The Transformational Power of Stories

For many nonprofits, donations are necessary to provide the programs and assistance their community needs. But anyone who works in nonprofit fundraising knows that convincing people to donate requires a lot more than a simple “pretty please?”

Most donors want to know the impact of your organization before committing to giving their money. You may think the best way to show your impact is to dazzle them with the biggest numbers that show what you’ve accomplished. ?

There’s a place for that for sure. But data and numbers don’t inspire emotion.

If you want to build rapport — tell a story.

Storytelling takes abstract facts and makes them tangible and personal. ?Whether it’s how a program has specifically supported your community members or an interesting backstory that explains your mission and passion, every organization has stories that make the work feel real and relevant.

But a story isn’t an essay. It has unique qualities like a beginning, middle, and end. It takes the reader on a journey. To build a compelling narrative, your stories need stakes and structure.

Detailed Characters: One reason donors connect with a story is because they can relate to it. And a story needs a main character, whether that’s a person, a homeless pet, or a melting glacier. Finding a way to make your hero feel familiar helps to paint a clear picture and gives focus to the story.

A Problem to be Solved: There’s no story without a little bit of conflict and donors won’t act if they don’t know what the problem is that their donation will solve. Clearly illustrating how the problem affects the characters — and what needs to be done in order to solve it — grabs the reader’s attention and answers why their help is needed.

An Interesting Journey: Once you have the conflict or problem established, you can’t jump immediately to the solution. When you do this, you risk the possibility of the donor thinking the solution is such an easy fix it doesn’t require their help. Instead, elaborate on the path it took to get to the solution. Donors want to know how their donation will help, so be sure to explain what obstacles come up that make the solution harder to solve without some assistance.

Significant Resolution: The resolution of a story needs to be how – with your help – the problem was resolved. Loop it back to the donors, if possible, by saying “With your generous donation we were able to do XY & Z.” Let them know how they directly supported finding the resolution to the issue.

Allowing your organization to be seen as the facilitator of change rather than the source of change, let’s your hero be the focus — and your reader be the star.

There is always more to learn about crafting and using stories. ?Join us for our next free community webinar, Beyond Words: Uncover the Art of Storytelling for Nonprofits , on September 21st at 2 p.m. to hear insider advice on what works best from expert storyteller, Vanessa Chase Lockshin.