Wondering how to tell your nonprofit's story? Unsure if you even have good stories to tell? The following presentation has been created to address just that. You'll learn why you should be telling your story, how to effectively tell your story, and more.

2. Today We Will:
● Discuss why storytelling is important for your brand
● Learn where to find your stories
● Learn how to share your stories:
○ Knowing your audience
○ Define audience personas
● Discuss Elements of Compelling Stories
● Learn creative ways to tell stories
● Share storytelling guidelines

3. Storytelling:
A part of the human experience
What does storytelling
have to do with my brand ?

4. Storytelling is Everything!
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make,
but about the stories you tell. In the social media age, your
company must build the best product you can because
customers will talk about your products and services on social
media platforms and in real life. Without great products, you’ll
have trouble selling. Products need stories to provide context and
human emotion. They provide the beginning, middle and end.”
– Seth Godin

5. Branding = Storytelling

6. You need stories because...
stories help you
connect!
Image Courtesy of Nordstrom.com
http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/toms
“I realized the importance of
having a great story today is
really what separates
companies. People don’t
just wear our shoes, they tell
our story.”
- Blake Mycoskie
founder and chief shoe giver, TOMS

7. The role of storytelling… a foundation for strategy!
A brand’s story isn’t “just something businesses should refer to every time they launch a
marketing campaign or issue a press release. It should be the foundations on which a
future growth strategy is built.” – Marketing Week

8. The role of storytelling in Marketing
“show your customer how your product makes him the hero of his story.”
– Bernadette Jiwa

9. Ikea’s “Start Something New” Folding Chair

10. How Do You Find Stories?
Find the best story that creates instant comprehension
and emotional connection.

11. Exercise:
Story Brainstorm

12. Questions to ask:
1. Who is someone your organization has helped recently?
2. Who are your donors? Why did they get involved?
3. What special projects/initiatives do you have over the next six months?
4. Have your volunteers shared stories of people they’ve encountered?
5. Have you told your volunteers’ personal stories?
6. Who are your corporate partners? Have you told their stories?

13. Humans = Needed Element

14. “It is difficult for people to generate empathy for a group or a collective.
Empathy comes from identifying with ONE person, getting into the shoes of that ONE
person, and feeling the same emotions as that ONE person.
If you want people to feel something,
give them one person to empathize with.”

15. Nonprofit Review: Auditory-Verbal Center, Inc.

16. Your stories always need to connect to your nonprofit

17. Five steps to creating a compelling story
1. Find the right people
2. Build the conflict
3. Show how your organization solved a problem, helped a person,
made a difference. What did you accomplish together?
4. Incorporate a call to action
5. Use memorable, high-quality visuals – photos, videos

18. Know Your Audiences

19. Image Courtesy of MYcustomer
https://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/strategy/four-sample-buyer-personas-and-what-we-can-learn-from-them
Audience Personas: Sample

20. Audience Personas: The Who
Clients Donors Volunteers
Gender: _________________ _________________ _________________
Age: _________________ _________________ _________________
Annual
Household Income: _________________ _________________ _________________
Location: _________________ _________________ _________________
Marital Status: _________________ _________________ _________________
Children: _________________ _________________ _________________
Levels of Education: _________________ _________________ _________________
Hobbies
and Interests: _________________ _________________ _________________

21. Audience Personas: The Who
Client Persona Name: ______________________
Career:
Industries: _______________________________________________________________
Jobs Role/Title: _______________________________________________________________
Areas of Study: _______________________________________________________________
Information Sources:
News Sources: _______________________________________________________________
Blogs: _______________________________________________________________
Social Networks: _______________________________________________________________
Shopping Preferences:
Brick and
Mortar Retailers: _______________________________________________________________
Online Retailers: _______________________________________________________________
Dining Preference: _______________________________________________________________

22. Audience Personas: The What
Client Challenges:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Client Goals:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Client Quotes/Testimonials:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

23. Audience Personas: The How
What can we do to help our Client overcome their challenges?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
What can we do to help out Client achieve their goals?
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Marketing Message - Draft a message addressing your Client’s solution:
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________

24. Nonprofit Review: Good Samaritan

25. Creative Ways to Tell Stories

26. The impact of Visual Storytelling

27. A recent Google study found that 57%of people who
watch a video go on to make a donation.
Yes, you read that right - over half!

28. Don’t be afraid of using video

29. Rob Mottola’s tips for creating budget-conscious videos
1. Shoot landscape NOT vertical!
2. Use a stabilizing device or small tripod.
3. Use a microphone.
4. If a person is speaking directly to the camera/phone, make sure the phone is close
to the person.
5. Make sure there is at least one light source hitting the person in the face.
6. Don’t put the person in front of windows, but you can use windows as your light
source.
7. Know how much data space is on your phone.
8. Use your phone’s slow motion feature.
9. Use editing software such as iMovie or Wondershare Filmora. Professional software
includes Avid Media Composer, Adobe Premiere Pro, EditShare Lightworks Pro,
Sony Vegas Pro, Grass Valley Edius Pro/Elite, Apple Final Cut Pro X.

30. Power of Storytelling Via Social Media

31. Nonprofit Review: Promise686

32. Make time for Storytelling

33. What’s your organization’s voice?

34. Storytelling Guidelines
1. What information can be shared about clients/volunteers? Do you need to
change details to protect privacy?
2. What words should not be used when talking about your nonprofit?
3. Are there issues that should not be shared?
4. What tone should be used when communicating about your nonprofit? For
example, is humor okay?
5. Are there certain photos that can’t be used?
6. Do you want to stay away from certain perceptions?
7. Who needs to approve stories?
8. How long should stories be?

35. Need more help?
We’d be happy to talk to you about your branding and marketing needs!
Amanda Sutt
Rock Paper Scissors
178 E Crogan St, Suite 220
Lawrenceville, GA 30046
amanda@123shoot.com
678-442-1825
www.123shoot.com
Heather Loveridge
Magnolia Media Group
Heather@magnoliamedia.group
678-488-0816
Magnoliamedia.group