Comments on: 6 Tips for Collecting Great Nonprofit Stories

By: Steve Smith

Steve Smith — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:37:52 +0000

Nice work, Pamela, getting nonprofit do-ers to think about collecting stories. This is what supporting customers respond to. Thanks for blogging!

By: Tracy Moavero

Tracy Moavero — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 10:31:57 +0000

Love this piece! One problem many organizations have is that program staff can be terrible at communicating with development staff. I think that letting the program staff know exactly how the anecdotes work in fundraising would be helpful. “Keep us updated on your work” doesn’t cut it. Too vague. But if they find out what specific stories (e.g. client who credited organization with healthy life choices, lobbyist who got a great response from an elected official) can do, it might help. If they find out that a foundation staffmember or a major donor asked lots of follow-up questions on that piece of info, maybe it will stick in their minds a little better. Having a mechanism for gathering info might help too, like creating a folder in the office network and sending frequent reminders of what info would work there.

By: Nonprofiteers: Personal Branding Will Make You Better At Your Job « Colleen Dilenschneider- Know Your Own Bone

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 22:22:40 +0000

[...] the story of the child whose life was saved because of your organization’s research). Making personal connections through storytelling is an important aspect in fundraising and communicating an organization’s impact. Those who [...]

By: Susan Stoppelman

Susan Stoppelman — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:41:11 +0000

Great suggestions.

In addition, I recommend noting some demographic information with each vignette you save. It might help when you use several stories and want to portray the range of your clients served.

By: Lori L. Jacobwith

Lori L. Jacobwith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:32:05 +0000

I, too, agree with collecting and sharing stories in NPOs.

Two tips I share at my trainings:
1. Don’t ask for a story from staff. Ask them questions like: Who did you have to turn away today? Tell me about them? Or, which client are you still thinking about from last week? Then listen. They’ll often have amazing things to share.

2. A fun exercise to do with board and staff is to get them to create a short 6 – 8 word story that highlights one of the agency programs. Example: Joe feeds his family by not paying rent.

Give a prize for the most compelling shortie. People get excited to learn how to do this and then they share these nuggets with others.

By: Lori L. Jacobwith

Lori L. Jacobwith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:53:57 +0000

I, too, am a strong proponent in collecting and sharing stories at NPOs. Two tips from my trainings:

1. Don’t necessarily call them “stories” when you are working to collect them. Ask questions of staff like: Who did you have to say no to today? Or, what client made your day/week? And then listen. They’ll share great things with you.

2. Use this fun excercise to get people understanding the power of words and short stories: Ask them to create a 6 to 8 word “story” that conveys some element of their work like this one: “Joe feeds his family by not paying rent.”

Anything that helps people craft and share stories is great.

By: Donald Griesmann

Donald Griesmann — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:58:52 +0000

Hi, Pam. As always, good stuff. The story is always the critical mass. The only addition I have is spend a day in orientation to be the receptionist and another answering the receptionist calls and greeting walk-ins to learn what is happening at the gate. I have learned there are fantastic things done at the gate and some dreadful errors piled upon each other happen. There is nevertheless truth about the story to be found there. I have also learned in some NPOs this should never be the lowest paid job.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:15:45 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

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By: Mark Kordic

Mark Kordic — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:22:58 +0000

Let’s hear it for the priority of capturing stories. All staff members can be alert to the importance of identifying changed lives stories. Give them rewards for their identification of these stories and communicating the impact of your organization will influence others to get involved.