STORYTELLING
Should Start-up Non-profit Professionals Invest Heavily In Storytelling ?
By Grace Akinyi Oduor
Are you working in a start-up non-profit organization that is currently investing heavily in storytelling ? Do you understand the importance of storytelling and the different ways you can do it effectively ?
From creating emotional connections to enhancing brand visibility , encouraging people to take action and inspiring audiences , storytelling is a powerful tool that should be leveraged upon by ALL non-profit organizations as they work to advance their mission and vision .
Why storytelling matters
“ Storytelling is the greatest technology that humans have ever created .” - Jon Westenberg .
Storytelling for start-up non-profit organizations is very important and needs to be embedded in the marketing and communications strategy . Through storytelling , non-profits are able to showcase the impact of their work to donors , partners , volunteers , media , and the wider public . They are also able to raise the visibility of the organization , connect with different audiences by sharing stories that tap into their emotions which can result in immediate actions such as donations , requests for partnerships and sign-ups for volunteering opportunities .
Aside from sharing statistics on the impact of your non-profit ’ s
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From creating emotional connections to enhancing brand visibility , encouraging people to take action and inspiring audiences , storytelling is a powerful tool that should be leveraged upon by ALL non-profit organizations as they work to advance their mission and vision . work , various audiences would be more inspired to support your cause if you share stories about the people you have supported and provide a glimpse into how their lives have changed . Failure to capture any form of documentation as you implement your various projects highly affects the awareness and knowledge that people will have about the work you have been doing thereafter . Prioritizing storytelling can really bring about a powerful impact in the long run .
Storytelling formats
Non-profit storytelling can take different formats including : written case stories , photos , videos , short form content online , Animations , TEDTalks , awareness and fundraising campaigns , case studies and impact reports .
Storytelling : What you need to do
In order to effectively work on storytelling , non-profit professionals in communication should : Develop an effective storytelling strategy with details on frequency of collecting stories from the field ; Understand your audience , who you want to reach , and why you wish to target them ; Create a content calendar with clear objectives ( fundraising , awareness , sign ups ); Identify the team that will be responsible to gather great stories ; Ensure storytelling becomes part of your non-profit ’ s organizational culture by initiating meetings where people can share recent stories ; Make sure all of your staff , board and volunteers understand how and why stories are used in fundraising and communications .
Further , you need to : Determine resource allocation including the money required to complete the storytelling activities as well as the amount of time involved ; Develop a pipeline of compelling stories and map them out ; Assess the profile of interviewees and select unique compelling storylines ; Prepare interview questions in advance ( 5W , 1H approach ); Provide some quick interview tips and photography tips to the team for capturing inspiring moments ; Plan and schedule field visits to capture stories with support from the team in the field and external photography and videography consultants .
It is crucial to have printed consent forms in place for interviewees to give written consent for use of the story . Remember to explain
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