Nonprofit storytelling: Why stories matter

Introduction

Nonprofit storytelling is important for one simple reason: Everyone loves a good story.

Stories tell us about each other and the world. They show us how we deal with life’s challenges, major milestones, successes, failures and moments of growth. We remember stories because they make us feel something. We may not recall all the details of a story. But we’ll remember if it made us laugh, cry, sigh, roll our eyes or joyfully scream.

Stories come in all forms, including as:

  • Infographics
  • Social media posts
  • Slide decks
  • Blog posts
  • User-generated content
  • Bite-sized videos
  • Testimonials
  • Case studies
  • Success stories

…and so many more forms!

Stories show us our commonalities, shared experiences that bring us together.

Further reading about nonprofit storytelling:

Why do we need stories?

For nonprofits, stories help people understand the true significance of your work. Stories can:

  • Inspire people to act
  • Compel people to support your cause
  • Spotlight your members and/or employees
  • Promote inclusivity and belonging
  • Show evidence and impact
  • Connect your work more closely to your mission and vision

Your employees, target audience, donors, volunteers, nonprofits, community partners, members, clients, participants and other key stakeholders learn a lot about you through a story. Nonprofit storytelling helps everyone better understand your organization.

However, nonprofit organizations face challenges creating consistent stories.

Why is nonprofit storytelling so hard to do?

Tell me if any of the following reasons resonates with you:

  • Lack of consistent communication with target audience
  • Lack of insight into the nonprofit sector
  • Confused about how to make stories simple and easy to understand
  • Not enough time, resources or energy (i.e., in-house capacity is lacking)
  • Not sure where to start or how to choose angles
  • Unclear which kinds of stories are needed
  • Interviewing people is scary
  • Not sure how many stories are needed

A lack of clarity around these things makes stories hard to come up with. However, I’d say the reason that ties these reasons altogether is really simple:

Many companies and organizations don’t notice the stories that are right in front of them.

How do your services solve this problem?

My services address these challenges directly: I help you identify, develop and write compelling content and strategic communications. You’ll notice that my story writing services take the guesswork out of the story building process. Choosing any of these services means that you can stop worrying about:

  • How many stories you have each month or year
  • Making stories easy to read and understand
  • Figuring out story angles and themes
  • Managing story information
  • Figuring out interview questions
  • Finding stories

Go to the list of services that I offer and select the one that works for you.

Have questions? Contact me first and let’s start a conversation.