Charities & Nonprofits
Animated explainers for charities and nonprofits
AutoScribble helps charity fundraising, campaign, volunteering and communications teams turn impact reports, campaign briefs and volunteer handbooks into narrated whiteboard videos. You paste what you already have, edit the script, and share the finished video on social media, your website or in funder presentations — without filming beneficiaries.
Who it's for: Fundraising and supporter-care teams, campaigns and policy teams, volunteer coordinators, and communications managers in small and mid-sized charities.
The communication problems we hear most
Impact reports go unread
Annual reports carry your strongest evidence, but supporters rarely open a 30-page PDF.
Filming beneficiaries is sensitive
Consent, safeguarding and dignity make filming people difficult. Drawings let you tell the story without showing anyone.
Tiny communications budgets
A single agency-produced animation can cost more than a small charity's annual comms budget.
Volunteers need consistent briefings
Volunteers join throughout the year and need the same safeguarding and role information.
What you can make
Impact summaries
A 90-second story of what supporters' money achieved this year.
Awareness campaigns
Explaining an issue and one clear action people can take.
Volunteer onboarding
Your mission, the role, safeguarding basics and who to contact.
Funder pitches
The problem, your approach and your evidence, for trust and foundation applications.
Service explainers
How to access your helpline or support service.
Supporter thank-yous
A drawn thank-you showing where donations go.
From source material to finished video
- 1
Pick one message
One video, one idea: one outcome, one action, one service.
- 2
Paste your source
Use your impact report section, campaign brief or volunteer handbook.
- 3
Check facts and tone
Every figure must come from your own verified data. Check the tone is dignified and not pitying.
- 4
Share everywhere
Portrait for social, landscape for your website and presentations.
Worked example
Illustrative example. Source: a fictional food-bank charity's impact report. Audience: regular donors. Length: 75 seconds, portrait. Figures are placeholders to replace with your own verified data.
Sample narration
“Last winter, more families in our town came to us than ever before. Because of you, every one of them left with three days of food. Our volunteers sorted donations, packed parcels and delivered to people who couldn't travel. And with advice sessions alongside, families got help with the reasons they needed us in the first place.”
Storyboard (illustrative, not a rendered video)
- Scene 1
A snowy street with a queue at a warmly lit door.
Last winter, more families… came to us than ever before.
- Scene 2
A food parcel with '3 days' written on the side.
Every one of them left with three days of food.
- Scene 3
Volunteers sorting tins, a van driving to a house.
Our volunteers sorted donations, packed parcels and delivered…
- Scene 4
Two people at a table with an adviser and a lightbulb.
Families got help with the reasons they needed us…
Prompts you can use today
Copy a prompt, or open it straight in the create box. Replace anything in square brackets.
Impact report to video
Turn the impact report section below into a 90-second portrait whiteboard video for our supporters. Use only the figures in the text, tell it as a short story from problem to change, keep a warm and dignified tone, and end with a thank-you and a link to [donate page]. [Paste report section]
Volunteer onboarding
Create a 2-minute landscape whiteboard video welcoming new volunteers to [charity]. Cover our mission, what the role involves, the key safeguarding points in the extract below, and who to contact. Friendly and clear. [Paste handbook extract]
Awareness campaign
Write and animate a 60-second portrait whiteboard awareness video about [issue] for the general public. Explain the problem in one sentence, show why it matters with one verified fact from the brief below, and ask viewers to take one action: [action]. [Paste brief]
What AutoScribble does
- Start from a typed idea, a pasted script, a website address, or an uploaded plain-text, Markdown or RTF document
- Edit the draft title, script and scene plan freely before anything is made
- Videos from 30 seconds to 4 minutes, in landscape (16:9) or portrait (9:16)
- Narration in 15 languages with a choice of voices
- Your logo and brand colours drawn into the sketch
- Download as MP4, share a private link, or embed on your website
- 100 credits make one minute of video; new accounts get 100 free credits
- Android app on Google Play; on iPhone, use the website in Safari
There is no LMS, SCORM or record-system integration: you download the video and upload it where you need it. Read how it works in how AutoScribble works or get the Android app.
When sketch animation fits
- Explaining your cause and impact without filming people
- Volunteer and service information
- Social-first awareness messages
- Funder and trustee presentations
When another format is better
- Personal testimony — real voices, with consent, carry more weight
- Emergency appeals needing live footage
- Fundraising claims you can't evidence
Questions from charities & nonprofits teams
Can small charities afford animated videos?
New accounts get 100 free credits — one minute of video — and 100 credits make each additional minute. See the pricing page for plans.
How do we tell beneficiary stories safely?
Use composite or anonymised stories, drawn characters and no identifying details. Follow your safeguarding and consent policies.
Can we use figures from our impact report?
Yes — as long as they're your own verified figures and the script states them exactly. Don't round up or generalise.
Where can we share the videos?
Download the MP4 for social media, your website and presentations, or share a link.
Can agencies make videos for us?
Yes. Many agencies use AutoScribble for client work — see Marketing & Creative Agencies.
Sources and further reading
Step-by-step guides
How to turn a charity impact report into an animated explainer
Pick the single most important change your charity made this year, paste that section of your impact report into AutoScribble, and ask for a 60- to 90-second story that moves from problem to action to change, using only your verified figures. Check the tone is dignified, add a thank-you and one clear next step, and share it in portrait on social media and in supporter emails.
Read the guidePlanning volunteer onboarding videos
Create a short series of three or four videos — welcome and mission, the role itself, safeguarding basics and who to contact — each 60 to 120 seconds and built from your volunteer handbook. Have your safeguarding lead approve that video's script, and send the series before a volunteer's first shift so induction time goes on practice.
Read the guideWriting an animated public-awareness campaign script
A strong awareness script has four beats in about 60 seconds: a hook that makes the issue personal, one verified fact that shows why it matters, one simple thing the viewer can do, and where to find out more. Write it in AutoScribble from your campaign brief, cite the source of your fact on the page, and test the script on someone outside your organisation.
Read the guideRelated sectors
- Marketing & Creative Agencies — Agencies producing campaign content for charities.
- Healthcare & Medical Training — Health charities and patient information.
- Schools & Tutoring — Education charities and classroom resources.
- All sectors · What you can make · Pricing