Storytelling : How Using Emotions Resonates With Potential Donors
Espace idées • July 24th, 2018
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
– Maya Angelou, American poet, writer, actress and activist
Storytelling is a communication technique that is becoming increasingly common in philanthropy. Developed in the 1990s in the US, storytelling is the art of telling a story to convey a message (or "sell" a cause) rather than using argumentation or a traditional case for support. The ultimate goal is to reach and inspire others (or in our case, potential donors) to support our cause.
A Different Way to Inform and Mobilize
According to the “Guide pratique sur l’impact” (Practical Guide on Impact), people are more sensitive to information when it is told in the context of a story (Fortin, 2018, p. 63). Gone are the days when we only had to describe the mission and the services of our nonprofit organization to obtain donor support. We need to inspire our target audience in order to motivate them to learn more about us and to persuade and engage them.
To help donors identify more easily with our cause and influence generosity, we should speak to them from the heart and not the head. Through a good story, they will not only think about our cause and the services we offer, but also about what they can do to improve the life of the person around whom our story is told.
Furthermore, when people are touched by a story, the message remains engraved longer in their memory. When the story is real, it automatically brings a greater sense of respect from the audience. Its role is not to tell people what they should do or think, but simply to convey a stimulating and inspiring message.
How to Incorporate Storytelling
We can tell a story using a photo, video, Facebook post, tweet, blog post, etc. The question we always need to answer is: how does our organization change lives?
How to Find a Story to Share
We can use the testimonials our organization receives from its volunteers, service users, employees or others. Don’t hesitate to ask donors and board members to also share their story if you believe it will resonate with your target audience.
Here are some additional tips from the “Guide pratique de l’impact” (Practical Guide on Impact):
The Internet has accustomed us to everything happening almost instantaneously, but when it comes to storytelling, we need to slow down if we want to generate interest and compassion. We need to create a sense of attachment from the potential donor.
The Different Stages of Storytelling
The steps of storytelling are not that different from those we learned in school when we had to write a story. We start by setting the scene and providing a context for the story, we introduce a rising action or conflict, we reach the climax and start finding solutions, we have a falling action where we bring closure to the problem, and finally we resolve the issue in the conclusion where all is OK.
Essentially, you must choose your key message, identify the characters, define the plot and select the relevant information.
Now, let’s tell a story! 😉
