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You are here: Home / Fundraising Advice / How to Develop Your BIG Story

Fundraising Advice Non-Profit Storytelling Tips

How to Develop Your BIG Story

This is part of our series on how to develop and use your organization’s unique story to stand out from the crowd. Check out the first post and the second post in this series.

As we explore the question “How can we make our non-profit stand out from the crowd,” we’ve seen that there’s a different type of story that we can tell. It’s the story of our why – why we do the work we do. I like to refer to this as your BIG story.

Your BIG story is comprised of two parts:

The story of us
The story of now

This is terminology taken from Marshall Ganz and his work with The New Organizing Institute.

Let’s talk about both of these stories and how they weave together to form your compelling, interesting BIG story. Together this story tells people what you do and why.

The Story of Us

What values, experiences and vision make up the fabric of your organization?

These three components comprise the story of us. This story articulates the common ground that your organization and its community share. This is an important story that every non-profit must be able to articulate because it is what allows people to identify and align themselves with your cause.

The Story of Now

What is the urgency for solving your organization’s mission?

You know what this urgency is. You talk about it all the time to your donors, in your direct mail and in your case for support. The story of now is what calls people to take action after they hear your story of us.

The key to articulating this well is to clearly tie the urgency to the values, experiences and vision that your community has identified with.

Today’s Actionable

The story of us and the story of now are most commonly found in a case for support, on your “About” page, the “Home” page and other outlets for external communications.

Today’s Action for you: Take a look at your current case for support and/or your “About” page on your website. Have you captured the essence of the story of us and the story of now? Where could you improve one or both of these stories?

Next week we’ll look at The Story of Self – this is the story that your volunteers, donors and staff members can use to spread your story through peer influence.

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About Vanessa Chase Lockshin

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin, and I want to empower you to tell your story. In my personal life, finding ways to tell my stories has been a transformational practice. In my fundraising life, I’ve helped hundreds of organizations tell their stories to engage and inspire their donors. To date, my work has helped non-profits raise over $10 million.

« What Does Your Organization Do? How to Answer this Question With a Compelling Story
Communicating your BIG Story to Donors – who you are and what you stand for »

Hi there!

My name is Vanessa Chase Lockshin and I've helped non-profits raise over $10 million by telling stories that engage and inspire donors. I'm the author of The Storytelling Non-Profit: A practical guide to telling stories that raise money and awareness, and the creator of immersive online training programs that have trained thousands of non-profit professionals. Read More…

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