For hundreds of thousands of years, humans have shared stories as a way to pass on wisdom, sway opinions, and bring people together.
Even now, stories are one of the most powerful tools we possess. But they aren’t just for evenings huddled around campfires or long phone calls with old friends.
When used as part of your nonprofit communications strategy, storytelling can have a substantial impact on your organization’s reach and fundraising efforts.
In this blog, we’ll explore why storytelling should be part of your nonprofit communications strategy — and how to embed it sustainably.
65% of nonprofit communicators say that storytelling is very important to their overall communications strategy. And it’s easy to see why.
When deployed ethically and effectively, storytelling can:
All in all, this is good for your organization and the people you serve.
Needless to say, there’s a clear advantage to nonprofit storytelling. But, like any communications strategy, it’s important to implement it in the right way.
How can you share stories from across your multi-site nonprofit — and the populations you serve — sustainably?
Don’t worry, comms teams, storytelling doesn’t have to rest on your shoulders alone. (You can breathe a sigh of relief!)
The wonderful thing about storytelling is that anyone can be the author. Whether that’s your founder, your volunteers, your employees, or your affiliate organizations. In fact, for multi-site charities and nonprofits, the more diverse your perspectives, the better. This gives you the opportunity to share a wider scope of stories from across your network, without burning out your busy comms team.
Storytelling can encompass a range of different styles. It’s up to you to decide what works for your organization — and the cadence in which you share these communications.
Examples of storytelling for nonprofits may include:
TIP: If you’re short on ideas, try to collect suggestions from everyone in your multi-site nonprofit or charity via no-code ‘idea’ forms and collaborative discussion forums. This will encourage your people to share storytelling ideas as and when they come to mind.
Around 30% of nonprofit organizations experience inefficiencies and delays as a result of disparate tech environments. The larger your organization, the more frustrating this problem becomes.
So, from ideation to content creation and sharing, the less tools you use for your storytelling efforts the better.
A nonprofit software with extranet capabilities is a great home for your stories. With just one platform, your people can write content, share it with the wider community, and interact with readers via comments. You can even use integrated project management capabilities to plan your content cycles.
There are no data silos, miscommunications, or inefficiencies — you can manage the entire end-to-end process in one solution.
Everyone writes in their own unique voice. On the one hand, you don’t want to take away this autonomy. On the other hand, you need to maintain some brand consistency for the sake of your image and reputation.
Creating and sharing brand guidelines will encourage your people to tell stories that align with your mission and identify with your loyal supporters.
More than this, these guidelines can help teams navigate tricky situations. For example, how to interview people sensitively and write about traumatic or difficult experiences in a respectful manner.
82% of nonprofits lack the time and resources to properly implement storytelling in their communications strategy.
Fortunately, there are ways to speed up the process.
With an AI-powered nonprofit management software, you can create news articles and blogs within just a few seconds. Simply enter a prompt, generate the content, and give the news or blog post a review to ensure the text aligns with your brand and voice.
Your nonprofit handles a swathe of sensitive information — some of which should not be broadcast via your public communications channels.
But that’s only the tip of the data privacy iceberg.
Any sensitive information about the citizens you serve must only be published with consent. And, if subjects request for their information to be deleted or taken down, you must honor their wishes.
To ensure your storytellers respect privacy and stay compliant with data privacy laws — including HIPAA, the GDPR, and COPPA — you must enforce stringent data security policies.
The best way to handle this is via a comprehensive nonprofit software with native policy management capabilities. Take Claromentis as an example. With our AI-powered policy manager, you can:
You can even use your policies as modules within our integrated learning management system. This is an effective way to distribute compliance training across your dispersed workforce and volunteer networks.
Needless to say, only verified users should be able to write and publish content on your intranet and/or extranet. This is where granular roles and permissions can be extremely helpful for controlling access.
Certain platforms also provide built-in content approval mechanisms, allowing your communications team to correct any non-compliant messaging (or typos!) before publication.
Telling a good story is like skimming a stone. Even the smallest of the lot can create a ripple effect. But, every now and then, you might just publish a story that ignites a wave of change.
This is every nonprofit’s dream.
However, for many organizations, a lack of resources and funding uncertainties hold them back.
If, like 57% of nonprofits, you’re eager to use storytelling more often but don’t know how, there are ways to augment your efforts.
With a centralized nonprofit management software like Claromentis, you can streamline your efforts without hindering creativity or compromising compliance. From AI-powered internal communications tools to watertight user permissions, our solution is the perfect home for bringing your stories to life and widening your impact.
To learn more about Claromentis and our exclusive nonprofit discounts, why not book a quick 10-minute discussion call with our team?