Storytelling for Fund Raising Success
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An in-service presentation for marketing and fund development professionals covering the importance of story telling, the reason for its effectiveness, storytelling tips & sins to avoid, and three common copywriting formulae to consider (Star-Story-Solution, WASH & ACCA).
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Storytelling for Fund Raising Success
- 1. Storytelling for Fund Raising Success 1 Warren A. Johnson Corporate Marketing Director January 31, 2018
- 3. 3
- 4. Stories Are Engaging They take us on a journey A way to connect to a deeper message Help us make sense of the world 4
- 6. Excellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change — Tom Peters 6
- 7. The Three Sins of Storytelling 7
- 8. Not Doing Your Homework Good copywriting requires thorough research But Deadlines! Checklists and Interview Question Lists Grandfather Why The mind of a journalist 8 :||
- 10. Talking about Yourself Conversational Narcissism Joe Public Doesn’t Care about Your Hospital WIIFM First, provide something valuable to the reader The Value: The benefits of being a donor It’s all about the patient… the beneficiary 10
- 12. Fear of Emotion Ethos, Logos, Pathos Somatic Markers Hypothesis (Responses to emotions influence subsequent decision making) People buy with emotion, then justify it with logic Show, Don’t Tell Research emotions if needed 12
- 14. Fear of Emotion 14 https://youtu.be/w9o6Zc-yu7g The Emotional Side Of Copywriting | Chris Haddad
- 15. Storytelling is the language of emotion — Mark Rovner 15 :||
- 16. A Path to Better Storytelling Is to Read Stories 16
- 17. It usually helps me write by reading — somehow the reading gear in your head turns the writing gear. — Steven Wright 17
- 20. 20
- 21. Examples for Analysis 21 https://youtu.be/liZBAz4gEiU | https://www.causevox.com/blog/9-examples-of-video-storytelling-for-online-fundraising-campaigns/ Lisa's Family Reclaims Hope through Project Renewal
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- 27. Star, Story, Solution Formula Introduce the star of the story Tell the star’s story Present the solution that helped the star achieve big things 27
- 28. Star, Story, Solution Formula 28
- 29. WASH Formula 29 Source: Mike Jacobsen, Interact-Intranet.com
- 30. WASH Formula 30 Source: Mike Jacobsen, Interact-Intranet.com
- 31. WASH Formula 31 Source: Mike Jacobsen, Interact-Intranet.com
- 32. ACCA Formula Used by SPCA, World Vision and others Raise awareness about a problem Increase comprehension of the problem by explaining it Create the conviction to do something about the problem in your prospect Call them to action 32
- 33. ACCA Formula 33 https://youtu.be/IcCecmrPZ24?t=92 | wateraid.org Action | Comprehension | Conviction | Action
- 34. Copywriting Formulae Star, Story, Solution Introduce star / Tell their story / Present Solution WASH (Who / Adversity / Strength / Happiness) ACCA (Awareness / Comprehension / Conviction / Action) 34
- 35. What is a Story? 35 You've Been Lied To. Not Everything Is Story | https://musestorytelling.org/blog/what-is-storytelling Person + Desire x (Journey + Conflict Overcome) = Opportunity for Unity + Connection + Support
- 36. Why Storytelling is Powerful For Fund Raising Stories help us remember Stories influence how we decide Stories link us to our sense of generosity 36 Source: Storytelling for Nonprofits by Network for Good.
- 37. Great Stories Raise More Money 37 ̶ Network for Good
- 38. Warren A. Johnson Marketing Director MidMichigan Health 4000 Wellness Drive Midland, Michigan 48670 Phone (989) 839-3389 Fax (989) 839-3375 warren.johnson@midmichigan.org www.midmichigan.org www.linkedin.com/in/johnsonwarren 38
Editor's Notes
- So let’s take the rest of our time talking about storytelling.
- But why do we want to talk about storytelling? …
- Because everyone loves a good story. Will the girl get eaten? What can I learn from this story? Where exactly in the universe do bears live in houses with beds? Are they IKEA beds? How do they reach the alarm clock when it goes off?
- Stories are Engaging – they draw us in and hold our interest. Not everything does that in our busy world. Journey – Most often there’s an adventure…a plot…movement Connect – It’s the moral of the story. We expect that. Make Sense – They encourage us or warn us. They tell us what we should do, or avoid doing. -------- So HOW do stories do this to us? There are some certain ingredients. When we have dessert after dinner, the secret ingredient is usually sugar. It can take many forms, but most desserts are sweet…at least around my house.
- The secret ingredients in a story are the characters, action, emotion, and a common experience that we can somehow relate to. Characters – These are the subjects of the story. The heroes, the villains, the best supporting actors and actresses. These are who we learn about and sympathize with. We’ll see there are generally 3 in fundraising: the beneficiary, the donor and the organization. There may be others, but it’s important to keep in mind who the hero is going to be and who is the supporting actor. ACTION – This is the plot plus the conflict. What’s happening. How the hero overcomes. EMOTION – The characters and the conflict combine to create and then resolve tension. The best stories describe and draw out emotions. “Storytelling is the language of emotion”-Mark Rovner Common Experience –This is what happens in the story that the reader can relate to. Most often, it’s the people (or aliens) that that we can relate to. And we can often relate to what happens, even if it’s on a different continent – or a different plant. The story is at the core what people can relate to, not primarily organizations or facts. Maybe aliens, maybe animals, maybe talking cars, but not buildings, not machines, not inanimate objects. A story has to have a character and a situation that we can relate to. Finally, THEME – This is the take away, or the moral of the story. In Goldilocks, it’s don’t trespass. In the three little pigs, it’s that hard work and dedication pay off. In “The raid from Mars,” it’s always be on guard (-- or maybe “I told you we should have built a force field and Mars should have paid for it”). When we write for fund raising or service lines, we need a moral of the story too. Giving feels good. Giving can change the world -- right where you are. Giving can be a way of demonstrating your values to your children or family. THEMES connect with the past, the present and ultimately the future. We’re going to come back and talk about themes.
- So what we’re here for today is to see if we can find ways to support Denise and the Foundation through improvements in how we write, how we tell stories and how we ask for money. Tom Peters said it well: Excellent firms don't believe in excellence - only in constant improvement and constant change. Tom Peters So why are we here: We’re here to ways in which we can improve our storytelling. Why is that important? Because stories engage people. Why is that important? Because we need people to support the important work the Foundation is doing, hand in hand with MidMichigan Health, to improve the health and health care in the communities here where we live. --------------------------- “There is nothing more notable in Socrates than that he found time, when he was an old man, to learn music and dancing, and thought it time well spent.” ― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays Inspiring quote about lifelong learning or pursuing excellence. In other words, we expect you to improve and write differently. As a Navy SEAL, and sniper, one of the things I learned was that excellence matters. Brandon Webb Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/excellence_2
- So let’s start of with a few negatives., Envy, pride, gluttony – but the greatest of these in storytelling is… sloth. Greed, avarice av·a·rice
- Telling a story, Telling a good story, takes research. Now, I know when I say “research” the normal reaction is panic. I don’t have time to do research; I have to start writing. But it’s like Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up somewhere else.” The truth is that doing your homework is the most efficient way to get something done efficiently, and done right. Even in health care we don’t want the surgeon who doesn’t have time to study up on the new procedure before he starts cutting. There are some tricks to getting background research done efficiently. Some of it comes from practice. But another trick is to develop some checklists and some interview questions that you can use over and over again. Another trick is to use what I call Grandfather Why. It means asking “why” until you get to the core, the foundation, where you can safely start building from. Here’s how it goes: --Why are we doing this? Why is that important? Why do we need to do that? -- Because we’re building a heart and vascular center. WHY? Because we need space to consolidate our services to patients. WHY Because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of deaths in the GLB region. BINGO. Mind of a journalist: have to be curious enough to dig enough to get enough to be meaningful enough. Journalists write on deadlines, but they still get the story. So to do storytelling well, it’s important to do your homework. : ||
- The second sin of storytelling is PRIDE. Talking about yourself.
- It’s very easy to get sucked into conversational narcissism. And it seems like what we should be doing. We work for the hospital, shouldn’t we be talking about the hospital? Chris Bevelo has written a book with a great title, “Joe Public doesn’t care about your hospital.” And it’s true they our hospital. And they never will. What they care about is what our hospital can do for them. It goes back to the old adage that the most popular radio station in the world is WIIFM – What’s in it for me? [2nd is WNOR – Wants, needs outcomes, results] First we have to provide something of valuable to the reader. And in fund development the value is the benefit of being a donor. The impact you can buy by being a donor. So there’s a parallel here. At MidMichigan we say the Patient is the focus of everything we do. For fund raising, we change that word to beneficiary. Credit where credit is due, yet the foundation is really the servant – the facilitator – between the donor and the recipient. That doesn’t qualify for claiming top billing. ---------- "I was saying," continued the Rocket, "I was saying --- what was I saying?" "You were talking about yourself," replied the Roman Candle. "Of course; I knew I was discussing some interesting subject when I was so rudely interrupted..." -- Oscar Wilde,
- Tom Ahearn is an author and well-known fund raising consultant. He has a short [5 min] video clip on this subject. … The donor is buying impact. With that gift we will be able to change a life forever. I like that. : || - 1st sin=Not doing enough homework. Second sin is talking about yourself. … The third sin is fear of emotion.
- Ethos, Logos, Pathos – Credibility, Logical Appeals, Emotional Appeals. These are the 3 types of persuasion according to Aristotle. It’s long been recognized while all 3 are important, the emotional appeal is especially significant. And one reason emotional appeals might be so important is a biological reason. So we’re in the medical field, so this is appropriate: There actually is some medical research on emotions that have resulted in what’s called the Somatic Markers Hypothosis. “Somatic markers" are feelings in the body that are associated with emotions, such as the association of rapid heartbeat with anxiety or of nausea. The Hypothesis is that somatic markers strongly influence subsequent decision-making. So emotions>physiological response>influence on decision. In other words, there is research suggesting that Emotions are a critical component to decision making. From another field…Sales people will tell you people buy with emotion, then justify their decision with logic. So you have to wake the reader up with emotion first, then help them justify their decision with logic/statistics/facts. One thing about writing about emotions is that it is always better to show the reader than tell them. So instead of saying Sally was anxious, say Sally wrung her hands as the Doctor told her husband Bob might not make it without heart surgery. Sometimes the emotions involved with a subject aren’t always obvious. And how to describe those emotions might not be obvious. (They might be something you spend some time working to figure out. There’s some suggestions on the research section of the storytelling checklist in your packets. And you might want to find some other resource too…. [book]
- This is a book , for example, that was recommended online. The Emotion Thesaurus I haven’t used this, but it did get 4-1/2 stars on Amazon. The discription says that it describes 75 emotions and lists the possible body language cues, thoughts, and [visceral] responses for each emotion. It’s not available locally, but 8 libraries in Michigan do have it and it’s available through interlibrary loan (Melcat/michigan eLibrary) … ---------------- “Storytelling is the language of emotion”-Mark Rovner
- This is a pretty well known, successful copywriter talking about the emotional side of copywriting. https://youtu.be/w9o6Zc-yu7g [2:26 min] [Play Video]
- So, in summary, Story telling is the language of emotion. : || The three sins of storytelling again: Not doing your homework, talking about yourself, and having a fear of emotions.
- Now, My wife is a teacher. She will tell you One of best things you can do to help your child be a strong reader is to READ to them. Same idea with storytelling. One of the best things you can do become a better storyteller is to read stories. To move things along, we’re actually going to watch a couple stories and then analyze them a bit.
- This is a nice quote by Steven Wright. The reading gear turns the writing gear.
- So, you should have these handouts. We’re going to use these to look for: characters, how the characters are developed, the emotional elements, the action, the common experience (or how the viewer relates to the situation), and the theme. Then on a technical basis, we want to see where the call to action appears (if there is an explicit one), where it appears, and the same for the organization name. So as you watch, use this to take notes and then we’ll talk about each example.
- Play video
- So let’s just open this up for discussion and go through our worksheet… Who else? Anything else? What does everyone else think? What overall take aways did you have? On a scale of 1 to 5, how impactful would you say it was? What did you take away about the sponsor? Okay, let’s do another one.
- Play video
- So let’s just open this up for discussion and go through our worksheet… Who else? Anything else? What does everyone else think? What overall take aways did you have? On a scale of 1 to 5, how impactful would you say it was? What did you take away about the sponsor? Okay, let’s do another one.
- We don’t have time to do any more, but I’d like to give you another one for homework. This is by Charity Water. You can find it on youtube by searching, but this slide is also the last page in your handout packet. It’s about 20 minutes long, but I will guarantee that once you start you will watch the whole thing. So please find some time later this week to watch this and use your worksheet to some key techniques and approaches that they used.
- So let’s move on from analysis to implementation.
- This is Google’s original page rank algorithm. In other words, this is the formula that Google uses to provide the most relevant results from the massive amount of web pages on the internet. The point is that something seemingly very complex can be reduced to a successful, repeatable formula. The same is true for copywriting. There are number of structures or formulae for writing a story, and specifically fund development stories. We’re going to look at copywriting formulae that you can use.
- We read a great book, or we watch these videos and we think there’s some magic to it. And maybe there is just a little bit. BUT there’s structure to it too. Just like when you build a house. You pour the foundation, you put up the walls, you put up the roof, you finish the inside. This is probally the most famous copywriting formula. It puts the most important parts elements right in the first paragraph: Who/What/Where/When…and if possible Why and How. Then it goes into details and less important information from there. This is the formula that journalists use. And this a good formula to use for a lot of situations, but it’s not really a storytelling formula per se. So this is a good formula to master, but we’re going to talk about 3 other formulas that are more in line with what we’re talking about for fundraising appeals….
- The first formula is called the Star-Story-Solution approach. [Read steps] This is a pretty common approach. And pretty easy to follow. Create an outline, write to the outline.
- This is one of the most famous examples of the star-story-solution formula. This was a letter used to solicit subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal. The full letter is included in your handout packet. It starts off introducing two stars, two men who graduated from the same college. Then it tells their story. One ended up being a manager, the other became the company president. The solution is what made the difference between the two men. The difference is how to make use of knowledge, which of course, you can do with a subscription to the WSJ. Star – Story – Solution. This letter is considered the greatest sales letter of all time. It earned 2 Billion dollars in subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal between 1975 and 2003. So I guess that is a good formula.
- The next formula is the WASH formula. Wash stands for WHO, Adversity, Strength and Happiness. WHO – describes the person with 3 facts ADVERSITY – then you describe their challenge or problem STRENGTH – You showed how they overcame the adversity. This is where the program or service is described. HAPPINESS – Then the story ends with the positive outcome. Now, there’s a variation of this where the ending isn’t entirely happy. OR it might not be happy yet for other people in the same situation. So there’s still more to do, and you can help.
- So here’s sort of a fantasy version of the WASH formula. A young prince! Framed for murder. Oh no! Meets an old friend who helps him realize it’s wrong to run away He returns and overcomes. You can probably name some movies that follow this pattern.
- Here’s sort of a business example. Emma is the marketing director She’s sturggling with a digital campaign The solution comes from an unexpected quarter And together they save the company. (I’m reading into it)
- One last storytelling formula. This is called the A-C-C-A formula. It’s also very popular, especially in fund raising. In this formula, you Raise awareness of a problem Go into depth explaining the roots of the problem Create conviction that something should be done Then you provide a call to action. Let’s look at an example:…
- Play Video
- So we covered 3 storytelling formulae. And you can find these in your packet if you want to refer to them in the future. : || Again, they are the….
- So let’s step back again and take a big picture view of What is a story. (4 minutes) So what I liked about this video was: “A good story is a journey to what we believe in” that “gives an opportunity to come to their own conclusions” Through a story, “I can take my experience and share it with you, so that it might make a difference in your life” ----------------- [Person + Desire x (Journey + Conflict Overcome) = Opportunity for Unity + Connection + Support]
- So, in summary, Stories help us remember Stories influence how we decide [Stories] link us to our sense of generosity : || And that is storytelling for fund raising success. Many different elements to consider, but 3 sins to avoid, 3 formulas to use and… 3 bears. Questions? Comments? Discussion? [click to next slide for discussion time]
- Questions? Comments? Discussion?