero their story – loud and proud about rescue animals.
>  
> “Upbeat and showing the animals in such a sassy way no matter what their story.
> Great to see an ad with a positive note throughout without having to rely on the
> more typical ‘need’ to create emotion.
>  
> “Simple messages with impact throughout the ad and great use of music all work
> together to enhance the mood and feisty attitude.”

#### Cancer Research UK & Anomaly: A very 2020 Race for Life

**Chosen by Belinda Dreyer, [RNIB](https://www.rnib.org.uk/) Challenge Events Manager**

> “The reason I like this video promoting Race for Life is because they made it 
> real and relatable. I like that the video itself is called ‘A very 2020 Race for
> Life’ and they’ve made light of the fact that 2020 didn’t quite go as we’d all
> planned.
>  
> “They’ve used real participants instead of actors which I think is important because
> it helps you imagine yourself doing the event, and even though the event was virtual
> they’ve managed to convey a real sense of community and most importantly made 
> it look fun!”

Main image: by [Gerd Altmann](https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1155437)
from [Pixabay](https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1155437)