How Do I Tell A Story That Resonates With My Donors?
Telling stories that resonate with donors is an important strategy to implement. Here’s what we learned from Vanessa Chase Lockshin of The Storytelling Nonprofit. The post How do I tell a story that resonates with my donors? appeared first on Keela.
As a storyteller within the nonprofit sector, you are tasked with the unique challenge of communicating impact and convincing people to get involved — often simultaneously. It’s a tough thing to do, but there is one thing that makes it a bit easier: Resonance.
Last year, at Capacity Conference, our friend Vanessa Chase Lockshin from The Storytelling Non-Profit shared a presentation about creating binge-worthy stories. And it all revolved around the idea of resonance. On the most basic level, resonance is when something deeply connects and reverberates for someone — often at a values or personal level.
The more that your stories resonate with donors, the more likely they are to consume that story and get the information that you want them to receive. This also means that they are more likely to understand your organization, and hopefully make a donation as well!
So the question remains — how do I tell stories that resonate with donors? The answer can be found in how much you know your donors.
When you know your audience, you are able to tailor the content for them. You can give them the messages that they want to hear, in the format that they would like to receive it in. Going further, you can even deliver that message at a time that they are more likely to read the message. You can write in a tone that will communicate with those donors even more effectively. Any and everything can be tweaked to make your message more impactful, and more binge-worthy.
In order to know your audience, consider collecting information using:
• Surveys
• Donor profiles
Both of these tools are used to help you understand who you are communicating with. And once you have a better understanding of who these people are — start getting critical about the content you are creating. Ask questions like, “ would our audience like this based on what we know? ” This question will help you and your team to always think in terms of making data-driven decisions. There are so many pieces of data that would be helpful, including giving data, demographics, and even psychographics.
The next step is actually crafting your story. Put your narrative together with the end goal of resonating with your audience. Understand who they are, and then write for them.