When it comes to communication from nonprofits, donors are looking for a few specific things. Facts and statistics are nice, but what really drives donors to support a cause is a strong emotional connection. The most straightforward way to inspire these emotions is through storytelling.
Given storytelling’s power, it’s a key tool in your nonprofit’s arsenal when it’s time to fundraise for a capital campaign. Your nonprofit is launching a capital campaign for a reason, and translating that reason into an understandable, powerful story is essential for securing support.
To help your nonprofit improve its capital campaign communication strategy, this guide will explore four ways you can incorporate storytelling into your marketing.
Your case for support is an explanation of why someone should support your campaign. Ultimately, your case for support will guide the rest of your outreach strategy, creating a source of truth for your marketing team.
Your case for support can also help guide your storytelling strategy. Consider what parts of your goal have the potential to inspire supporters or invoke emotion.
When writing your case of support, include these six core elements and consider how they can be communicated through stories:
While some elements of your case for support are more factual, such as your plan’s costs, much of it forms a story arc. You have a goal (your vision), your organization experiences a conflict (the problem), and you overcome the conflict (plan).
When sharing your case for support, consider how you can use storytelling strategies to get supporters invested. For instance, when sharing your vision and plan, consider who the protagonist of your story is. Is it your nonprofit or your donors? Compare how these two statements of the same plan sound:
While the plan remains the same, the latter statement centers donors as the driving force behind the plan, which can improve relationships and inspire support.
Major donors give to capital campaigns for a wide range of reasons, from tax benefits to a personal connection to your cause to a desire to build a legacy. Through storytelling, you can demonstrate that their gifts have a tangible impact and solidify their relationship with your nonprofit by connecting them with the real people your campaign will help.
Primarily, major donor relationships are about forming one-on-one connections. Every message you send to major donors should be tailored to their interests, and your stories should be no exception. To help persuade major donors to give and continue building relationships with them, write personalized stories just for them.
Have your major gift officers work with your marketing team or copywriters to share details about specific major giving prospects. Specifically, they should provide information on major donors’ values, interests, and feedback. Your marketing team can then use these details to compose stories major gift officers can share with major giving prospects.
For instance, one major donor might have had a family member impacted by your target issue. To appeal to this donor, you could share a story about how your programs have helped keep families together. Or, a donor might have expressed their interest in a specific aspect of your work, so the story you share with them could explain how that element is supported by your capital campaign.
Keep in mind that while your stories should fit your audience, they should also still be true. Avoid making up details, inventing quotes, and using composite characters to ensure your stories are truthful.
Statistics and facts are vital for understanding your project’s outcome and whether your capital campaign will be successful. However, raw numbers are rarely persuasive, and statistics without context are often hard to interpret.
When sharing your campaign’s impact, supplement your numbers with stories and examples. Direct your planning and research committees to share data with your marketing team, who can then help supporters visualize what those numbers mean by sharing realistic examples and true stories.
For instance, you might share that your food bank helped distribute 1,000 pounds of food the prior year, and if your capital campaign succeeds, you’ll have the capacity to double that amount. However, most people don’t picture food in terms of pounds and may be unsure if that is an impressive amount or not.
Instead of presenting this information alone, you might supplement it with stories from the families that received assistance. Hearing people express their gratitude or share how it impacted their lives is far more likely to persuade donors than data alone.
Written stories ask your supporters to picture your beneficiaries, but with photographs and videos, you can show them directly. When planning your storytelling strategy, consider adding visuals to grab supporters’ attention and improve your ability to establish an emotional connection.
Consider adding visuals to your storytelling content by:
Visuals are also an opportunity to reinforce your nonprofit’s brand. Add your logo to video title screens and use your color scheme on graphic design elements to ensure your visual content will be associated with your organization.
Capital campaign storytelling enables you to build connections that bring in essential funding. Consider what types of stories are likely to resonate with specific major donors and your supporters as a whole to craft compelling stories for every part of your campaign.
