Heard any inspirational stories lately? Golden nuggets lie hidden everywhere in most nonprofits. The trick is to recognize their value and start mining them.
Nothing communicates the importance of your nonprofit’s mission like a good story — not statistics, not strategic plans, not financial statements, not even your mission statement.
It’s all about stories. Real life stories connect us emotionally, stirring our sense of possibility and yearning for purpose.
Your nonprofit can be doing the most important work under the sun — saving lives feeding hungry children creating beauty through art or music or dance — but if you don’t tell the story in a compelling way you can’t attract the vital support you need.
As a board member, do you find it challenging to choose the best words to tell others about your favorite nonprofit’s mission? You know advocacy is an important role for a board member and want to inspire your friends with the good work, but how do you do that without sounding like just another charity?
The answer is stories. Stories motivate your friends and rouse people to action.
Mining for valuable anecdotes that demonstrate your organization’s good work takes time and intention, yet it is well worth the effort. Use these tips to craft your own powerful narratives.
Pay attention.
As a board member it’s good to know what happens at your nonprofit. You don’t need to get involved with operations, but you can ask the executive director to arrange a chat with one of the program staff.
Ask the staff member to tell you some stories about clients the organization has served lately. Better yet, ask the executive director to invite a program staffer and a client to give a brief presentation at the beginning of a board meeting.
This will inspire everyone and provide good nuggets for stories. Pay careful attention to the details of the story, jotting down key points that surprise you or pull you in emotionally.
Imagine yourself being in the position of the client. Get in touch with what it would feel like to receive your organization’s services.
Begin with the end in mind.
Figure out how best to frame your story to achieve your goal.
Do you want a story you can tell at your Rotary or Chamber meeting to raise awareness about your nonprofit? Are you crafting a story to help a potential donor or friend understand more about your organization’s important impact in the community? Will you use the story to recruit new board members or volunteers?
Being intentional about how and when to tell your story is essential. In the process, you will become even more inspired by and engaged in the work, giving you a renewed sense of purpose.
Use all the senses.
Bring your story to life by describing feelings, sounds, smells and sights. Imagining yourself in the story will help you connect with these important details.
For example, what did you feel, hear and see as you sat in the theater enveloped by the Symphony’s recent performance?
What drew your attention and pulled at your heart when you visited the folks at Friendship Center’s adult day services or Hillside House’s residential community?
How did it feel when you hiked through the Carpinteria Bluffs and felt the warm sunshine on your skin, smelled the ocean fragrance and felt grateful for the work of The Land Trust of Santa Barbara County?
You get the idea. Develop your own story around a picture that evokes a feeling using your senses. You can also start your story with “imagine if” to help your listener feel more connected.
Start with why, not what or how.
Rather than starting your story with what your organization does or how it works, begin with why you are involved or why your nonprofit began.
Make your story personal. Come from a place of wanting to give inspiration to others without expecting anything in return.
Your listener will become curious for more information. As trust develops, they will lean in as your story becomes more interesting.
In his books and videos entitled Start with Why, Simon Sinek points out that we all want to be surrounded by people who believe what we believe, so start your story with why you do what you do.
Facts and figures and mission statements can come later once the listener feels connected emotionally.
Practice, practice, practice.
Once you have developed a story or two, practice telling it to others. Tell your spouse, your kids, your dog. Practice in the mirror. Practice until it seems spontaneous.
That may sound counterintuitive, but the more you practice, the more natural it will feel. When you actually tell your story to another person or a group you will make small adjustments depending on the circumstances, but the core of the story will be a natural part of you.
Then make a list of opportunities to tell your story. You will be giving the gift of inspiration to others and fulfilling your role as advocate for your nonprofit simultaneously.
Now go have fun. Dig for those story nuggets. Mine the gold of emotional connection. Your nonprofit will sing your praises and you will be re-energized.
— Dr. Cynder Sinclair is a consultant to nonprofits and founder and CEO of Nonprofit Kinect. She has been successfully leading nonprofits for 30 years and holds a doctorate in organizational management. To read her blog, click here. To read her previous articles, click here. She can be contacted at 805.689.2137 or cynder@nonprofitkinect.org. The opinions expressed are her own.