Not all stories are created equal. As non-profits, we’ve got many stories to tell but which ones should we be telling? Do you have hundreds of stories to choose from and aren’t sure which ones will elicit the kind of action you are looking for? Or, do you struggle to dig one up for each campaign? Not all stories will give you the results you are looking for. To help you find your best stories, we will review the fundamentals of storytelling to uncover what elements make the most powerful stories. Then, through examples, we will look at the two most important types of stories a non-profit should be telling – the ones that actually result in action! We’ll then brush upon how you can use this key information to help you find and revise your great stories and how you can keep them alive over time through your online communications channels and throughout your organization to create the biggest impact. -- This presentation was originally given at TechSoup's Net Tuesday event by Lisa Horvat from Strategic Storytellers - http://strategicstorytellers.com http://www.techsoupcanada.ca/community/events/toronto_net_tuesday_storytelling-that-get-results

1. The Right Story @ The Right Time
Lisa Horvat
lisa@strategicstorytellers.com
Twitter: @lisahorvat

11. Story Test
National Health Organization
(2 random 300K email groups)
• Version 1: General institutional
approach outlining the org’s
accomplishments & need
• Version 2: Personal approach
around story of 1 young person
diagnosed with debilitating disease
M+R Strategic Services 2011

12. The Personal Story Trap

14. Fundraising Stories
• Explaining stories
–build trust with your org
• Donor-centric stories
–compel individual to act

15. Explaining Stories
Nesting season for sea turtles is
always fraught with danger from
threats like entanglement in
fishing gear and habitat
degradation. But this year, sea
turtles must also face the fallout
from the worst oil spill in history.

16. Explaining Stories
Getting caught in fishing gear is
bad enough. But this year, sea
turtles faced a much more
horrifying threat: Dirty, sticky oil
from the worst spill in history.

17. 100K Homes

18. Yonge Street Mission

19. Donor-Centric Stories
Your membership gift right now
could decide whether we see new
federal assaults on equality and
new bans on same-sex couples
marrying – or whether millions of
couples will have their love
recognized for the first time.

20. WWF-Canada
.

21. invisiblePEOPLE

22. Storytelling Tips
• Use explaining stories to
– Get people interested in you, your issue
– Bring statistics to life
– Get people to want to know more

23. Storytelling Tips
• Use donor-centric stories to
– Get people to take action
– Get donors to see themselves as a part of
the story
– Place your donor in the story or tell the
story of someone your work helps that your
donor can relate to

24. Storytelling Tips
• Bring something unexpected to life
– Make sure it is memorable
– Be genuine
– Needs to be at a human scale
– Is it compelling enough to be spreadable?
– Make sure it ‘shows’, leaves a visual imprint

29. Find The P.H.A.T.
Passion
– Does the story have enough passion to engage
the emotions of the target audience?
– Are the stakes high enough? Is it authentic?
Hero
– Does the story provide a clear point of view?
Antagonist
– Are there obstacles that confront the hero?
Transformation
– Does the story have the power to change the
life of the audience in a meaningful way?

39. Books
Made To Stick
by Chip & Dan Heath
Stories That Sell
by Casey Hibbard
Improving Your Storytelling
by Doug Lipman
Squirrels Inc
by Stephen Denning