Nonprofit Storytelling In A Digital World

Julia Campbell
President/CEO of J Campbell Social Marketing
http://www.jcsocialmarketing.com
GiftWorks
September 26, 2013
#npstory @JuliaCSocial @giftworks

About Me
 I help nonprofits find success online.
 I am:
 A former one-woman development & marketing
department for small, community-based
nonprofits.
 A current consultant, volunteer and Board
member.
 A Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
 A mom.

Takeaways From Today
 Why storytelling is so vital to a
successful nonprofit marketing
& fundraising strategy
 How to use digital tools to tell
your nonprofit’s story
 How to make your message
stand out and cut through the
clutter and noise
 How to use video-sharing tools
to connect with supporters

Obligatory Seth Godin Reference
“The most common style of public speaking, one that’s often used by
politicians and is surprisingly common among investment pitches, is
based on sentences…
The sentence is not a natural building block of public speaking, and
it’s tiring, for both the speaker and the audience. It’s hard to maintain
any sort of energy in either direction.
Building. A. Speech. Around. Words. Is. Even. More. Difficult.
The real opportunity is in speaking in paragraphs, or even
better, in stories. The storyteller naturally engages our
attention, and she matches her emphasis and cadence to the
rhythm of the story.
Here’s how to know if you’re on the right track: if you stop a story in
the middle, the audience will insist you finish it.
Isn’t that what you want?”
Full post at: http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2013/09/words-sentences-paragraphs-
stories.html

Storytelling Is Not New
 First modern public awareness campaign – 1787, the
Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade
 Used stories – conditions
in the slave trade,
“broadsides” (graphics),
public speaking,
advocacy
 Mixed facts and
emotional appeals

Why Storytelling?

Why Storytelling?
 People don’t remember
bullet points.
 People respond to
emotion.
 Stories help you express
your mission to the lay
person.
 Statistics might shock
and awe, but they will
rarely get people to take
action.

What Storytelling Will Not Do
Fix bad management.
Fix a lousy program or service.
Replace other marketing
strategies.
Replace fundraising tactics
like direct asks and one-on-
one meetings.
BUT if done well, it will
augment all other
communication efforts!

How To “Do” Storytelling?
 Think of your audience.
 How can you tell a story in a way that will
resonate with them?
 What is important to them?
 Stories have a trajectory – they are not all
candy-coated and positive.
 This is how we started, this is who we are today,
this is where we’re going, this is how we have
been challenged along the way

Change Your Mindset
 Storytelling requires an
entire change of mindset.
 Most nonprofit
communications are
boring, not compelling
and easy to ignore.
 Why is this? How can we
change this?

Include Data
 Stories alone are not enough.
 You must be able to back up what you are
doing or show that this is a real problem.

Types of Stories
 Value Stories
 The core values of
your nonprofit
 Why you do what you
do
 What are you
passionate about?
Reference: http://www.thegoodmancenter.com

Value Stories
 Example – The Robin Hood Foundation
 http://www.robinhood.org/about
 The video starts out immediately with people
who have been helped – you immediately
connect with them.
 Offer “social proof” – Geoffrey Canada;
Chairman & CEO Of Goldman Sachs
 Efficient, effective – 100% charity
 Students proudly saying where they are going to
college

Types of Stories
 Creation Stories
 The why and the how of
your organization
 What is the need
 Story of the founders
 The real WHY you exist

Creation Stories
 Example –Environmental
Defense Fund
 Started by a small group of
passionate conservationists in
Long Island.
 They wanted to save the osprey, bald
eagle and peregrine falcon.
 Went to court, got a ban on DDT in
1966. In 1972, they played a large role
on a nationwide ban.
 They play up the “strong foundation”
and grassroots approach which
informs their work today.

Types of Stories
 “Striving to Improve”
Stories
 Express resiliency
 Show that your org is
always trying to improve
 Mistakes, lessons learned
 Helps other organizations

Types of Stories
 Example – The Denver Foundation
 10 Years 10 Stories – Celebrating 10 years of
inclusiveness
 Stories from the Journey – stories told by the
nonprofits awarded grants
 Nonprofits discussed what they learned and
what they still have to work on.
 Focused on their target audience and thought
about what would resonate with them.

Stories Should Cover:
 The WHY: Your cause and the lives you are changing
 The HOW: Your programs and services.
 The WHAT: The impact you are having on the world

Where To Find Them?
 Everywhere!
 Everyone is responsible!
Cannot exist in a silo
 Is not just the marketing
or development
department’s job!!!!
 Get on the front lines

Everyone Has A Story
Everyone has a
story – it
might not be
one that you
can use, but it
might lead
you to an idea
or person who
can help.

Casey Hibbard, Stories That Sell
 “Praise” letters – talk with the submitter,
collect more details
 Ask clients – include a “share your story” page
on your website, conduct surveys, ask at live
events
 Stay positive
 Keep it varied – Make A Wish Foundation
doesn’t just tell about the people that benefit,
they also tell the stories of the wish-granter, the
volunteers and their sponsors.

Bay Area’s Committee on the
Shelterless (COTS)
 Video of a man whose life was saved by COTS
 No multiple takes or tricky editing
 He’s talking to an audience, live

The Lazarex Cancer Foundation
 The Bracelet Story – one couple that helps Lazarex
through fundraising because the organization
helped their son

Per Scholas
 IT professional job training organization – free
tech education to unemployed & low-income
adults

Houston Ballet
 Their Flickr account provides a backstage pass to
their productions.

Conservation International
“If it's raining where you are, the ocean played a role. If
you drove to work, the seas are absorbing the carbon
dioxide from your car. If you ordered seafood for lunch, it
may have traveled halfway around the world to land on
your plate.
No matter where you live on Earth, what you do affects the
ocean — and what happens to the ocean affects you.”

Mine The Gold
“Think of the story itself as gold. You mine the gold,
capture the story.
Then you bring it back to your office and you need to
pound that gold into different shapes and sizes
depending on whom you’re talking to, or also
where you’re telling it.” ~ Andy Goodman

Getting Started
Have a system.
 Collecting stories and story ideas.
 Capture and save your stories – Story Bank
 Dropbox, Google Docs, Basecamp
 Whatever you use – make sure it is accessible
 Social Media Committee – story witnesses
 Figure out a way to start thinking through this
lensiPhones, tablets, anyone can be a reporter

Getting Started
Define goals.
 What are your priorities?
 Program development &
fundraising – structure
around those stories
 Getting on social media is
not a strategy!

Getting Started
Empower others.
 You cannot do it alone. Period.
 Hold a staff meeting to train on storytelling.
 Change the culture – have an email listserv
or start staff meetings with an
exchange of stories.

Think Like A Journalist
You are a media organization.
You need to be writers,
publishers, photographers,
videographers
It’s not about your
organization, it’s about what
you are doing in terms of
impacting the world.
Use different platforms
depending.

Channels for Storytelling
 Website
 Blogs
 Email newsletters
 Publications
 Social media
 Public speaking, community education
 User-generated – how can you encourage your
online community to share their stories?

Go Multichannel
Don’t put all your eggs in
one basket!
Be where your supporters
are, not where you want
them to be.
Be consistent in your
brand and in your story
– you don’t have to tell
the exact same story
across channels.

Use Video
 Think about stories that are shareable.
 Don’t say too many things!!! Simple is better.
 1-2 minutes, lose viewers every 10-20 seconds
 How will you visually tell your story?
 Who will guide the narrative?

Use Video
 Beginning – What’s at stake? The before
(“I was homeless”)
 Middle – What has changed?
 End – What does the future look like?
 Call to Action
 What will the viewer be
compelled to do?

Break the Fourth Wall
 Create a candid “making of” video for a fundraising,
advocacy or awareness campaign you are launching.
 Take a tip from Wikipedia and live broadcast the results
of your fundraising campaigns and the decisions you are
making based on those results.
 Develop a “Why I Do This Work” video series that
shows why your staff have dedicated their lives the cause.
 Create a fun photo board of staff desks — including
those in both exotic and not-so-exotic locations.
The idea is to push beyond traditional direct marketing
techniques to show a more relatable, identifiable you.
Resource: Alia McKee, Sea Change Strategies, http://seachangestrategies.com/ferris-bueller-trick-
break-fourth-wall-unpredictably/

Promote Your Story
 Using influencers
 Using Online Brand
Ambassadors
 Partnership with other
organizations,
companies, businesses
– “Brandscaping”
 Bloggers
 Celebrities

What Makes Stories Memorable?
From “Made to Stick” by Dan
and Chip Heath
1) SIMPLE
2) Unexpected
3) Concrete
4) Credible
5) Emotional

Common Mistakes
 Using only data. Facts
are not a story!
 No reason for the story –
it’s not clearly stated in
the beginning.
 No context.
 No protagonist.

Common Mistakes
 Thinking that slick video production = great
story.
 Silo-ing the storytellers.
 Thinking it’s a one time deal.

In Conclusion…
 For nonprofits especially, storytelling through pictures
and videos is KEY to communicating your mission!

In Conclusion…
 Always about the WHY
– not the what you do or
how you do it.
 Be authentic.
 Be credible.
 Get over your fear.
 Figure out ways to
measure your success.

Resources
 The Starter Guide to Nonprofit Video Storytelling (free
download): http://www.startstorytelling.com/
 Nonprofit Storytelling for Crowdfunding & Online Fundraising:
http://www.causevox.com/nonprofit-storytelling-crowdfunding/
 DoGooder Awards:
http://www.youtube.com/user/nonprofitvideoawards
 TechSoup Digital Storytelling Challenge:
http://www.techsoup.org/community/community-
initiatives/techsoup-digital-storytelling
 SocialBrite: http://www.socialbrite.org/sharing-center/media/
 Nancy Schwartz – Getting Attention:
http://gettingattention.org/2012/11/nonprofit-communications-
fail/

Questions? Feedback?
 Tweet questions or post them on my Facebook Wall:
 @JuliaCSocial #npstory @GiftWorks
 http://www.facebook.com/jcsocialmarketing
 Thank you!

Nonprofit Storytelling In A Digital World

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