Nonprofit storytelling plays an important role in fundraising, and is integral to the Simple Development Systems methodology. Join us every Monday as we share ways nonprofit organizations are connecting with their donors through the power of storytelling.
“Somebody once wrote that there’s no more seductive sentence in the English language than ‘I want to hear your story,’ and maybe they’re right. Because often you don’t have to do any more than just say that.”
Mitch Albom
Don’t look now but your storytelling world just got a whole lot bigger. Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest…it seems like every day a new medium lands on the scene. These days a picture really is worth a thousand words. So what are the rules for visual storytelling?
- Stay short and sweet. The Internet creates shorter attention spans. Shorter attention spans = shorter stories.
- What’s your purpose? Remember, the goal of your photographs or video is not to share how you do what you do (no one cares), but rather the successful outcomes. What’s the end goal of your story? What do you want people to do?
- Jargon free. Just as with any written story, your visual storytelling must be free of acronyms and jargon.
- The power of one. Don’t try to cram everything your organization does into one video. One single story carries more power.
Facebook revealed in a white paper that its users have uploaded more than 250 billion photos, and are uploading 350 million new photos each day. To put that into perspective, that would mean that each of Facebook’s 1.15 billion users have uploaded an average of 217 photos apiece. Photos crush it on Facebook — along with videos. When you post to Facebook, are you thinking in terms of stories? Even a photograph can tell a story, as this example from Wounded Warrior’s Facebook page shows:
Scope, a nonprofit that exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else, knows the power of storytelling with pictures.
The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust shared the story of Simotua with this heartbreaking photo, and wrote:
His leg has a terrible injury caused by a rope snare, and then, as if that was not enough suffering for one so young, he has a deep spear wound in his skull. Estimated to be 15 months old, he is incredibly thin having been without his mother for significant time before being rescued.
We have named him Simotua and we hope that with tender loving care and ongoing veterinary attention we can save this unfortunate but extremely brave calf who has gone through unimaginable physical and emotional suffering.
We ask you to share Simotua’s story, so that his situation might help open people’s eyes to the suffering caused by poaching. People’s desire for ivory trinkets not only claims the lives of elephants, it often leaves infants orphaned and all too often bearing terrible injuries.
In both Simple Development Systems: Successful Fundraising for the One-Person Shop, and my membership program, the focus is on creating a sustainable fundraising program by always keeping your donors front and center. We do it by sharing our stories – online, through email, and through direct mail – on a consistent basis. Join us every week for Power of Nonprofit Storytelling (Mondays), What’s in my Inbox (Tuesdays), and What’s in my Mailbox (Wednesdays).
View Pamela Grow's profile
I can’t wait to meet with you personally.
Comments on this entry are closed.