This video is number FIVE in a series of 16 or so on how film can support your charity fundraising. Today’s subject is how do we appeal to today’s charity supporters.

TRANSCRIPT

We know that people are hardwired to respond to stories. It’s the earliest form of communication that we have and so it’s no surprise that we recall information better when it’s been told to us in a story. We comprehend it better and it fires up the emotion centres in our brain which increases learning, so what you’ve learned through a story stays with you. It’s important for charities — particularly important for charities — because charities are in many cases — not all but in many cases — are trading in emotion. They are selling you the positive emotion that you get from helping someone in need or some thing, a cause that calls to you emotionally.  And you just can’t generate that emotion with facts and figures, charts and graphs. However horrifying the data is about — for example the melting of the polar ice caps, it’s the story of polar bears starving to death that motivate people to get on board and get involved.