While all businesses have a story to tell, the nonprofit sector’s donation component makes storytelling imperative. You have to demonstrate how the work you do supports your mission, strengthens the community and/or changes lives. You can do that through data, but people are more likely to be moved by the human interest stories that make up your daily work. 

If you’re a high-functioning nonprofit, you have more stories to tell than you realize. Often, when we partner with clients, part of the rhythm we create is in story-sharing. And in making that process, I sometimes find that great stories are held in waiting because of hesitance to share them. What are those reasons, and why do you need to push through them as leaders? Here are five I’ve identified that could be standing in your way. 

One-and-done storytelling

“We’ve already told that story” is not a valid excuse in today’s landscape. The average person is inundated with messages and stories from the moment they turn off their phone alarm until they fall asleep scrolling TikTok at the end of the day. The likelihood that your singular email, social media post, website article or news story hit feeds en masse and made a tangible impact on a significant number of people’s memories is unlikely. Thoughtful repetition is the name of the game. As a bonus for nonprofit leaders, enabling your team to reshare stories (with a new twist) is an efficient way to leverage your storytelling capital. 

Withholding stories in fear of the outcome

No matter your organization, there comes a point when the people you serve leave your programming. Cancer institutions ring the bell of remission and send patients back into the world. And we know, intuitively, that some of those people will get the unfortunate news sometime in the future that they have cancer again. The likelihood of that outcome can’t keep you from sharing the success stories you have today. The same principle applies to substance abuse support programs, animal advocacy groups and environmental rights groups. Just because today’s win could be negated in the future doesn’t mean the story isn’t worth telling now. 

Acknowledging the messy parts

While we would love for every client who walks through the door to follow the program perfectly, on a tight timeline, with a glowing review, that’s not how life works. Sometimes the story is found in the messy parts. A tale of redemption, trial and error, or failure can build a reputation of resilience and grit, which may better define your organization than easy-peasy wins.  

Tailoring a story based on the audience

Targeted storytelling can feel icky to people who don’t work in the communication industry. But as long as the story is honest and factual, there is nothing wrong with emphasizing story components differently based on your target audience. For example, say you ran an arts-focused summer camp for children. The activities spanned three disciplines – watercolor painting, theater and violin. One scholarship student made significant strides in all three areas. You could tell their story in three ways to three different audiences, emphasizing the area of artistic focus that means the most to the specific person you’re targeting. It’s not dishonest; it’s strategic, designed to deliver a message that resonates in a world where people are inundated with content.

Focusing too much on timing

There are times to hold stories for campaigns, and then there are times where stories sit in purgatory for the pie-in-the-sky campaign that you really want to run but never get to. Don’t let those stories sit in limbo forever! Unless you have a nailed-down campaign booked and in development, keep moving your content forward. You don’t want to lose out on a potential treasure trove of content by waiting for a perfect moment (that doesn’t exist).

Maybe you got here and thought, “Man, I have a trove of content that we’ve been hanging on to for far too long.” And this is a bonus sixth hesitation and response: stories don’t expire. Today’s the day to let that content loose! You can leverage a PR firm to package and distribute your stories from today, yesterday or 50 years ago. We’d love to be that partner for you.