Communicate!

Helping you win loyal friends through your communications

Fundraising Tuesday: The Tale of the Rigged Raffle

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storytelling boardThe organization had a lot of money to raise: for an elevator, a new roof, and to pay salaries.

The Board President wanted the Board members to practice telling their stories to potential donors. But all she was hearing were generalities and grand narratives.

So I told the Board a story.

The Tale of the Rigged Raffle

When my wife and I first set foot in our synagogue in 1990, shortly after we moved to Somerville, MA, it was because two friends separately invited us. Rona and I are very different kinds of Jews. I tutor kids for bar and bat mitzvah. She goes to shul when there’s a wedding, a bar or bat mitzvah, or a holiday. Not just any place would suit both of us.

We went to a Sunday brunch first, to see if we’d like the people.

They sat us down across from two of the older members, Morrie and Ada. Morrie was the type who, five minutes after he met you, he’d know where you grew up, where you lived now, what you did, and what committee you should be on. In the same amount of time, Ada would know all about your family, and make you feel like part of hers.

During the brunch, we were invited to buy tickets for a raffle, and being the warmly welcomed guests, we thought we’d pitch in for a ticket or two.

The people who managed the raffle made sure that we won. Our prize? A bottle of Manischewitz sweet red wine, as big as my head!Manischewitz bottle

Rona and I looked at each other, bemused. What were we going to do with our new-found treasure?

Then Morrie leaned across the table and said in his hoarse Yiddish-accented voice, “The custom is to donate it back to the Temple for kiddush (the blessing over wine after services).”

“We will be happy to donate the bottle back to the Temple!” we said.

Shortly after that, Rona and I became members. We’ve been there over twenty-five years. And the Board was the current governing body of that same synagogue.

Now That’s a Story!

What made my anecdote memorable?

People–Rona and me–with a problem: would we ever find a synagogue that fit us?

They meet new characters (and I do mean characters): Morrie and Ada.

They encounter a new problem: how to make ourselves at home with a place that thinks a giant-sized bottle of Manischewitz is a prize.

They receive advice and help (donate it back) and reach their destination (a place where we could belong).

Are You Telling Winning Stories?

Storytelling connects your organization with the supporters you want–especially if you make the donor the hero of the story. But don’t leave the success of your storytelling to chance.

Rig your stories with people, problems, helpful characters, challenges, and solutions. That way, you know who will win: both you and your donor.

And if you want more great advice about telling a memorable story: The Storytelling Non-Profit Virtual Conference begins tomorrow, February 10, 2016!

The One Way to Get Donors to Give Again and Again

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59% of donors don't repeatDoes your nonprofit live and die by donations? Chances are you’re dying.

You work so hard to get a donation, especially at the end of the year. By next year, however, more than half those donors–59%–will disappear. You will never hear from them again.

It’s even worse with new donors. Three-quarters of them never repeat.

This is a race nonprofits can’t win.  That’s why your nonprofit will die, maybe even in 2015…unless you find a way to make donors want to give to you again and again.

Fortunately, there is a way.

Giving donors the stories they want to hear can mean life or death for your organization. Share on X

How can you increase the chance that a person who gave once will give again?

People give their first gift to your organization for a variety of quirky reasons. When they  continue to give, it’s for one reason: because they have come to know, like, and trust you.

People give when you build a relationship with them, and the key to that relationship is great communication.

Great communication begins with the thank-you letter, but it doesn’t end there. A newsletter is a good thing, too, but a newsletter full of what’s happening inside your organization will do nothing to keep your donors.

So what kind of communication does work? A June 2014 survey by nonprofit technology research firm Software Advice found that sixty percent of donors want impact stories to see how their first donation is making a difference.”You must find, recognize, collect, and share those stories in all your communications.

Become a storytelling nonprofit

It takes a team of people to collect and tell your stories.

  1. People with day-to-day experience. They could be your direct service staff or volunteers, your Board members, your customers or clients. Develop them as sources, so they look out for stories you can tell.
  2. Writers. Someone who can take other people’s words and make them sing in print is essential to your team.
  3. Photographers/videographers. A picture may not be worth a thousand words. It may, however, make all the words you write more meaningful and memorable.
  4. Artists. Sometimes a good graphic is more powerful than a photo (and often, easier to produce when you need it).
  5. Tech people. Because your newsletter, blog, email, Facebook post, or video is no good if nobody sees it! Someone has to keep the system up and running and figure out the glitches as they occur.
  6. Editor. You need a consistent tone to your communications, and they must appear regularly so your audience expects them. Put one person in charge.

Get expert help

Most of all, what you need is someone who will look at your organization with the eyes of a donor. It’s all too easy to fall back into “We held this event” or “We hired this new person”–but that’s not what your donors want!

A communications consultant can help you recognize and shape the stories your donors want to hear. There are ways your organization can afford a consultant, even if you don’t have one in the budget yet. And the investment is worth it.

Your donors are waiting to hear what difference their donations are making. They won’t wait forever. Get the help you need to make sure they give again and again.

 

 

 

6 Ways to Build Stronger Nonprofits through Storytelling

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Sometimes we in the nonprofit world think we have to be all business. Facts, data, measurable outcomes, even social return on investment, a concept we have borrowed from business.

Meanwhile, in the for-profit world, the hot new thing is storytelling.

What kinds of stories can your nonprofit tell? To whom? For what purpose?  Here are six ways nonprofits can use storytelling.  (I’ve translated from the business language of writer Mike Allton).

  1. Stories About How You Got Started. What burning social question did your organization try to solve? What interesting characters took up the challenge? What adversity have you faced, and how are you succeeding? Tell this story when you:
    • Bring new staff onboard, or the veteran staff need inspiration.
    • Orient new Board members.
    • Introduce yourself to new prospects.
    • Look back in order to look forward and plan for the future.
  2. Stories About How You Work. What can people expect from your organization? Tell this story when you meet new clients, pitch new donors, or talk to new partner organizations about working together.
  3. Stories That Teach.
    Don’t be dry, and don’t be preachy. A story can help people see for themselves what they should do. Tell this story when you’re training staff…or when you’re changing minds. Advocacy is more convincing when it comes in the form of a story.
  4. Stories That Communicate Vision. Why are you in business? What do you hope to accomplish? Tell this story when people are getting off track or lost in the difficult details of the daily grind. Tell it to restore clarity and build toward consensus.
  5. Stories That Demonstrate Your Values.
    Once upon a time, I put together a newsletter for my agency. We were ready to mail it when the client who was the central figure in the lead article came in and said, “I don’t want my photo and my story in your newsletter.” His caseworker and the receptionist looked to see how I’d react. “You own your story,” I said. “We will throw out the newsletters we’ve printed and redo it.” The story of what I had done circulated through the agency–and it said more about our values than any memo. Tell this story at every opportunity.
  6. Stories That Overcome Objections. Nonprofits must “sell” their services to clients, donors, funders, and regulatory agencies.  Each of them worries about wasting their time and money.  A story about how you helped a client in a similar situation will help that worry to disappear. Tell this story when that’s what it takes to close the deal.

Here’s a plan for you. Once a week for the next six weeks, scribble down the basics of one of these stories. Then, practice telling it out loud to someone. Before summer ends, you’ll have be ready to find the opportunities to tell these tales. The more you tell them, the stronger your organization will become.

So, ready, set, story!

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