advanced storytelling: why talking about money helps you raise more
TRANSCRIPT
Advanced Storytelling: Why Talking About
Money Helps You Raise More
10/13/16 1pm Eastern
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Before we get started »
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Our guest presenter »Lori L. Jacobwith @LJacobwith
• nationally-recognized master storyteller and fundraising culture change expert
• 30+ years experience • helped nonprofit organizations raise $300M • 30+ years experience • author of Nine Steps to a Successful
Fundraising Campaign • co-author of The Essential Fundraising
Handbook for Small Nonprofits
Presenter: Lori L. Jacobwith, Founder, Ignited Fundraising
Advanced StorytellingWhy Talking About Money
Helps You Raise More
Thank You!
@LJacobwith
#IgnitedFRStories
Tweeting?
Who is Here Today?
Your City & Your Title
Lori L. Jacobwith
• 30 years in the social sector • Since 2001 has helped NPOs raise
$300 million from individual donors And counting
• June 2016: Named one of America’s Top 25 Fundraising Experts
• Master Storyteller, Fundraising Culture Change Expert, Author, Speaker, Trainer
LJacobwith
@LJacobwith
www.ignitedfundraising.com
What I Do
The Power of A Story
The Power of A Story
• 1 Staff • 12 Volunteers • $80,000 Budget • Screening 250 children
each year
What I inherited:• 5 Staff • 890 Volunteers • $1.2 million Budget • Screening 25,000
children each year
2 ½ years later:
What I Have For You• Fundraising vs Development • Secret to Nonprofit Success • Why Tell Stories? • 6 Steps to Craft Engaging Stories • Advanced Storytelling • Sharing YOUR Stories • Final Thoughts & Wrap Up
Before We Dive In
What Are YOU Looking For
Today?
Fundraising & Development
Fundraising The raising of assets and
resources from various sources for the support of an organization or a specific project.
~ Source: AFP Fundraising Dictionary, (Association of Fundraising Professionals)
The total process by which an organization increases public understanding of its mission…
~ Source: AFP Fundraising Dictionary, (Association of Fundraising Professionals)
Development
Development: Everyone’s Job
How To Stand Out?
Talk About the Impact I Make Possible
Image Source: Volunteers of America
Secret to Nonprofit Success
The BIG Secret
Secret to Success for ANY Organization:
Communication Communication Communication
Communication
More than 50% of your donors stop giving for reasons
connected to a “failure to communicate.”
~ Penelope Burk & Cygnus Applied Research
Where To Focus Your Time
On Communication That Causes You To: • Really know key supporters • Share clear messages • Hold yourself & others
accountable • Continually invite participation
Why Tell Stories?
We “THINK” in story.
Every decision we make is based on a story we tell ourselves.
If we don’t feel something we can’t make a decision
“Pleasure is the central motivator in our lives.
Our brain’s pleasure circuits are activated by acts of
charity.”*
*Source: David J. Linden, Ph.D., professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
What Storytelling is NotIt’s not about how well YOU “tell” the story. It’s about how much passion you convey and the picture you paint with your words.
Image Source: Kentucky Arts Council
Stories of Your ImpactCreate unforgettable emotional connections
and Empathy
Remember
Sympathy creates distance
Image Source: Crusty Dolphin, Flickr
RememberEmpathy creates connections
Image source: Dubuque Art Museum Facebook page
50% of telling a great story
…is finding a great story to tell
Look for Mission MomentsMission Moment Definition: “Any short, inspirational, example of how your organization is making an impact.”
Must be about a real person.
Could be a donor, client, staff, volunteer, board member or you.
Tell Me A Story
NO
Story or Report?
AFTER A BITTER DIVORCE, Margaret moved back to Arkansas from Texas. She came with her two children, aged 7 and 9, to be close to her family. Her circumstances left her in a financial bind, and her children needed physicals to get into school.Margaret turned to our clinic for her family’s medical needs. During the physicals, her son did not pass the vision screening. Margaret was relieved to learn she could bring him back in two weeks to see an optometrist and get a prescription for glasses paid for by the Star City LIONS club.Margaret is lucky -- she has a supportive family and has found work. She is also appreciative that her kids could be seen at our clinic. It makes getting started just a little easier.
Story Telling NOT
Fact Telling
Finding Powerful Stories• Open-ended questions. • Ask questions that gets “at” a story
but doesn’t feel like you are putting the person on the spot.
• The responsibility to “find” the story is yours. Ask more questions to glean the “nuggets” to build the story.
Module 4: Help Others Identify THEIR Mission Moments
Ask Questions: Staff: Who can’t you get off your mind? Clients: What was life like before us? Donors: Why do you give your $ or time to us? Vendors/Sponsors: Who have you met here that inspires you?
Your Mission Moment?
Image Source: Bethany House website
Six Steps to Craft Engaging Stories
Mission Moment to A Story
Six Step Process
Step 1:Identify one person.
Image Source: Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel Online
Six Step Process
Step 2:Learn & jot down as much about them as possible. Step 3:Write down all of the exact results.
Six Step Process
Step 4:Make a list of transformations due to your involvement and/or their own efforts
Six Step Process
Step 5:Circle the words that stand out and are emotionally connecting.
Pay Attention to Placement of Emotionally Connecting Words
Explosive energy Cautiously hopeful Gnarled hands Uncomfortably shy Smiled from ear to ear Unrestrained joy Yours?
Six Step Process
Step 6:
Fit the story into the framework. Share your story. Using various formats.
Often.
Simple Story FrameworkLet me tell you about…
[Insert name] had a life of…
Here’s why and how [name] found their way to us…
eBook: Boring2Brillint.com
Simple Story FrameworkHere’s how [name] felt...
What [name] accomplished due to our [program name]…
And because of [examples of your work] [name] is now…
eBook: Boring2Brillint.com
Module 5: Before And After
Advanced Storytelling
My “Secret Sauce”
Knowledge Alone Doesn’t Cause People to Take Action
Talk About Money to Raise More
Secrets We Keep From Donors
Programs costs. The difference between your “certain” and already received support & what you must raise to maintain quality programs.
Message PyramidWhat’s Missing?
The Need for Your Organization
Your Money Story
Program Info: Waiting Lists
One Person Example
Understanding comes from the
top down
Conversations come from the
bottom up
Money Story = Funding Gap
Source: Upstream Arts July 2013 eNews
What it TRULY takes to do your work this year - MINUS what you’ve already received from fees, contributions, grants, government funding, ticket sales, or?
Type into the box: YOUR funding gap remaining this year.
Share YOUR Funding Gap
If you don’t know, pledge to find out ASAP.
I Can’t (or don’t want to!) Do This!Comments from Others:
Just being honest. We are scared to death to tell people we have a funding gap of $225,000. We have NEVER talked about it before, we are worried that when we start telling people we have an $800k funding gap that they will think of us as a lost cause. How do we tell people we have a “funding gap” without scaring them away?
What can happen when you “speak the truth?”
Quote from Maggie Kuhn, see Facebook for her story
Share Clear Messages
Funding Gap Messages become a a KEY communication tool.
Chuck Meehan, CEO, Volunteers of America, N Louisiana with Melvin
Share Clear Messages
I wish you could meet Melvin…when he came to use he would talk about the organized “chaos” of his life…
Secrets We Keep From Donors
That their gift of any size really, truly, DOES matter.
Embraced People & Money Stories
✓Raised more money ✓Attracted more media attention ✓Gained more community and
corporate support, AND ✓Converted board members into
powerful, engaged ambassadors
June 2013
1st $1000 Gift!
Image source: CCRI
The Board Gets ON BOARD
Image source: CCRI
February 2014: Largest IndividualContribution to Date: $10,000
Image source: CCRI
Largest IndividualContribution to Date: $100,000+
Image source: CCRI
Sharing YOUR Stories
Module 6: Advanced Storytelling Checklist
1. Carefully build your engaging people story.
2. Include costs, per day/week/month.
3. Do not ask for money. 4. Infer there is more to do
with more resources.
Module 6: Advanced Storytelling Checklist
5. Share your combined people and “money story.”
6. Keep your money story short & factual.
7. Endings aren’t necessary for your story…
8. Repetition is!
Telling A Story. Any Story.
Ditch the notes/text Use pauses and voice inflection. Paint a picture with your words. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Remember: Support Moves TowardBoldness & ClarityOf Communication
Communicating With Stories“Find people who encapsulate what your core objective is all about – and convey their stories with power, genuineness, passion and humility.” ~ JD Lasica, Entrepreneur, Public Speaker & Journalist
Image Source: BrightPoint.org
Wrap Up
LJacobwith
@LJacobwith
Fire Starters Blog: bit.ly/blog-ignitedfundraising
Resources & Staying Connected
Lori L. Jacobwith Master Storyteller & Fundraising
Culture Change Expert
IgnitedFundraising.com
Closing ThoughtsWhat did you learn?
What will you do next?
Thank You!
Advanced StorytellingWhy Talking About Money
Helps You Raise More
Questions?
https://bloomerang.co/resources
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