ARTICLE
Donors Love A Good Story—Here’s How To Tell It (And Find It)
Topics -
Updated - 02/14/2025
All fundraising is a quest for empathy. Every communication piece you write to a donor has two goals:
- Make your donor care about your cause and/or the people, animals, or problem you are trying to solve
- Enhance how good your donor feels about themselves
The heart of all of this is storytelling. As bestselling author Carmine Gallo says in his book Talk Like Ted, “telling stories is the virtual equivalent of taking your donors on a field trip.”
Great stories are simple, easy to digest, and memorable. They’re the shortest distance between two people.
We’ve been taught that we should use logic, slides, and statistics at work; this seems more professional. Telling stories seems too emotional and possibly manipulative. So, people stick to facts and numbers. But the truth is that real emotions always work better because that’s the way to reach hearts and minds.
To illustrate a great story, here’s a before/after example from fundraising copywriter Jeff Brook’s classic How to Turn Your Words into Money. Do you remember the children’s book, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly? In his book, Jeff points out that if that book were an ask, it might look something like this:
“Will you do your art to help us prevent the often fatal tragedy of fly, spider, bird, cat, dog, goat, cow, and horse swallowing?”
But if you used immersive storytelling and you put the donor in the story, it could look like this:
“In the next few days, someone—perhaps someone you know—will have a serious accident and end up swallowing a live horse. You can imagine her pain as the horse kicks and thrashes on its way down. She’ll die, of course… unless you help rush the emergency care she needs.”
What are the three ingredients for telling a truly great story?
1. Emotion. Emotion hooks us in and makes us care. Use it liberally—it’s your donor’s love potion. Emotion is not just nice to have in fundraising—it actually helps our brains navigate alternatives and make decisions. Facts actually make issues harder to understand and care about.
2. Vulnerability or weakness in the protagonist. What could this look like? A main character with relatable pain or suffering is unfairly treated or has to make a tough moral choice.
If you’ve ever watched Disney’s Up, you met Carl—a grumpy old man who’s mean both to animals and children. Yet in the first four minutes of the movie, you see the great love and loss of his life. We immediately relate to him and forgive him.
Nail the character, and the hearts, minds, (and wallets) will follow.
Here’s a video example of kids making a tough moral choice that’s positively irresistible (grab your Kleenex!).
3. Conflict. Stories without conflict are boring. Conflict is what keeps us interested in the story.
The simplest story that gets told again and again that no one ever gets tired of is the one where someone gets into trouble and gets out of it: Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl in the end.
How does this look in your fundraising? In your appeals, tell an unfinished story where your donor makes the happy ending possible. In your stewardship, tell the completed story with the happy ending your donor made possible.
How do I find great stories?
Your program staff are an excellent source for stories. Instead of asking your program staff directly for a story, ask them questions like these, suggested by Lori Jacobwith:
- Is there anyone you’ve met lately who made you feel so proud we exist?
- What made them come to us for services?
- What were we able to do for them?
- What are we not able to do for them?
- Is there anyone you had to turn away?
Your clients are also a treasure trove of great stories. Many clients want to share their stories with the nonprofits that helped them and feel a deep sense of pride being able to share them.
Here are some sample questions to use with clients from fundraising consultant Holly Paulin, CFRE at Broccoli:
- What was your life like before you connected with us?
- Tell me about a person you remember helping you. How did that make you feel?
- How is your life different today?
- What makes you feel good when you think about our organization?
- What would you say to supporters of our cause?
If you want to build a pipeline of powerful donor stories, make storytelling part of your culture! Here are five ideas to create a culture of storytelling at your organization:
- Set a model example by sharing great stories and inviting staff and clients to share theirs.
- Support training for storytelling. Grab a copy of Jeff Brook’s How to Turn Your Words into Money and consider attending the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.
- Reward great storytelling. In my days as the Executive Director of Girlstart, we invited program staff to ring a cowbell to celebrate donations from appeals that included a story they shared.
- Add it to your employee’s job description.
- Kick off every staff and board meeting with a story.
Got a favorite storytelling tip or a few powerful donor stories you want to tell? Drop them in the comments like it’s hot!
Discover How to Maximize the Lifetime Value of Your Donor Database!
Comments