Building trust with your audience

A thought to start the week. In an era where trust in institutions is wearing thin, charities face a growing challenge: proving they are not only doing good, but doing it well. Public scepticism—fuelled by high-profile scandals, unclear funding structures, and a sense of detachment—can undermine even the most impactful work. The good news? There’s a powerful antidote: radical transparency.

Imagine a world where every donation is traceable—not just to a budget line, but to a face, a story, a changed life. That’s the promise of transparency done right. It starts with showing, not just telling. be absolutely clear about about where your funds go with real stories, data, and visuals. Use behind-the-scenes videos (Everyone loves a Behind The Scenes video!) to show how projects take shape. Post infographics that break down spending in ways anyone can understand. Turn what was once a black box into a clear window.

But numbers aren’t enough. Shift the focus from outputs to impact. It’s one thing to say “we trained 200 health care workers in the field”, —but it’s far more powerful to show how those individual workers transformed health care in their communities. Let your audiences meet the people behind the statistics. When the outcome is emotional and human, trust follows.

Invite the public into your world—not with spreadsheets, but with interactive, engaging content that explains your finances and decisions in plain language. Pair it with conversations, not just presentations.

Transparency isn’t about perfection. It’s about honesty, clarity, and a willingness to let people in. When charities embrace that, trust doesn’t just return—it grows stronger than before. Here’s some BTS from one of our latest projects with Trussell, showing the process of creating a video showing how they are working with communities not just the what.