Urging people to give money to help disadvantaged youths get into college is one thing. Telling the story of one teen living in a slum who dreams of becoming a doctor, yet has to work 30 hours a week at a convenience store to support his disabled mother and hungry siblings, is another.

Everyone loves stories. We looked forward to them as children, and we still like to hear them. We find the escapades of fellow human beings both interesting and instructive. In the social sector, stories can help people understand the work of your foundation and can inspire them to dig into their pockets to support your work.

Here at the Skoll Foundation, we are big believers in the power of storytelling. That’s one reason we funded a PBS documentary series called The New Heroes that tells 12 dramatic stories of social entrepreneurs who are tackling huge social problems to make the world a better place. Many individuals have told us that these courageous examples have inspired them to take on challenges that they previously deemed impossible.

How do you tell stories that inspire people to take action? How do you make sure that everyone in your organization understands the importance of storytelling? What kinds of stories will prompt the media to cover your organization?

These are some of the questions we’ll be discussing during this event. I welcome your questions and comments.

Terry Nagel - Oct 25, 2005 1:10 pm (#1 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

I look forward to hearing from you about the challenges you face in telling your story!

Perhaps you are someone who isn't convinced that storytelling may help your organization. Here's a real-life example of a situation where storytelling might be helpful:

A friend of mine is responsible for raising funds for a small nonprofit museum. She doesn't have a large budget, but wants to interest donors in supporting a new exhibit about a famous inventor that, presumably, would draw lots of new visitors, including children from local schools.

How should she shape her "pitch" message? Should she send it out via mail, email or other ways to get maximum impact? Should the exhibit itself tell a story?

Terry

Phoebe Farag - Oct 25, 2005 1:44 pm (#2 Total: 15)
Coptic Orphans


Terry,

One possible pitch for your friend is to tell the story of how this inventor inspired her own life. Sometimes when working at nonprofits we forget that our own stories are still pretty compelling - the reasons that motivate us to do this work often encourages others, and we forget that because we are just so familiar with our own stories. Another possibility is that if she knows of a child who was inspired by this inventor, to tell that child's story.

Generally speaking, I think volunteers are really good resources for discovering stories within your organization. Volunteers bring fresh perspectives that nonprofit staff don't have because we are in the thick of things. I have created a 12-minute DVD documentary about one young woman whose life was changed by participating in a program that I started in Egypt, the Valuable Girl Project (http://www.copticorphans.org/programs/valuable-girl.html).

Discovering her story actually took the help of a volunteer who was outside of my organization. She came with me to Egypt to video tape my program, and discovered this story in the process of interacting with the girls and young women I was training. Needless to say, this DVD has become a very powerful tool for me to spread the word about my program and the cause it relates to.

If anyone would like to see this DVD as an example, please let me know by emailing me at pfarag@copticorphans.org and give me your mailing address. I would be happy to send you a copy.

Looking forward to hearing your stories, Phoebe

aerindunford - Oct 25, 2005 2:50 pm (#3 Total: 15)


Terry, I was very excited to see this virtual discussion on the Social Edge newsletter. I have just started as an intern at The Berkana Institute, a small U.S. based non-profit which is currently working to strengthen a network of other independent NPO's around the world.

I love stories! I would say that the best way for your friend at the museum to approach her campaign would be to craft the exhibit itself in the form of a story. I would draw potential visitors to the museum in through an invitation to be a part of this tale and to learn more about the inventor's life. Perhaps even the marketing could be in story book form. I think that sending something in hard copy via mail might be better than e-mail. Also, if the museum has the technological capacity, perhaps there could be an oral component to the story telling.

What I'm confronted with in trying to work with this network of non-profits is that they all have their own amazing success stories. Yet, the individual learning centers in our network do not represent the whole of who we are. How do I tell the story of the whole without getting caught up in the particulars of one project?

Thanks for hosting this conversation. Aerin Dunford

NeilMac - Oct 26, 2005 3:47 am (#4 Total: 15)

Hello,

I think story-telling is very powerful when done well.  How do you go about developing this skill?  In Brad Jackson's book,"Management Gurus and Management Fashions", the author examines some of today's top business consultants who do the rounds of management conferences (such as Stephen Covey, Peter Senge, Michael Hammer etc) and points to the skills that they deliberately employ to get over messages which appeal to some basic human truths within us all.  I know we can't all be as effective as these guys in communicating to large groups of people, but I'm sure we could all learn some techniques from them?  Jackson's book casts light on some of the reasons that these gurus remain popular despite generally accepted criticism that their visions for the future of management are flawed and the application of their advice ineffective.  Much of this, Jackson suggests is down to excellent story-telling.

I'd be interested in developing this skill, and would be very interested in knowing how - not to mislead, but to be more effective in communicating.  

Very interesting dicussion. Thanks.

Terry Nagel - Oct 27, 2005 12:21 am (#5 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

Phoebe:

Your advice is exactly what I told my friend! You don't have to convince donors with lots of facts and figures. A simple story about how one life was changed can be extremely effective. Look at all those "Save the Children" mailings that describe the needs of individual children. They keep mailing them because . . . they work!

By the way, I think using DVDs to tell your story is a great idea! Your Web site is very nice, too, Phoebe!

Terry Nagel - Oct 27, 2005 12:31 am (#6 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

Aerin:

I like your suggestion very much. I was reading through the files for one of our grantees today and was blown away by a paperbound book of pictures and simple stories about how young women in Africa had been transformed by the work of this group. Over and over, they said that their examples had inspired other young women to pursue education and lift themselves out of poverty. They reasoned, "If she can do it, I think I can, too."

I understand your concern about trying to tell the whole story, Aerin. You don't want to oversimplify the message of a complex organization. What approach are you using now?

 

Terry Nagel - Oct 27, 2005 12:41 am (#7 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

NeilMac:

The Brad Jackson book sounds quite interesting. I know what you mean about the repeating themes in business coaching workshops. They all seem to have a "Who Stole My Cheese?" approach, don't they?

Andy Goodman is the guru of storytelling in the nonprofit world. His book, "Storytelling as Best Practice" is available on his Web site at http://www.agoodmanonline.com for $12.50 (including shipping). Check it out!

 

tutormentor - Oct 27, 2005 8:05 pm (#8 Total: 15)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection


I think that telling stories is a powerful part of an organization's advertising and marketing strategy. However, not every organization is equally good at doing this. Some don't have the writing skills. Some don't have the time. Some can tell the story, but don't have a way to distribute it so that people read it and respond.

To me the solution is to recruit people who will volunteer time to be the researchers, writers, bloggers and web designers for organizations who need this help. Such people could come from colleges, business, homemakers, high schools. It just needs a matchmaker who can connect those who can help with those who need help.

I lead the Tutor/Mentor Connection, based in Chicago and I organize conferences every six months. The next is Nov. 17 and 18, and in one of the panel discussions the question is "how do we tell our story?" You can see this at http://www.tutormentorconnection.org

We've been adding an econference component to the face to face conference since 2004. Thus, some of what we talk about face to face will also be on line so that people from the conference can keep talking, and people who could not come to Chicago could be part of the discussion.

I'd love to see someone from this discussion host this discussion in the http://msg.uc.iupui.edu/TMC/html/index.php portal. I'm also hoping to find a few bloggers who will write about the conference as it happens. This would draw leaders of tutor/mentor programs into the the discussion about story telling, and could lead to some brainstorming of ways to find volunteers who'd work with one or more programs on a continuous basis so that collectively we could tell the stories more often to more people.

The result would be a greater awareness of tutoring/mentoring and of the many different organizations in big cities who offers such services, and who each are constantly looking for volunteers, dollars and ideas to sustain their programs.

Dan Bassill Tutor/Mentor Connection

Terry Nagel - Oct 27, 2005 10:10 pm (#9 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

Dan:

I agree that some people are better at storytelling than others. But it's a skill that can be taught.

When I encounter people who have difficulty expressing themselves either verbally or in writing, I encourage them to imagine that they are talking to a trusted friend, and to tell the story in the same simple dialogue that they would use in a familiar conversation.

What is it that makes stories appealing? I would argue that it is our longing for shared community, the need to feel that we belong to a group that shares our values and will look out for us. I believe this desire is "hard wired" in all of us.

If you look back three or four generations, you will find that families and neighborhoods had a much stronger sense of community that we have today. People didn't hop on planes to jet to different parts of the world. Many wound up marrying and settling in the towns in which they were brought up. Their extended families were conclaves that protected them.

My experiences in community work have shown me that most people still crave this sense of belonging, and that we function better in groups.

How can we translate that desire to belong into a community spirit that benefits the greater good?

 

tutormentor - Oct 28, 2005 8:23 am (#10 Total: 15)
Cabrini Connections Tutor/Mentor Connection


I've been adapting some of the ideas of Open Space Technology to invite people into a community focused on helping kids in poverty find mentors and programs that help them to careers.

You can read about open space at http://www.openspaceworld.org/english/openspace.html

There are a few basics that are essential to success in this area

a) someone has to have a passion for something and be willing to invite others to meet some place (face to face, on-line, at a church, etc.)

b) that person has to have a list of people that they can invite, or they need to have some ability to get their invitation/story distributed with some frequency to the people they hope will respond

c) depending on the message and how effective the invitation is in telling people why they should come together, the organizer will begin to gather a group together

d) if what happens is important to those who gather, some will repeat their participation in this group, and some will take a role in inviting others

My database was 300 in 1993. It is over 15,000 now, and it reaches even more people through the internet. My meeting place is a network of web sites, conferences that I host in May and November, along with a variety of one-on-one meeting opportunities.

Without a purpose, there would be no invitation. Without a database no one would come to any meeting I organize. If I can not articulate this invitation, or tell the story, it's not likely anyone will respond, even if I have a list and a way to deliver the message.

I agree that some of these skills can be taught, however, until someone from the community steps forward and provides a reason for people to come together, and persists on inviting people even if no one shows up, the community will not grow, or begin to benefit the greater good.

If we can find tipping points to support or encourage this process in multiple locations, we can accelerate this community building process. I'm trying to do that in the tutor/mentor community, and finding writers who already can write the story is one way to help someone who may have the passion, and the purpose, but may not be able to take the time to build the story telling skill.

At the conference on Nov. 17 and 18 we'll be looking for some of these tipping points where the actions of a few can support the efforts of many.

Dan Bassill http://www.tutormentorconference.bigstep.com

Terry Nagel - Oct 28, 2005 9:48 am (#11 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

The work you are doing is very exciting, Dan!

In this discussion, let's also explore how storytelling can be used to pique the interest of the media. Does anyone have an example of inspiring a reporter to do a piece about an organization because of telling the reporter a story?

Kzakama - Oct 31, 2005 10:03 am (#12 Total: 15)

Terry Nagel - Oct 31, 2005 1:10 pm (#13 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

The PBS documentary series that the Skoll Foundation recently sponsored, "The New Heroes," is a great example of how a foundation can help support nonprofits through storytelling. The series aired in June and July on all PBS stations and told 12 dramatic stories of social entrepreneurs who are changing the world by tackling "impossible" problems such as poverty and hunger.

We coupled it with a house party campaign that encouraged people to invite friends and colleagues to watch some of the stories and then discuss how they might get involved in social change. One option was to contribute to projects of the organizations profiled in the series through GlobalGiving. The Skoll Foundation paid all the costs of the campaign, so that 100 percent of contributions go to the work of these organizations. In addition, the foundation is matching contributions through February 28, 2006.

To learn more about the house party campaign, see www.thenewheroes.org.

We have received lots of heartwarming letters from people telling us that their lives have been changed as a result of seeing "The New Heroes." Some people have even quit jobs to get involved in nonprofit work.

Teachers are showing the segments to students and report that children are amazed to learn that slavery and malnutrition are so widespread. PBS offers lesson plans for teachers and tips on how parents can raise socially responsible children on its Web site at http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/.

 

Rural Women Development Center - Nov 21, 2005 7:09 am (#14 Total: 15)

This topic is quite interesting. How do we actually carryout is story telling expecially for us the small Non-profits? Can there be some training that can help us develop this skills so that we can sell our organisation to the public through this means.

Beatrice RUWDEC.- cAMEROON

Terry Nagel - Nov 21, 2005 5:13 pm (#15 Total: 15)
Skoll Foundation

Beatrice:

A couple of resources are mentioned in previous posts in this thread. Basically, the best approach is to tell a simple story from the heart. Talk about how your work affects a single individual or one family. If you can "move" people with the impact of your efforts, they will remember you and, hopefully, will help you.