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When Everything Seems Urgent

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“Are you serious about doing business with me?”

Diana was a real talent: a former Director of Development for another nonprofit organization who was working part-time these days while raising very young twins. We were lucky she was available. Our nonprofit organization had a lot of grant proposals to write in a short span of time and could not do it all ourselves. But here she was, fuming.

“Dennis, you introduced me to your Executive Director and everything appeared to go well. I sent her a proposal over a week ago. I’ve called and left voice mail messages. I’ve reached out to her by email. She’s just not calling me back. Do you have any idea what’s going on?”

I knew the Executive Director wanted to work with this consultant, and that we were just on the edge of losing her. Never mind that it was 2010, in the depths of the Great Recession, and our anti-poverty agency was working harder than it ever had before. We had not treated this highly professional woman with the courtesy she deserved. It was up to me to win her back.

“Diana,” I said, “I know we have been really, really slow to respond to you, and I want to let you know that we do want to work with you. In fact, we need to work with you. It’s just that we’re so stressed out right now that we haven’t had the time or the clarity to do what would take the stress away. Please forgive us and be patient.”

“Too stressed to do what would take the stress away.” Diana had been there. So have I and, I’ll guess, so have you. Whether it’s hiring outside help for the short term or setting up systems for the long term, we say to ourselves that we’ll get around to that…once we take care of today’s to-do list. Then the day ends, we still haven’t relieved the stress, and so it goes on and on.

There is a way out of this self-defeating cycle. It involves knowing what comes first.  For the way out: http://www.trippbraden.com/2015/02/27/relieve-stress-at-work/

In the Beginning, Our Nonprofit…

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creation story

How do you tell your creation story?

One of the stories that nonprofits should know how to tell is what Andy Goodman calls the creation story. This story shares who started the organization, why it was started, and when it was started.

Your staff, Board, and membership can be informed and inspired by the story of “how we got here.” Here’s a creation story that made a difference to me.

When my wife and I came to Temple B’nai Brith in 1990, about half the members were retirees, in their 70’s and 80’s. The other half were people in their 30’s and early 40’s, with almost no one in between. The temple had existed since the early twentieth century, but by the time we arrived, the way it ran was so different, it was essentially a new organization.

We asked the younger generation, “How did you get involved in running a synagogue, in partnership with people old enough to be your parents?”

They told us:

We liked the people. We liked the building. We started spending time here on Saturday mornings. Eventually, the older generation came to us and said, “Look, we’re not getting any younger–you’re going to have to take over this synagogue.”

That came as a shock. It was surprising enough to some of us that we would even attend a synagogue–let alone run one!

The younger generation got together and decided we would present our elders with a demand they probably wouldn’t accept. We said, “If we take over this synagogue, we’re going to count women and men equally for all purposes. Ritual, membership, voting, you name it.”

The older folks thought a bit and said, “Well we’ve never done it that way before ….” (and we thought we  were off the hook!)

And then they said “…but we know a lot of places are doing it that way now, and we know you young women will take it just as seriously as the men, so…okay. What else do you want?”

And we couldn’t think of anything else! So now, it’s our synagogue. And we love it.

Look at what this story told Rona and me about the organization we were joining.

  • It’s based on friendships between people of different generations.
  • Members run it.
  • Members are committed to it.
  • Egalitarian values steer it.
  • Change is a part of its identity.

Because we knew the story, we knew what we were getting into: what we could expect and what was expected of us.

What’s your organization’s creation story? What does it tell the people who work there about why it exists and how they should act in the future?

Why Does Your Work Matter? Tell the Story

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Once upon a time“I never really understood what our nonprofit did until I heard what we did for my friend.”

That was a Board member speaking.

The nonprofit the Board member (let’s call him Paul) served was trying to end poverty in the local community. Preventing evictions, and keeping people in their homes, was a key to keeping families from sliding into poverty.

Paul had joined three years earlier. He had faithfully attended Board meetings every month. Then, somebody he knew personally lost his job and couldn’t pay the rent. The friend and his family were threatened with eviction. Desperate, they called Paul. He called the program staff.

Paul followed the case over the weeks and months. He heard how the staff helped his friend go to court and get more time. Then, they helped the friend apply for help paying the rent…and the heat, gas, and electric bills.

Still, without enough income, the friend could not afford to stay in that apartment. If he did nothing, he and his family would end up on the street. Paul watched in amazement as the organization where he served on the Board found his friend a new place with a lower rent and helped move his family in.

Attending Board meetings had not shown Paul the real reason the organization needs to exist. He found that out from his friend’s story.

Tell the Story First

Why do people need your services? What are you trying to do? This is what Andy Goodman calls the “Nature of Our Challenge Story.” Do you really want to show why your work matters? Don’t give me facts and figures. First, tell me a story.

This is hard advice for nonprofits to take! We are so used to being told we are “soft-headed idealists” and challenged to produce data. The truth is that funders who demand measurable outcomes are pushing us in the wrong direction. Even they need to understand why our work matters before they can tell how much. The why is a story.

What’s important when we talk with funders is crucial when we reach out to donors. If you want me to act, you have to touch my heart. Storytelling is the most powerful way to do that. As Network for Good tells us,

Donors tend to give twice as much when presented with a story about an affected individual, as opposed to reading huge abstract numbers of the overall scope of a problem.

What Makes a Story a Story?

Not every way of saying what happened is a story. Let’s quote Andy Goodman again: “To make sure you cover all of the basics of story structure here are the beginnings of 7 sentences that can help you with the process.”

  • Once upon a time… (This starts the story off and introduces our protagonist)
  • And every day… (This will set up how life was before the Inciting Incident)
  • Until one day… (This begins the action of the story with the Inciting Incident and the Goal)
  • And because of this… (This introduces the barriers or obstacles the protagonist faces)
  • And because of this… (There could be several barriers)
  • Until finally…(This ends the story with the Resolution)

Let’s try that out! In the Comments section, take a stab at telling the “Nature of Our Challenge” story for your nonprofit. More than 1100 readers of this blog can give you advice on how to make your storytelling better…and I will chip in, too.

Why does your work matter? Tell us the story!

 

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