This is our soapbox

This is our soapbox on philanthropy, fundraising, the charitable sector, and the world. For more information, visit GoalBusters.net or call 888.883.2690.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Storytelling: Communicating Your Mission with Infectious Passion

_
On July 13th 2010, GoalBusters presented the webinar "Storytelling: Communicating Your Mission with Infectious Passion" for the Charity Channel's Charity University. Here are some of highlights and resource materials we discussed during the session.


Storytelling is a part of our cultural heritage and vital in any organization to transfer the passion
you have for your cause to the public, donors, volunteers, board me
mbers and staff.


Stories are important to us because:
  • They communicate history
  • They establish identity
  • They share culture
  • They aid memory

Universal themes will help you engage the listener so they keep listening.

Organizational Stories and Themes: Examples


Mob at the Gates



Benevolent Community

Rot at the Top

Triumphant Individual

Examples for a Nonprofit School

Government funding being cut for education

New legislation requires more time for testing and less time for other classes



Students’ families and friends get together to refurbish the auditorium for performances

Owner of property next door to school building large factory and trying to force school to move

Principal of school was once a student there and has come home to provide education for his hometown

How will you represent your organization? Most organizations have stories in each category. Which are the most compelling for your organization?


Classic Story Structure: “Introduce your hero, get him up a tree, throw rocks at him, throw more rocks at him and then get him out of the tree.” - Robert McKee, Screenwriting Guru

It's easier to convince a prospective donor to contribute if he or she can empathize with a character and be engaged by the story.

What do you need to transform your data to a story?
  • Introduce Protagonist - Who are we following? It can be an individual or your organization.
  • Inciting Incident - Importance of antagonism or the emotional dynamics. This is the "Problem Statement.
  • Obstacles / Barriers - Why is it hard to fix the problem?
  • Resolution / Success - Put the donor in the story
Another way to express the story is...
  • Who you are
  • What you do
  • Why it matters
  • How someone can help


Telling the Story:

  • Determine your audience - Focus on who you can actually persuade to act
  • Give your characters voice - Client quotes, Real people where possible
  • Select communication vehicle -In person? Print? Radio? TV? Video?
  • Pick presentation style - How formal do you need to be? Where will you be telling your story?
  • Target desired response - What do you want them to do? Fall asleep? (bedtime story) Get angry? Volunteer? Change their mind? Give you money?
  • Think about the epilogue and the sequel - What comes next? What will you talk about when you next meet?
#####


Watch the videos of the nonprofit organizations whose stories were shared today.

The Hopi Education Endowment Fund's connection of History, Identity, Memory and Culture.





The "Classic Story Structure" in the campaign to build the Sanders Clinic; Sanders, Arizona.




Meet John H. Caskey, III the protagonist of the North Country HealthCare story.




#####


Additional Storytelling tips and resources

Storytelling as Best Practice - Ten Tips for Storytellers by Terrence E. McNally

1. Stories are about people. (And people have names – even if you have to make them up.) Instinctively, your audience will want to know whom they will be following on this particular journey, and they also will want a mental picture of that person, so it helps to provide at least a few physical details.

2. One or more of the people in your story has to want something: to do something, to change something, to get something. A story doesn’t really get started until the audience knows what the goal is and has a reason to care whether or not it is attained.

3. Stories need to be fixed in time and space. Audiences don’t need every detail, but they want to know: was this last week or 10 years ago? Are we on a street corner in Boston, a Wal-Mart in Iowa, or somewhere else?

4. While people in a story pursue a goal, they tend to talk. Direct quotes let the audience hear your characters’ unique voices, bring the audience into action (which is precisely where you want them), and lend urgency to storytelling.

5. Audiences bore easily. Your story has to make them wonder, “What happens next?” or “How is this going to turn out?” As people in your story pursue their goal, they have to run into obstacles, surprises, or something that makes the audience sit up and take notice.

6. Stories speak the audience’s language. They are colorful (thanks to telling details), concise, and clearly understandable.

7. Stories stir up emotions. Human beings (which should comprise the majority of your audience) will not think about things they do not care about. So you have to make them care before you can get them to think about your issue. That’s the test your story has to meet.

8. Stories don’t tell: they show. Intellectually, your audience will understand a sentence such as, “She felt hostility from the family.” But when you write, “The family wouldn’t look her in the eye,” your audience will see the moment and feel the family’s anger.

9. Stories have clear meaning. When the curtain comes down, your audiences should know why exactly they took this journey with you.

10. Stories are containers of truth. At their essence, the best stories are about how we should treat ourselves, how we should treat other people, or how we should treat the world around us.

#####


Resources for Further Learning

Storytelling as Best Practice By Andy Goodman, available at agoodmanonline.com

Free Range Thinking A free monthly newsletter by Andy Goodman, available at agoodmanonline.com

The Triumph of Narrative by Robert Fulford “Story telling is an attempt to deal with and at least partly contain the terrifyingly haphazard quality of life.”

The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge “I realize that…many otherwise competent managers in leadership positions were not leaders of the same ilk precisely because they saw no larger story.”

The Story Factor by Annette Simmons “In a complex environment, people listen to whomever makes the most sense – whomever tells the best story. Facts don’t have the power to change someone’s story. Your goal is to introduce a new story that will let your facts in.”

Storytelling in Organizations by Yiannis Gabriel “In [a business] environment, amidst the noisy din of facts, numbers, and images, the delicate, time-consuming discourse of storytelling is easily ignored or silenced. Few organizations are spontaneous storytelling cultures.”

Storytelling for Grantseekers: The Guide to Creative Nonprofit Fundraising by Cheryl A Clarke

All Marketers are Liars: The power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World by Seth Godin

Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screen writing by Robert McKee

Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting; a step-by-step guide from concept to finished script by Syd Field.

#####


Additional training and presentation information about Storytelling and other topics is available at www.GoalBusters.net or by emailing info@goalbusters.net.

Labels

Alice Ferris (99) Jim Anderson (72) AFP (41) ACFRE (39) goalbusters (33) GoalBusters Consulting (31) CFRE (30) fundraising (30) Training (23) nonprofit (23) 100 days of gratitude (21) Association of Fundraising Professionals (18) Presentations (18) 100 days (17) 2009 (15) 2014 (15) AFP Conference (15) gratitude (15) AFPNAZ (14) Social Media (14) 2010 (13) 2013 (13) philanthropy (13) 2012 (11) Workshop (11) travel (11) 2011 (10) Flagstaff (9) How To (9) KAWC (8) Volunteer (8) arizona (8) thank you (8) 2008 (7) Facebook (7) Marketing (7) YouTube (7) 2017 (6) FAQ (6) Food (6) Public Radio (6) Storytelling (6) Tips (6) Video (6) LinkedIn (5) Lowell Observatory (5) Making the Ask (5) NFCB (5) Planning (5) Social Networking (5) Webinar (5) restaurants (5) rural fundraising (5) 2016 (4) Air Travel (4) Chinese New Year (4) Christmas (4) Donor (4) Hopi (4) KGHR (4) KUYI (4) Major Gifts (4) Native American (4) PBS (4) Planned Giving (4) Pledge Drive (4) Public Broadcasting (4) Public Television (4) SlideShare (4) Special Events (4) Stevenson (4) Video Production (4) board development (4) ethics (4) stewardship (4) 2015 (3) Arizona PBS (3) Brand (3) Canada (3) Capital Campaign (3) Chinese (3) Community (3) Development Staff (3) Donor Acquisition (3) Economy (3) Elf (3) Elves (3) Goals (3) HEEF (3) Haiku Deck (3) Health Care (3) Holiday (3) Jimisms (3) KAWC Colorado River Public Media (3) Manifesto (3) Mission (3) North Country HealthCare (3) Passion (3) Photography (3) Promotion (3) Research (3) Small Shops (3) Wisconsin (3) Year-End Giving (3) customer service (3) diversity (3) phoenix (3) prescott (3) resolutions (3) yuma (3) 2007 (2) 2020 (2) AFP TechKnow (2) Accreditation (2) Advancing Philanthropy (2) Alice's Restaurants (2) Baltimore (2) Books (2) Business Strategy (2) CFRE International (2) Chronicle of Philanthropy (2) Coaches (2) Commentary (2) Communication (2) Conference (2) Congress (2) Dancing (2) Dr. John H. Caskey III (2) Elta Foster (2) Foodspotting (2) Fundraising Campaign (2) Funny (2) Guiding Principles (2) Honor (2) Hopi Education Endowment Fund (2) House of Philanthropy (2) Humor (2) Immigrant (2) Jib Jab (2) KAET (2) NAU (2) Navajo (2) New Orleans (2) Partners (2) Plan (2) Press Release (2) Profile (2) Prospecting (2) Relationships (2) Respect (2) Resume (2) Reviews (2) Sanders (2) Schultz Fire (2) Singing (2) Strategic Planning (2) TechKnow (2) Toronto (2) Trust (2) Twitter (2) VIP (2) Values (2) Velvet Rope (2) Visionary (2) Vora Finacial (2) accountability (2) anniversary (2) appreciation (2) award (2) career satisfaction (2) change (2) checklist (2) code of ethics (2) crisis (2) crisis communication (2) cultivation (2) culture of philanthropy (2) development (2) development cycle (2) diverse communities (2) education (2) goal setting (2) habits (2) introspection (2) jobs (2) lapsed donors (2) las vegas (2) lessons (2) new year (2) personal (2) san diego (2) tripit (2) washington DC (2) 2019 (1) 30 day plan (1) 60 minutes (1) AFP Foundation Canada (1) AFP Meeting (1) AFPeeps (1) ALD (1) AWC (1) African American (1) Alexis de Tocqueville (1) Alpha Lambda Delta (1) Andrew Philips (1) Angry (1) Animoto (1) Anna LaBenz (1) Annagreta Jacobson (1) Apps (1) Arizona Daily Sun (1) Arizona University (1) Arizona Western College (1) Ask the Experts (1) Bequests (1) Bill Ferris (1) Blink (1) Bloomerang (1) Boot Camp (1) Boudros (1) Branding (1) Broadway (1) CAN-SPAM (1) CEO (1) CN Tower EdgeWalk (1) COVID (1) COVID-19 (1) CPB (1) Career Change (1) Case (1) Center on Philanthropy (1) Certified Fund Raising Executive (1) Charity Channel (1) Charlatans (1) Cheerleaders (1) Children (1) Chris Adams (1) Church (1) City Council (1) Cleveland (1) Cold Call (1) Colorado (1) Commission (1) Community Service (1) Compensation (1) Cook (1) Corporate Giving (1) Credential (1) Credentialing (1) Dan Coughlin (1) Data (1) Dating Game (1) Dave Tinker (1) Desert (1) Dharmesh Vora (1) Discovery Channel Telescope (1) Domestic Violence Shelter (1) Donald Sutherland (1) Donation (1) Douglas Adams (1) Downton Abbey (1) Dr. Carl Myers (1) Dr. William J. Rugg (1) EAA (1) Ed Renzi (1) Efficiency (1) Elevator Speech (1) Entrepreneur Magazine (1) Extraordinary Donor Journey (1) FM (1) FTC (1) Family (1) Fan Pages (1) Farm (1) Fast Food Nation (1) Feasibility Study (1) Feedback (1) Fight Club (1) Flagstaff Community Partnership (1) Flagstaff Shelter Services (1) Flood (1) Flowers (1) Food Bank (1) Foundations (1) Founders Medallion (1) Frances McAllister (1) Free (1) Fundraising Effectiveness Project (1) Gallup Q12 (1) Ginny Z. Berson (1) Girl Scouts (1) Giving USA (1) Global Philanthropic (1) Goldilocks Proposals (1) Granite Mountain Hotshots (1) Grant Writing (1) Grants (1) Grants Step by Step (1) Halifax (1) Hash House A Go Go (1) Hawaii (1) Healthcare (1) Hey Eleanor (1) Hiring (1) Hispanic (1) Homeless (1) Hopi Foundation (1) Hospital (1) Houston (1) IAIA (1) ICON (1) Identity (1) Ignorant (1) Immigration (1) In Kind (1) Indiana University (1) JC Patrick (1) JLB Project (1) January (1) Jetpack America (1) Jim Collins (1) Jimmy LaRose (1) KUAT (1) Kaleidoscope (1) Karla Williams (1) Ken Lain (1) KonMari (1) Kristin Taliaferro (1) KristinCoach (1) Latino (1) Lawrence Welk (1) Le Pavillon (1) Legacy (1) Living Social (1) Lodging (1) Los Angeles (1) Lotus of Siam (1) MIP (1) Mabel's on Main (1) Madison (1) Makeover Series (1) Malcolm Brett (1) Malcolm Gladwell (1) Margo Hudson (1) Marshall Rosenberg (1) Mary W. Black (1) Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1) McDonalds (1) Meeting Facilitation (1) Methodist (1) Mexican (1) Michael Nilsen (1) Middle East (1) Mike Geiger (1) Montessori in the Park (1) Mr Rogers (1) MySpace (1) NAFB (1) NANOE (1) NPR (1) NSU (1) NaNope (1) Nan Bain (1) Nepal (1) New York (1) News (1) Nietzche (1) Nonviolent Communication (1) Northern Arizona University (1) Organizational Readiness (1) Orlando (1) Oshkosh (1) Ottawa (1) PMDMC (1) PRPD (1) Pacifica (1) Pandemic (1) Parade (1) Partners in Recognition (1) Paul Helford (1) Philanthropist (1) Pittsburgh (1) Plenary Speaker (1) Politics (1) Porgy and Bess (1) Prezi (1) Proposal (1) Publications (1) Quentin Lee (1) Questions (1) Racial Profiling (1) Raku (1) Review (1) Rick Swanson (1) River City Grill (1) Riverwalk (1) Robbe Healey (1) Robert Kiyosaki (1) Ronald McDonald House (1) Rose Marie Ferris (1) SB1070 (1) SEO (1) SWOT (1) San Antonio (1) Saskatoon (1) Scottsdale (1) Service (1) Serving Your Community (1) Shared History (1) Soroptimists (1) Speaker (1) Sponsors (1) Sponsorship (1) Spring (1) Stephen Hawking (1) Stereotypes (1) Strategic Thinking (1) Super Size me (1) Suze Orman (1) Sweets Raku (1) Taco Trucks (1) Target Marketing (1) Team (1) Teamwork (1) Television (1) Teri Sanders (1) Texas (1) Thanksgiving (1) Tim Burcham (1) Timothy Sandoval (1) Toolkit (1) Tough (1) Tough Economy (1) Train (1) Tucson (1) Tweets (1) United President's Club (1) Vernon Kahe (1) WBAI (1) Watters Garden Center (1) Whitney Anderson (1) WikiHow (1) Wills (1) Winnipeg (1) Wisconsin Public Television (1) Women's March on Washington (1) Woodford Reserve (1) Yarnell (1) Yarnell Fire (1) Year in review (1) Year of the Sheep (1) Yellow Pages (1) accidental fundraiser (1) administration (1) adventures (1) assessment (1) astronomy (1) beliefs (1) birthday (1) board of governors (1) board service (1) breaking up (1) brochures (1) budget cuts (1) business practices (1) career (1) career development (1) cats (1) cliques (1) community radio (1) conversations (1) difficult people (1) dinner parties (1) donor focused (1) donor pyramid (1) election 2016 (1) end of relationship (1) essay (1) executive director (1) federal funding (1) firefighters (1) for profit (1) high school (1) hotels (1) ikigai (1) inspiration (1) jetpack (1) job seeking (1) keynote (1) leadership (1) lemons (1) loss (1) mentoring (1) millennials (1) monthly giving (1) motivation (1) multicultural (1) nomination (1) oklahoma city (1) organizational culture (1) outstanding professional (1) peoria (1) personal growth (1) potlucks (1) productivity (1) receptions (1) recognition (1) red flags (1) remembrance (1) sales (1) san francisco (1) scholarships (1) science (1) setbacks (1) star thrower (1) starfish (1) sustaining members (1) tempe (1) thirtysomething (1) three cups of tea (1) to do (1) transformational (1) vlog (1) volunteers (1) wildland fire (1) winslow (1)