Feb 24, 2021
The Thing About Fundraising And Storytelling
Storytelling is very powerful in nonprofit management and marketing. This is something we’ve always emphasized in our discussions at Impacty. The power of storytelling is undeniably great.
Many fundraising tip givers and teachers have explained this.
What’s The Thing About Storytelling and Fundraising?
- Empathy. Your potential donors are humans, not robots and so you have to appeal to their emotions in a kind of way. Empathy is a powerful tool and it is readily available through storytelling.
People don’t just bring out their hard-earned money and splatter it on a cause you feel is so important to the world. They have to see through your eyes and storytelling does this.
- Storytelling helps you find a point of connection with your donors. Stories often have a point of intersection or similarity. You just might give your donor a reason to remember something they consider important through your story. This is so important.
- Storytelling is compelling. You need the traffic to generate funds too. Storytelling makes people interested in what you have to say. Once you have their ears, half the job is done.
- Storytelling helps people see their role in changing the world. Like Community Funded stated, fundraising isn’t about begging. It’s positioning yourself as an expert to solve a problem and inviting others to be a part of making an impact with you. Invite people to take part in the adventure and show them what they can help you overcome. You’re not begging for bucks! You’re changing the world, and you’re doing it by telling a story.
- Stories bring your work to life. The breath into the day-to-day work you do. Stories make your work human. They give us the power to connect emotionally on our shared values — values that allow individuals to unite in action despite different experiences and perspectives. Stories connect donors to the beneficiaries that are benefiting from their contribution while showcasing the pressing need for your work. (Kindful.com)
The stories you tell to access funds might not necessarily have to be the story of your work or organisation. It can also be the story of one of your volunteers.
Look at this:
Donor –passionate about children from your research, and your work is on climate change. There’s no possible point of contact but you have a volunteer who is a single mum.
Look at this conversation.
Donor: So what do you do?
You: It’s hard to say what we do in a few words but I’ll like to tell you through the voice of one of our mobilisation team member.
Her name is Aisha. She’s a single mum from Kebbi State. One day, she looked me in the eye and said that she might have been more passionate about our work in our organisation than I was. She said preserving the environment meant that she was building future earth for her daughter and that was the least she could do for her daughter, Annabelle.
I wish everyone could buy into Aisha’s dream for the world. One of the ways to do this is to join our team and the other way is to donate to our next major project — #PreserveTheWorld 2021.
How was that? Did you see the magic of storytelling here? That’s the thing!
