Nonprofit Storytelling Best Practices
Excerpt
Your ability to tell a compelling story is directly proportional to your ability to inspire your donors, volunteers, and clients to act. Mastering the art of storytelling can help you capture the hearts and minds of your ideal supporters. Or, you could dismiss it as “woo-woo” stuff and run the risk of boring your audience with the same dry, nap-inspiring content. If you want to know what makes a great story for your nonprofit marketing-communications, watch this episode. You’ll learn five nonprofit storytelling best practices to take your social media, email, and website content from boring to blockbuster.
Summary
Your ability to tell a compelling story is directly proportional to your ability to inspire your donors, volunteers, and clients to act.
“If you can position your mission or the audience taking action as a solution to all three of those problems, ooh, you are going to be a supercharged storyteller.”
If you want to capture the hearts and minds of your ideal supporters, you need to understand and apply some simple best practices in your nonprofit storytelling.
Before you double down on what you’re already doing, take time to learn five best practices when storytelling including how positioning your nonprofit as the hero actually hurts your message.
“We positioned the nonprofit as a helpful guide. So, someone else reading that story can go, ‘I wanna do that for someone like Joanna, I want to be part of that story. I want to be the one to help affect this transformation for other folks, just like Joanna.’”
In this episode, learn how to talk about the problem you’re solving in the world (there’s three of them!) and how to inspire your audience to act without the doom and gloom. Plus, you’ll find a way to bring your stories to an inspiring and impactful finish by speaking to the win.
Watch the video to get the full training.
If you’ve learned something from this episode, take a screenshot or post and use the hashtag #marketyourmission so I can celebrate you on social media!
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Transcript
Your ability to tell a compelling story is directly proportional to your ability to inspire your donors, volunteers, and clients to act. Hey everyone, I'm Ricardo Ibarra with Market Your Mission. I'm bringing you my 17 years in the design and marketing field to help you share your story, grow your donor base, and ignite a movement. And today I am talking about nonprofit storytelling best practices. Now I'm sure you are familiar with the importance of storytelling in the nonprofit space. When we are trying to move the hearts and minds of people, we've got to tell a great story and that's because story is primordial. It's how we communicated and how we created meaning around the world or a meaning of the world before we even had written language. Before we even had televisions or social media, or even the printing press, we are storytellers. And have you noticed how your brain will create a story out of almost anything?
Someone cuts you off in traffic? Ooh, you've got a story for him. Don't you? <Laugh> Now, I encourage you to always assign positive meaning to the story you tell yourself. So today I'm gonna give you five storytelling best practices that I've seen from my clients and from folks in the field. But before we get into that, I just want to take a note and mention how important it is to understand your requirements for consent and privacy. Of course, we always want to receive written consent from anyone whose story we are going to share, especially if we're planning on broadcasting that on our website, our email list, on our social media channels. And of course, we also want to be very sensitive to privacy concerns that may come up from us sharing that story. In some industries or some, some issue areas that's not a big deal, right?
Most folks on a, on a highway cleanup or a neighborhood watch cleanup party would be very happy for you to take a photo of them in their cool t-shirt showing how much garbage and recycle that they've picked up off the street. But other areas, other more sensitive areas, we need to be really careful about the privacy and security of the folks and the stories that we want to tell. As I mentioned in a previous video, storytelling and video go hand in hand, and of course you always want to be really mindful that if you're capturing anyone's visual likeness or audio, the sound of their voice, that you have written consent. Please talk to a legal, qualified, legal professional, cuz I am not any of those. I'm just here to give you the marketing tips, strategies and best practices so you can go out there and make an impact on the world.
Okay, let's jump into nonprofit storytelling best practices.
#1 Tell a Singular Story
Number one, tell a singular story. Now you may be working in a very small niche. You may be supporting a local library branch, or you may be working on a global or environmental or regional issue that impacts hundreds of thousands or millions of people. No matter how many people your mission impacts or serves, you need to tell one singular story. And the reason that is ,is our brains are, aside from being storytelling machines, our brains are very risk adverse and they're very thrifty with their energy budget. So when we are confronted with a ton of information, like a story about how there's a thousand starving children in my local county alone, our brain goes, "Whoa, that's a lot of variables. That's a lot of information. I don't know what to do with this. So I'm gonna kind of compartmentalize it and distance it from myself."
Have you ever felt that way, maybe you are watching one of those crazy TV ads for some sort of medical condition and they start reading off the list of side effects and you can feel your brain kind of just glaze over. Or maybe it was like me when I went to my first nonprofit board meeting and they passed out the financials, you know, the profit and loss statements, the budget planning, and I saw all those numbers and I could just feel my silly little brain going, "Too much info, dude, I gotta check out?" Well, we don't wanna do that to the folks that we're trying to inspire to act. So tell a singular story, tell an emblematic or archetypical story. Tell the story of one person impacted by your mission and tell it in detail. Talk about what their life was like before, what challenges they were facing, what they were feeling, because that's how we relate with folks; tell the transformation, how they got to where they are now, and how they're feeling now and how that manifests in their life.
So number one is tell a singular story. Another element of this is you want to tell a slightly different story depending on your audience. Now, of course, if you are compiling your annual report and it's going to go out to the foundations, who've given money to you through grants, you're gonna tell a slightly different story than if you were sharing an inspiring anecdote with a group of volunteers to get them fired up, to go do something, right? It just makes sense. So be mindful as you're telling a singular story, you may need to tweak that story for the audience. I'm gonna talk more about the importance of changing and updating how you message to your audience in another video. So stay tuned for that.
#2 Communicate Three Levels of Problems
The second nonprofit storytelling best practice that I wanna share with you today is to understand the three levels of problems.
Now, this is something that I learned from Donald Miller's book, Building a StoryBrand. And in it, he has an incredible StoryBrand framework that walks you through how to make amazing stories. I can't recommend it enough, but this piece of story that I found so helpful is the three levels of problems. There's an external, there's an internal, and then there's a philosophical problem. Let me illustrate: simple example. I walk into my kitchen, I go to throw something away. I open that cabinet and phew, that garbage is stinky. That's my external problem. The garbage needs to go out. The internal problem is that it's stinky and gross. And I don't wanna smell that in my kitchen. Now the philosophical problem is why I care about it. The philosophical problem underpinning all of the action you're trying to invite your reader to take is this philosophical problem. The philosophical problem in this case with my stinky trash is, you know, it's, it's a good thing to have a clean, fresh smelling apartment, or it could be you know, I, I want to be healthy and feel like I'm in a pleasant living space. So everyone deserves to feel like they're comfortable and safe and clean in their homes. That's the philosophical impetus for me even caring that the trash is stinky and that it needs to go out.
Let me give you another example. One of my clients runs a scholarship program at a local university. The external problem is students from historically underserved backgrounds aren't graduating college at the same rate as their white peers. The internal problem is, you know, but these, these folks need, need help. They need an opportunity, they need a scholarship, they need resources. They need mentorship to make sure that they're able to get into and complete their college degree, and the philosophical underpinning of all that is a belief that everyone deserves equal access to higher education. That higher education can lift up people from historically underserved or disadvantaged populations and be life changing for them. So at the top, it's a scholarship program. The internal problem is kind of about the feeling. I wanna feel like folks from underserved backgrounds have a chance at college. And the reason why I feel that way is because I believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to attend a higher education institution, to get their bachelor's degree.
Because I know that that is life changing for families. That can be the difference between someone building generational wealth and caring for their family and their children or their parents or their loved ones or, or really struggling. I hope you can see how, if you can understand the external, the internal and that underlying philosophical drive that will make your storytelling so powerful. Here's the trick that I learned from Donald Miller. If you can position your mission or the audience taking action as a solution to all three of those problems, Ooh, you are going to be a supercharged storyteller.
#3 Position Your Nonprofit as the Guide
The third of my nonprofit storytelling best practices is how to position your nonprofit as the guide, rather than the hero. I've learned this from Donald Miller in Building a StoryBrand. I also learned this from Park Howell in his book Brand Bewitchery, all of the master story storytellers and marketers of our time talk about how important it is to not position your nonprofit as the hero. Here's what that looks like. A nonprofit working to provide free books to children to elementary age children would say last year we provided 500 books to elementary school children. You see how they are positioning themselves as the hero, "We provided the books!"
What that does is, it doesn't leave room in the story you're telling for your audience, your circle of support, the people you want to support you and work with you, and help you provide these books for the kids. It doesn't leave room for them because in their minds, their brains say, "Oh, there's a story here, and you're telling me that you're the hero of the story. You're the one who provided the books. You're the one who made this change. You're the one who solved the problem of elementary school kids not having enough books to read. So I don't really need to care. I don't need to act." That's not what you want, right? Instead, what you want, is you want to position the audience as the hero and your nonprofit as a helpful guide. So I recommend you tell a story. Last year, Claudia donated 10 books that went to South Park Elementary, fifth grade class.
Where was the nonprofit? The nonprofit was almost implied. I didn't really say anything about the nonprofit. I lifted up another donor or a supporter as an, as a shiny example of a hero. Claudia was our biggest donor. Or maybe you could say Marcos, thanks to Marcos's contribution. We were able to buy X number of books that went to Mrs. Mckinstry's classroom. Notice that we're not saying, "We provided the books!" <Laugh>, we're highlighting the folks who were instrumental in that. And we're making room for the audience to hear and see themselves in that story. So guide positioning is so important. Another way you can ensure that your nonprofit is not being positioned as the hero, but as the guide, is demonstrating that you have a plan and that you are empathizing with the hero's challenges. So if you're telling the story of someone you serve, maybe one of your clients really lean into your understanding of the issue, how much you empathize with them, how much you wanna make their life better or solve this issue with them.
And you can describe the plan that you laid out for them. For example, maybe you offer resume and job interview counseling for folks who are trying to enter the workforce. You can talk about how, when Joanna came to you, that she was really struggling because she didn't feel confident in job interviews. And we believe that everyone should have the clothes that they need, and they should have the confidence that they deserve to feel good in a job interview, because they have something valuable to offer to employers. You notice I'm speaking to the motivations now in the three levels of problems, now you say, okay, so Joanna was feeling this way. Well, here's our process that we walked Joanna through. We worked with her on this and she was able to do this. And we guided her on this. And ultimately these are the results that happened because we laid out the plan and we were very empathetic in this story to Joanna's plight. And we shared our core values, our beliefs around why we're trying to solve these problems. We positioned the nonprofit as a helpful guide. So someone else reading that story can go. I wanna do that for someone like Joanna, I want to be part of that story. I want to be the one to help affect this transformation for other folks, just like Joanna.
Freebie: Nonprofit Storytelling Examples
I have scoured the internet from email to websites, to social media, to find the best examples of nonprofit storytelling and I've put them all together in this guide. So hopefully you will be inspired in your nonprofit storytelling, too. Click the link below to download and get these nonprofit storytelling examples that you can use to inspire your next tweet or post or blog, or even appeals letter.
#4 Raise the Stakes
Number four for nonprofit storytelling best practices, raise the stakes. Now it's almost grilling season. So of course my mouth waters, because I'm thinking of a nice juicy steak, but I'm talking about a different type of stake. I'm talking about what happens if you fail, what happens if the audience doesn't act, the stakes are what's at stake, what's at risk if you aren't successful, or if the audience doesn't take action. Now, a lot of nonprofits shy away from this because they think, oh, I don't wanna be negative. I don't want to be like a Sarah McLaughlin commercial and, and just really bring people down. You don't have to bring people down, but you do need to identify what is at risk. And also what they should be moving away from. Our brains are really good at moving away from things that we don't like. And one of those is failure. If you've done a good job of telling a singular story, identifying the three levels of problems and speaking to the deeper motivations of your audience and positioning your nonprofit as a helpful guide, raising the stakes comes naturally next. We've given them all these reasons, all this heartfelt desire to make a positive impact. And now you need to tell them and tell their brains, "This is what we're moving away from."
#5 Speak to the Win
Number five, speak to the win. This is the last part of these nonprofit storytelling best practices. And this means that you will speak to the benefit to the audience. Once they take action, you will speak to the win that they're trying to get internally. How will they feel when they take action? How will they feel when they donate their money or volunteer their time or call a representative and advocate for your issue? But also you wanna speak to the win for the people whose lives you're going to change. Now, even if you're supporting a regional or an environmental, cause remember what I talked about in telling a singular story, it needs to be about one person. So speak to the win for them too, and also speak to the win for your organization. What would it mean for all these donors to rise up and make small contributions toward your capital fund that will enable you to set up a new youth center?
What will it mean for your organization if folks subscribe to your email list or show up and give an hour or two of their time each week or month? I want you also to speak to the win to the community at large. Now we're scoping out, right? We started off by telling a singular story, and now I want you to connect your audience's action to how it'll benefit the community that they are in. So if you donate, now, we can open up this youth center and that's gonna help ensure that young people everywhere in our, in our city have a safe, healthy place to go after school. Young folks who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity will know that they have a peaceful, safe place where they can get a meal, they can do some studying and ultimately that benefits us all because that ensures that our young people have a place to go
That feels safe. They have a place to go that supports their educational journey that helps them reach higher levels of economic security so that they can provide for their loved ones. See how I started painting a, a broader picture of how one donation to the youth center not only will help me as the donor feel good about myself and, and align with my core values that everyone deserves access to education. Everyone deserves a safe place to go after school, but it also started extending the benefit to my immediate circle, to my immediate community so that I could see that not only am I going to benefit myself, I'm gonna benefit these kids. I'm gonna benefit this organization, but ultimately I'm gonna benefit my community. I hope you have enjoyed these five nonprofit storytelling best practices. Number one is to tell a singular story, our brains aren't super good at processing a whole bunch of information or trying to be emotionally engaged with a crowd of people.
We're much more easily swayed when we hear one story about one person's struggles. Number two, talk about the three levels of problems, the external, internal, and deeper philosophical motivations for solving those problems. Number three is to position your nonprofit as a helpful guide and position your clients or your donors or others as the heroes that are solving the issue. Number four is to raise the stakes and ensure that folks know what's at risk if they don't take action. And number five is to speak to the win both personally, to your, for your clients, the people you serve for your organization and ultimately the greater community. I hope this has been helpful for you to learn about these nonprofit storytelling best practices. Make sure to click the link below and download my storytelling examples.
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Until next time, it's a great day to SHINE. So go out and Serve with Heart, Integrity, Nerve, and Excellence. I'll see you in the next video.