Telling your nonprofit's story so people will listen and respond.

1. Listen Up!
Telling your story so people will listen and respond*...
*respond |ri spänd| verb
open one’s wallet and give to your worthy cause

2. What do I know?
• President of Turnbull Marketing Group, a (very) small
company dedicated to helping nonprofits help others.
• Born and raised on the mission field in Haiti.
• Hold a BA in Spanish and Journalism from Wake Forest
University and an MA in Latin American and Caribbean
Studies from Florida International University.
• Was a writer in the award-winning Creative
Department at Food For The Poor, the nation’s largest
international charity.
• Love traveling and getting my hands dirty. Throw in
some Spanish and you have one happy lady.
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

3. Listen Up!
• Who cares?
• What makes a story “good”?
• Where can I find a good story?
• How do I tell a story effectively?
• Where do I tell my story?
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

4. Who cares?
• Everyone with money to give. And
that means that you care, too.
• Fewer charity dollars going
around means that you have to
step up your game and make your
mission relevant to your donors.
• If you don’t have a story to tell,
then what in the world are you
doing out there?

5. What makes a story “good”?
• Characters you can relate to
• A plot you can believe in (and
that’s relevant)
• Well-executed
• A call to action that moves you
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

6. Characters you can relate to
• Personable
• Sympathetic/Vulnerable
• Have a fulfillable need
• Have a succinct story that
relates directly to your mission
• Whenever possible, not you
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

7. A plot you can believe in
• No conflict, no need
• Clearly expresses the need
• Has a story-like feel (think
feature story in your favorite
magazine)
• Ties in directly to your mission
Food For The Poor. 2009.The
Great Depression Campai
gn.
• Relevant to your donors
• Succinct
• Invites the reader into the
character’s world
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

8. Well Executed
• Good writing (or script)
• Descriptive — try to
involve all of your
readers’ senses
• Clear and easy to read
(or watch)
• Professional quality
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

9. A call to action that moves you
• Direct—no hemming • Urgent—Why me?
and hawing Why now?
• Repeated • Doable
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

10. Where can I find a good story?
• Everywhere! Every single
living thing in the world has
a story—the hard part is
seeing it
• Start at home
• Talk to the people you
serve
• Be nosy—ask questions
that touch the heart
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

11. Be nosy
• What do you hope/pray for?
• What do you want for your
future? For your children’s
future?
• How has our organization
helped you? What was life like
before we began to help you?
• What do you want to tell our
friends and supporters?
• Why should our friends &
supporters help other people
like you?
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

12. How do I tell a story effectively?
• Focus on the details that pull at the heart
strings—make them weep
• Be succinct—leave out the dry information
• Hook your audience from the very beginning
• Use action words, present tense and
adjectives
• Don’t just tell a story—show it
• Tie everything back to your mission
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

13. Hook, Line...and Wallet
• Imagine...
• Come with me on a journey...
• I want you to...
• I need you to...
• Start with a quote from the main character
• Transport your audience directly to the scene
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

14. Mahalia
Climbing the sagging steps leading up to the
dilapidated house teetering 6 feet off the ground in
Georgetown, Guyana, I keep my eyes on 8-year-old
Mahalia, who bounds ahead of me with no
apparent fear of falling through the rotted wood.
She leads me inside, where missing floorboards,
bowing walls and a rusted piece of tin—more a
strainer than a roof—form what bit of space she
has to call home. I have come to listen, and Mahalia
is just about to tell me a secret.
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

15. Where do I tell my story?
• Use them everywhere you can—online, brochures,
newsletters, fundraising letters, benefits, annual reports
• Illustrate with compelling photos
• Send your audience online for the rest of the story—
websites shouldn’t be just content-driven, they need to be
story-driven
• Make short videos—feature the people you serve whenever
possible
• Tell one good story in each e-Newsletter
• Use your blog to tell stories, not to give status reports
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

16. On Your Web Site
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Helping nonprofits help others.

17. On Your Web Site
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Helping nonprofits help others.

18. On Your Web Site
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

19. On Facebook
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Helping nonprofits help others.

20. On Facebook
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

21. On Facebook
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

22. On Twitter
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

23. On Twitter
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

24. On Twitter
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

25. Happily Ever After
• Pull at heart strings
• Be succinct
• Make it personal
• Tie it back to your mission
• Tell stories all the time, everywhere you go
Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.

26. Let’s keep in touch
l
Eliza beth Turnbul
group.com
ema il: elizabeth@tbull
ull
twitter : @ejturnb
.5072
telephone: 919.741
Download this presentation at www.tbullgroup.com.
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Turnbull Marketing Group
Helping nonprofits help others.