How to Create an Effective Impact Story
How to Create an Effective Impact Story
While the effect of a great impact story may not always be tangible, its significance is hard to deny. Impact stories create a human connection with your organization, providing a glimpse into the lives and communities your organization affects. They are also an asset in developing your nonprofit’s brand; prioritizing storytelling can bring about organizational impact in powerful ways, even at a global scale. Consistency really matters, so the key is to set up a plan and stick with it.
Enlist Your Team
Gathering great stories will be a team effort, and much of the work should be done by the people who know the individuals and communities you serve directly, such as your volunteer or program staff. Go over your goals with your team and explain how their perspective is invaluable in meeting your goals. Then, enlist them in the search for provoking stories.
Keep Your Stories Relevant & Focused
You have to balance adding details to create rich, gripping stories that connect while still clearly communicating your organization’s impact. Focus on stories that best summarize your organization’s work and try to avoid getting side-tracked by unnecessary details. You should keep stories moving at a swift pace and ask others to review and edit as needed.
Keep Your Stories Light
Your stories should reflect and match the tone of your organization’s brand as a whole, and they will benefit from a more conversational tone that doesn’t sound too formal - using a conversational tone will feel more relatable and will help bring readers closer.
Don’t Forget to Include Quotes
Your “characters” should shine though in their own words, so it is crucial to collect quotes and testimonials from the individuals and communities you serve. Long quotes seldom work well, though, so trim wisely or paraphrase where you can.
Provide Multiple Perspectives
Communicate your organization’s impact at different levels - i.e. individual, community, or regional - through impact stories describing how your programs affect not only individuals, but also entire groups and communities.
Tell Your Story Over Time
Ideally, your programs are effecting tangible changes over time. If so, you need to create an organizational structure that supports gathering stories documenting your progress and keeps your stories up-to-date and engaging, encouraging an ongoing dialogue with your audience.
Use Impactful Images
The power of imagery will go a long way in expressing your organization’s mission and vision. Don’t undermine the powerful stories your organization produces with poor, unprofessional-looking photos. There is good stock photography to be found, but it takes time and a critical eye to dig through. Since most people always have their phones on them nowadays, a really easy way to build your organization’s image library is by asking your staff and volunteers to take photos of your mission in action. Whatever your approach is, you’ll never regret having too many images to choose from, and you can always edit down.
Storytelling is an effort that will require your continued commitment, but it is well worth the effort because it shares a unique perspective that only your organization can offer. Ultimately, when it comes to building an organizational brand that your audience can believe in and support, nothing is more important than impactful storytelling.
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