Launch videos for charities

Published 28 September 2026.

A charity launch, whether it's an appeal, a campaign or a new service, has to do in 15 seconds what a leaflet does in a page: name the need, show what your supporters' help makes possible and give one place to act. Make it vertical for Instagram and Facebook, and cut a 4:5 version for LinkedIn if you're after corporate partners. And every number in it should be one you've already published.

Which launches deserve a video

1. An appeal. One need and one ask, with the donation page. Goal: a first gift.
2. A campaign. What you want to change and the one action you're asking for, like signing or sharing. Goal: people who'll act, not just like.
3. A new service. Who it's for, how to reach it and when it starts. Goal: the people who need it find it.
4. A fundraising event. The date, the challenge and how to sign up. Goal: registrations. See launch videos for events too.

What to show, beat by beat

For a 15-second appeal:

1. 0 to 3 seconds: the need. One plain line, like "Winter nights on the street are getting longer."
2. 3 to 8 seconds: what you do about it. Your work, in the words your own site uses.
3. 8 to 12 seconds: what a gift makes possible. Only if your site already says what an amount pays for, and in the same words.
4. 12 to 15 seconds: one ask. Your name and a short donation address.

Which shape and length for which channel

• Instagram and Facebook Reels: 9:16, 15 seconds, for supporters and their friends. See our Instagram Reels specs and Facebook Reels specs.
• LinkedIn: 4:5, 15 to 30 seconds, for corporate partners and staff fundraising. See our LinkedIn video specs.
• Your website: 16:9 on the appeal page itself, so the video and the donate button sit together.

Facts first

Supporters give on trust, so every figure in the video (what £10 pays for, how many people you helped last year, how much you need to raise) should already be on your website, worded the same way, and still true on the day you post. If a figure is an estimate, your site should say so, and so should the video. Anyone recognisable in your photos needs to have agreed to appear in a fundraising video, not just on your website. And if an appeal has a target, show it only if you'll report progress against it.

Mistakes to avoid

• Several asks at once. Donate, volunteer, sign and share in one video makes each of them less likely. Pick one.
• Statistics without a source. A number your own site doesn't back up is the first thing a sceptical donor checks.
• Only the problem. Show what help achieves as well as what's wrong, or people scroll on feeling helpless.
• Sending people to the homepage. Link straight to the page where they can act.

How Launch Video Maker would make it

Give us the address of your appeal or campaign page and we'll list the facts we could show (the need, what you do, what a gift pays for, the ask) with the words and the page each came from, for you to approve. Nothing you don't approve goes on screen. If the appeal doesn't have its own page yet, use the builder, write the facts yourself and add your logo and a few photos. A 15-second vertical reel is the Short, £9; the Bundle (£49) adds the 4:5 and 16:9 cuts for LinkedIn and your website. Start with your appeal page.

For sizes per platform, see launch video sizes and lengths.