Confession is supposed to be good for the soul, so let me begin with an admission: When I was a reporter, I thought Public Relations practitioners essentially worked for me. (OK, related confession: I, like many of my colleagues, often used the condescending term “flaks.”) I spent nearly two decades laboring under the misguided notion that PR people existed to provide reporters with information.
It didn’t take me very long into my second career — in nonprofit communications — to realize just how wrong I had been, that Public Relations extends well beyond media relations. In my work at a children’s home, for example, I write and manage production of newsletters and annual reports, take photographs, give tours, place ads, design fliers, maintain a website and manage a Facebook page, to name just a few duties. Oh yeah, I also pitch stories to reporters and answer their questions.
As different as journalism and PR may be, they share a very strong common link: storytelling. And in the nonprofit world, organizations can use storytelling to help them create awareness about what they do, raise funds to support their efforts and inspire volunteers. Stories are how we connect to others.
Storytelling can take many shapes, from professionally produced videos to simple Tweets. Here are a few tips to help get you started telling stories to help your cause:
Listen
Start by talking with your organization’s employees and ask them to share inspiring stories they have experienced. Also talk to the people your organization helps, and ask your donors what compels them to support your organization. Keep a list of story ideas.
Aim for the heart, not the head
You can use a few key statistics to help support the points you’re trying to make, but don’t lead with numbers, which by themselves can be boring. Better to lead with people. In other words …
Personalize it
Find a compelling character to be the star of the story. People relate better to individuals than big groups. A fundraising appeal letter that focuses on how your organization helped one person — and include that person’s name if you can — will have more impact than a letter that vaguely refers to groups.
Include the donor, and make that personal, too
The word “you” is powerful. Instead of writing “Donors helped make this program possible,” consider “Donors like you made this program possible,” or even better, “You helped make this program possible with your donation.”
Back to basics
Remember: A story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. And, for heaven’s sake, show, don’t tell.
Build in suspense
Describe an obstacle your protagonist faced, and then demonstrate how your organization helped, or is helping, your protagonist overcome that obstacle.
Solutions are important
You don’t want your donors to feel the situation is so hopeless that there’s no point in contributing to your cause. Point out how their donations can make a difference.
Make it authentic
Skip, or at least keep to a minimum, the made-up, stuffy quotes from executives. Instead, use real dialogue from the people you help. People will sniff out the fake stuff.
Keep it short
Especially for online purposes. A typical story video, for example, should be one to two minutes, tops.
Explore different ways to tell stories
Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words.
Here are some resources for further exploring nonprofit storytelling and fundraising:
Jocelyn Harmon’s Marketing for Nonprofits
Kivi’s Nonprofit Communications Blog
Nonprofit Marketing: Getting Attention
After 18 years as a reporter for The Associated Press, Sonja Barisic left journalism for the “light” side: a career in nonprofit marketing communications. She is the director of marketing communications for St. Mary’s Home in Norfolk, Va., which cares for children and young adults with severe disabilities. She works to raise raise public awareness of the nonprofit organization and to improve communications with donors, staff and families through traditional and nontraditional media exposure, newsletters, fundraising appeals, advertising and events. Barisic is a director of the Hampton Roads, Va., chapter of the Public Relations Society of America and co-chair of the chapter’s professional development committee. She also still occasionally commits journalism as a freelance restaurant reviewer for her local newspaper. Find her on LinkedIn.
photo credit: Felipe Morin via photo pin
