5 Storytelling Elements That Will Energize Your Nonprofit Campaign
In his book The Storytelling Animal, Jonathan Gottschall writes: “We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.”
Stories are how we make sense of the world. Right or wrong, accurate or inaccurate, they are critical for processing the overwhelming amounts of information we consume each day.
Experts estimate that the average person sees between 6,000 and 10,000 sales messages every day. For nonprofits to have a chance at cutting through that noise— not to mention persuade people to do something as counterintuitive as giving away their money—it is essential that their fundraising and marketing campaigns harness the power of storytelling.
Nonprofit Storytelling
Nonprofits already have a huge advantage when it comes to storytelling: the stakes are high. You’re not having to engage in any pyrotechnics to try and get us to care about toilet paper. There’s already plenty of conflict, drama, and emotional appeal.
The trick is drawing audiences into that narrative and making them a part of the drama.
They aren’t just the audience, they are the cast. And likewise, their donation isn’t just money; it’s the tool that they must use to save the day. Effective fundraising campaigns transform audiences into heroes, but to do that, you’ve got to know how to tell a good story.
Storytelling Basics for Fundraising Campaigns
So what does it take to tell a good story?
1. Character
As a nonprofit, it can be tempting to think of yourself as the main character. After all, you are the ones actually making the plan, doing the work. But for your campaign, it’s better to think of yourself as a supporting character.
You are the guide, the one who has the solution that the main character needs to pursue in order to become the hero and save the day. Who’s the main character, then? You got it: it’s your audience.
2. Conflict
In every good story, the hero wants something. In the best stories, they want multiple things. There are immediate desires and big-picture desires.
Immediate desires are the types of things we can satisfy in the here and now. For example, maybe in your campaign the hero wants to ensure that a group of underserved children learns to read this summer. That’s something tangible that we can accomplish in the short term.
Big-picture desires are larger in scale and often harder to measure. The only way to accomplish them is via incremental progress. For example, by helping this group of children learn to read, perhaps we’re promoting a more just and equitable society in which people are given the resources they need to empower themselves and pursue opportunity.
Good storytelling connects these two ideas and leverages them to engage audiences more deeply.
3. Risk
It’s one thing to want something; it’s another thing to need something. The difference, of course, is the stakes. Again, the stakes for nonprofits are already high. However, this is where it gets tricky: because your audience members are the heroes, your campaign needs to focus—at least in part—on the risk to them.
They may not have much personal investment in whether or not a group of children learns to read this summer, but they do have a great deal of investment in a world where quality literacy training is available to all children regardless of national, ethnic, or socioeconomic background. Paying ample attention to big-picture desires helps engage audience members in ways they can relate to and invest in.
4. Action
It’s tough to motivate people without offering solutions. Potential donors and supporters are more likely to avoid issues they cannot influence than engage with them. As the guide, you must equip your audiences with ways to take action. Donations are a part of that, but in your story, they are really just symbols.
What do donations mean for this group of children learning to read? Do they provide books, instructors, healthy snacks, transportation … ? Here you want to focus on the immediate problems. These are tangible things your audience members can help with. From there, you can pan out to show how their support also addresses the big-picture issues.
5. Resolution
You’ve communicated the problem, you’ve communicated the stakes. You’ve engaged your audience as the heroes of this drama and equipped them with what they need to save the day. And it worked! They donated. The story doesn't end there though. You don’t roll to credits the moment the hero cuts the red wire. You’ve got to give them a happy ending.
In practical terms, you’ve got to thank them, being sure to let them know the impact they have had and what it means going forward. How do you plan to keep them engaged? What other opportunities are there for them to help serve your mission? This person is a hero now—make sure they stick around for the sequel.
Narrative Arch
Your marketing and fundraising campaign assets need to tell a story, but one aspect of storytelling we haven’t discussed yet is timing. Novels don’t give the same amount of space to each event. A story’s climax might occur within the span of a few pages, even though it’s what the entire story has been building up to. Likewise, you want to structure your campaign and assets to build emphasis at the right moments.
Studies show that audiences are more likely to donate the closer you get to your goal. To capitalize on that, you want to make sure that both the frequency and the urgency of your communications increase as you approach the end of the campaign. Make sure you’re communicating how close you are, how much you still need, and—as always—both what is at stake and what their donations really mean.
The Story Belongs to Us All
Donations aren’t dollars; they’re food for the hungry, shelter for the displaced, care for the suffering, and pathways for the disenfranchised to empower themselves and seize opportunity.
As nonprofits, you know what you do and what it means. Storytelling isn’t communicating that to audiences, it’s making them feel, invest, and ultimately take ownership of it. In the end, you’re recruiting partners, not funders. And trust us: that’s worth more than any dollar amount.
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