Something Needs to Happen
I teach storytelling to college students and nonprofit leaders. The concept of storytelling for feature films is easy enough to grasp, but how do we apply that to nonprofit fundraising or communications? How do we effectively amplify our work through our stories?
I chose to share this image because something is happening. The coffee is spilling. If you take a minute to look at the photo, consider how the action draws you in. Do you want to know more? Are you engaged?
Most people are aware that a story has a character, a setting and a plot. Let's extrapolate from that framework. If you are a nonprofit leader, your character is your clients or members (whoever benefits from your work), the setting is the place where they connect with your nonprofit, and your mission or purpose becomes the plot.
*Side note: clearly a mission is not exactly a plot, but let's draw on the purpose of your work to create the plot of this story.
The difference between presenting a strong mission, and telling a story, is that something needs to happen. We need a plot. The easiest way to identify plot points for your work, is to figure out what transpires that transforms your clients. Be as specific as possible.
An example is the trailer for our short film about election administrators, THE OFFICIALS. If you watch (it is just 90 seconds long), you will see that we meet some election officials, we learn the setting is their office where they are administering voting, and the plot or mission is to serve the American people. We are drawn in because they are under attack. What is happening, is that their integrity has been challenged. Now we want to know more.
Why does this work? If something occurs that speaks to us, even in small ways, we engage and want to know more.
Many of us feel strongly about the value of our own work, but we do not take the time to share what we do in a meaningful way. If you are engaged in transformational work, but no one witnesses it, can it matter?
If you are interested in exploring how we can support your storytelling needs, click here to schedule a discovery call.