Dustin McKissen explains how storytelling can help you create real connections with potential donors.

1. Telling Your Story on Social Media
Presented By:
Dustin McKissen, CAE, CME
M5 Strategy + Branding, Inc.

2. What is storytelling?
• A fundamental way humans have
communicated to one another since
the beginning of time
• A remarkably effective marketing
technique that cuts through the dense
amount of messaging potential
donors are exposed to
• A way to communicate the impact of
your donor’s support

3. Why storytelling?
• Storytelling pulls Donors to your cause, rather
than pushing messaging toward them
• Compelling storytelling helps your message
cut through the incredible volume of
messaging potential donors are exposed to.
- LinkedIn receives publishes more than 50,000
posts per week.
-There are 350,000 tweets sent per minute

4. Why storytelling?
Because telling an inspiring story, in words, pictures, or
video, is your best chance at cutting through the noise of
350,000 tweets per minute and 50,000 posts per week, to
say nothing of the countless other media your target
audience is exposed.
Every single tweet, post, and video competes for your
audience’s attention.
Creating better content is how you rise above the noise.

5. Better Content?
Better content does not mean that you have to
write like Hemmingway, make videos like
Scorsese, or have a Twitter following like Kim
Kardashian (apologies for including
Hemmingway, Scorsese, and Kardashian in the
same sentence!).

6. Better Content?
Better content requires being:
• Genuine
• Authentic
• Engaging
• Inspiring
• Original
• And…

8. The Good News is…
These qualities exist in abundance in every
nonprofit organization. This sector experiences
more authentic, genuine, real, engaging,
inspiring stories than any other sector.
You have stories to tell.
So tell them!

9. Channels for Your Stories

10. Stories are…
• Blog posts;
• Articles;
• Photos;
• Videos;
• Illustrations;
• Status updates;
• And…

11. Anything that shares a genuine experience that
other people can relate to, or inspires them to
make some positive change in their lives.
Content designed to create a financial transaction
will struggle to find an audience.
Content that exists to inform, educate, and inspire
will find an audience, especially if you consistently
distribute it.

12. A Story of Mine
• Shared on LinkedIn August 2014
• 448,000+ views
• 5,775 likes
• 2,101 comments
• Reprinted and posted in 7
different languages
• Plagiarized in many others
• Led to a dramatic growth in my
followership
• Created multiple business
opportunities
• A human story about someone I
love working to overcome a
struggle. Countless stories like
these exist in your organizations!

13. But it’s all in the
telling!
So, let’s try it….

14. What do you see?

15. What do you see?

16. What do you see?

17. Remember…
Better content requires being:
• Genuine
• Authentic
• Engaging
• Inspiring
• Original
• Consistent

18. Thank you for attending today’s Performance Lab,
and for being part of the
DonorPath community!
If you aren’t already a member, enroll in the
Fundraising Readiness Project today!
http://dp.donorpath.org/fundraising-readiness-
project