Non-profit storytelling is a great idea for every organization. It’s an opportunity to connect, inspire and engage your audiences. One of the challenges that organizations face with storytelling is time. Doing non-profit storytelling well requires time to do find stories, interview people for their stories, write up the stories, and tailor the stories to specific channels.
A few weeks ago I read a great post on M+R’s blog that shared social media workouts for non-profits. Inspired by that post, I created a series of non-profit storytelling workouts to help you flex your muscles, build your stamina, and create consistent storytelling workout!
Your 15-minute storytelling workout. . .
Ask 3 colleagues if they have stories to share
Write a quick email to colleagues to ask them if they have stories to share. Be specific with your request and perhaps ask for stories from a specific program. You could also send an email to volunteers to ask if they have a story they would like to share.
Brainstorm 5 stories you can share in the next month
Think about your upcoming communications or fundraising needs and spend a few minutes brainstorming stories you could share. This exercise will help you get strategic and make the most of upcoming opportunities.
Write a social media post to ask your community for their stories
Looking for a great way to engage your online community? Ask them for their stories! You could write a quick post and create a graphic that is a call for stories. Make sure you give people an easy way to submit their stories.
Your 30-minute storytelling workout. . .
Interview someone for their story
Interviews don’t need to be hours long. In fact, most of the ones I do are around 30 minutes. If you’ve got a 30-minute block of time coming up, book an interview with someone.
Need help preparing for the interview?
Here are my favorite tips to conduct a better interview.
Here are 25 questions you can ask to get the story.
Add a story to your website
If you want to flex your tech muscles, think about updating a story on your website. You could add a story to a programs page or a page that talks about program impact. Look for places on your website where you could provide a tangible example of what the existing copy references.
Here are a few tips to help you tell great stories on your website.
Review the metrics from recent stories you shared
Ready to improve the effectiveness of your storytelling efforts? Use this time to find and review metrics from recent stories you’ve shared. Look for ones that did particularly well and ones that underperformed. What can you learn from there? How can you apply these learnings to new stories you’ll create and share?
Your 60-minute storytelling workout. . .
Plan and share a story on Facebook Live
Looking to kick it up a notch? Sharing stories on live video is a great option. If your organization is using Facebook and you want to increase your reach, Facebook Live is a fun option to test out. If you plan a Live that is 5 to 15 minutes long, spend the other time doing prep work. Figure out who will be in the video, where you’ll broadcast from, what you’ll say, and if there will be a call to action.
Develop a plan for sharing your stories for the next month
If you enjoyed suggestion #2, this option is for you! This is a chance to go deeper into your planning process and tie in storytelling to your strategic goals. Here’s a step-by-step guide to planning and sharing stories.
I hope you have fun with these storytelling workouts! In the comments below let me know which one you’ll try this week.
