Collecting & Sharing Stories: 3 steps to success
On your journey to create a better world through your nonprofit you are building a strong, vibrant organization. There are many pieces that fit together to make that happen. Maybe the most important is building an ever-growing community of support. That requires resources.
Luckily, there are stories.
Strategic and purpose-driven storytelling is a resource for you to use to create awareness, engage communities, spark action and drive change.
Stories help you raise money, attract volunteers, educate the board, develop partnerships, honor clients and more.
Stories make it possible to package your work and share it with the world.
First, Make Room
When you see the value of stories you may be inspired to clear space to make them part of your internal culture.
Start where you are. Consider which of these may work for you as you begin to use stories to communicate better, raise more money, and grow faster:
Asking someone in your organization to be the keeper of stories.
Presenting a storytelling workshop using the fairy tale formula.
Offering opportunities to share Minor Miracles.
Making story telling a part of your regular meetings.
Asking clients to share their stories.
Encouraging board members and staff to discover their story with the Why Me? exercise from the previous section.
Your next team meeting might cover the value of stories, or how to tell a story, or be an opportunity to share a Minor Miracle.
Have fun with stories. Celebrate success!
Next, Give Stories a Place
Stories are all around you. As a nonprofit, you are doing good work, creating stories that the world wants to hear. Turning your work into memorable stories will give you a library of resources for fundraising and recruitment of staff, volunteers, board members, and clients.
The challenge – and opportunity – is to capture them so they are accessible and ready for sharing.
Like a database for donations, creating a way to file and retrieve stories gives you tools you need for promotion, grants, and events. This can be as high tech or low tech as you need, depending on the size and budget of your organization.
To inspire and encourage the gathering of stories:
Provide easy formats for creation.
Offer accessible places to deposit them.
Make it easy to retrieve and share stories.
You can capture Minor Miracles, your founder’s story, and other important moments in many formats. An employee with a phone can create a video or, if the budget allows, you can hire a videographer to capture stories.
Your stories may be in words and pictures on paper, in computer files, in video or audio format. Together they create a full library of treasures ready for sharing.
One large research nonprofit asks everyone in the organization to share a Minor Miracle every month. These are often stories that would have been overlooked otherwise.
The employee sharing the story feels honored and valued.
Each month one or more stories are written, recorded, or filmed to become part of the library. These little victories add up to a happy, healthy organization focused on success.
Finally, Spread Them Out
Sharing stories is a great way to get more of what you need. Every time you share a story you may have the opportunity to start a new relationship. Imagine where they may lead!
Which of these may work for you and your organization now or in the weeks ahead:
Posting on social media. (BONUS! Social sharing gives you a way to measure impact.)
Seeking speaking opportunities in your community.
Providing story sharing time at your next team meeting.
Showing a client testimonial video at your next event.
Sharing a story with local media including newspaper or television.
Being a podcast guest to share success stories.
Your Path to Fast Growth
With your Story Culture embedded in your organization, you are ready to continue your journey to Sparkle! You’ve used this leadership book to take you from Vision, to Voice, and now on to Synergy.
#Sparkle #nonprofitchampion #nonprofit
Merle Benny, author of Sparkle! Create a Brighter, Stronger Nonprofit. This newsletter appears weekly on Tueday morning.