storytelling & strategic conversations: the heart … · 2016-01-26 · storytelling &...
TRANSCRIPT
STORYTELLING & STRATEGIC
CONVERSATIONS:
THE HEART OF RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
January 22, 2016
Laurel McCombs
Senior Philanthropy Advisor
The Osborne Group
INTRODUCTIONS
Name
School
Role
Your Favorite Story or Something You’re Hoping to Get Out of Today
WHY STORIES?
©The Osborne Group
TODAY’S AGENDA
Storytelling starts with your “why”
Using your vision to inspire support
Storytelling best practices
Helping you and your champions tell dynamic stories
It’s a strategic conversation
Questioning and listening for intent
©The Osborne Group
INSPIRED, JOYFUL, GENEROUS INVESTORS
©The Osborne Group
The story’s about the donor…
...every time someone donates to a good cause, they're buying a
story, a story that's worth more than the amount they donated.
It might be the story of doing the right thing, or fitting in, or
pleasing a friend or honoring a memory, but the story has value.
For many, it's the story of what it means
to be part of a community.
- Seth Godin
THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE
*MADE TO STICK, CHIP & DAN HEATH
Happy Birthday to You
7
START WITH YOUR WHYTHE GOLDEN CIRCLE – SIMON SINEK
Why
Very few organizations know WHY they do what
they do. WHY is not about making money. That’s a
result. It’s a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very
reason your organization exists.
What
Every organization on the planet knows WHAT
they do. These are products they sell or the
services they offer.
How
Some organizations know HOW they do it. These
are the things that make them special or set them
apart from their competition.
WHAT WE DO VS. WHAT WE ACHIEVE
What we do includes:
Facts about programs and service
delivery
Data on the needs in the community
and services we provide
Information about the giving
opportunity or priority or project
What we achieve speaks to:
How an investment is used to
impact the lives of children, adults
and your community
Envisions a world different from
today
Is tied to the explicit motivations of
your donor
©The Osborne Group
INSPIRING SUPPORT
Mission
Vision
Values & Beliefs
Strategic Business Plan
Case for Support
Your mission is powerful –but someone can feel equally good giving $25 as $25,000 to your mission.
It is your vision that inspires greater support as donors envision a world different from today.
This vision must be backed by a strategic plan, bold goals, and a clear rationale for financial support.
©The Osborne Group
BIG IDEAS BEGET BIG INVESTMENTS
©The Osborne Group
CHARACTERISTICS OF VISION*JOHN KOTTER, LEADING CHANGE
A compelling picture of the future
with some implicit or explicit
commentary on why people should
strive to create that future.
A strategic response to anticipated
needs and conditions
Bold
Urgent and compelling
Imaginable
Desirable
Feasible
Focused
Flexible
Communicable
©The Osborne Group
WHAT PROBLEMS ARE YOU SOLVING?
©The Osborne Group
DEFINE YOUR WHY
What You Do Vs. What You Achieve
Big Ideas Beget Big Investments
What Are Your Solutions?
What is Your Vision?
STICKY MESSAGES*MADE TO STICK, BY CHIP HEATH & DAN HEATH
Simple: Your Core
Unexpected: Pay Attention
Concrete: Understand & Remember
Credible: Believe & Agree
Emotional: Get People to Care
Stories: Get People to Act
15 ©The Osborne Group
“No one ever bought anything on an elevator”
- Seth Godin
You’re not information vendors
You’re emotion vendors
You can sell that at a higher price ... for longer ... to
more.
I will only pay attention to what interests me.
And what interests me most is me. Ask anyone.
* Tom Ahern
TEN IMMUTABLE LAWS OF STORYTELLING*STORYTELLING AS BEST PRACTICE BY ANDY GOODMAN
1. Stories should speak the audience’s language.
2. Stories are about people.
3. The people in your story have to want something.
4. Let your characters speak for themselves.
5. Stories need to be fixed in time and space.
6. Audiences bore easily.
7. Stories don’t tell: they show.
8. Stories stir up emotions.
9. Stories have at least one “moment of truth.”
10. Stories have clear meaning.
©The Osborne Group
STORIES ANSWER BURNING QUESTIONS
©The Osborne Group
WHAT DONORS WANT TO KNOW**ADAPTED FROM “THE 11 QUESTIONS EVERY DONOR ASKS,” MCKINNON
Are you trustworthy? Do I know and trust the leadership?
Do you know me?
How will I be treated? (How have I been treated in the past?)
Why me?
Why should I support you? What is special? What is the ROI?
Will my investment make a real difference?
Do you care about more than just my money?
What do you want me to give to?
Can I be directly involved?
Is it urgent that I give now?
How will you measure and report on success?
©The Osborne Group
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
How they hear
What they value
Aspirations
Strengths, weaknesses
Blind spots, assumptions
Perceptions of institution
Perceptions of you
Needs
Feelings about philanthropy
Philanthropic profile
Passions
©The Osborne Group
THE THREE-PART STORY
• The problem
• Challenge to society
BEGINNING
• What we do
• How we do
MIDDLE• The Future
World
• Outcomes, change
ENDING
©The Osborne Group
TIMES CHANGE, VALUES DON’T *BILL TOLIVER, THE MATALE LINE
1. Have I made the case that our issue/cause is worth someone’s sacred time or
money?
2. Have I made it clear that a solution is possible?
3. Can I articulate why they should place their faith in us over all others?
4. Can I show them what we are doing with their money?
5. Have I set up the right infrastructure to make them feel a part of the effort?
©The Osborne Group
WHAT ARE YOUR STORIES?
1. The nature of the challenge
2. How we got started
3. Emblematic success (unique, the way we make a difference)
4. Performance (stories about your people)
5. Striving to improve (failing forward)
6. Where we are going – the vision story
©The Osborne Group
SPOTTING STORIES
MULTI-CHANNEL STORYTELLING
Video
Website
Brochures
Social media
Presentations
Newsletters
One-pagers
Photos
Webcasts
Games
Annual Report
eBooks
Infographics
Comics
Music
Research
Apps
Blog Posts
Tweets
White Papers
Special Events
Impact Reports
Testimonials
Slideshare
Scrapbooks
©The Osborne Group
STORYTELLING & SOCIAL MEDIA
Storytelling allows us to connect and inspire our audience
“We know that stories are inherently social and social media
is about making connections.” –Cameron Uganec, Hootsuite
Blog
Why How Impact
CONTENT MARKETING
Benefits:
Consistent, branded content
Powerful storytelling opportunities
Broadens audience
More content makes it easier for people to find you
CONTENT CURATION
“Content curation is the process of sorting through the vast amounts of content
on the web and presenting it in a meaningful and organized way around a specific
theme.” - Beth Kanter, bethkanter.org
According to Pew Research Internet Project:
46% of adult internet users post original photos or videos online that they
themselves have created. We call them creators.
41% of adult internet users take photos or videos that they have found online
and repost them on sites designed for sharing images with many people. We call
them curators.
Overall, 56% of internet users do at least one of the creating or curating
activities we studied and 32% of internet users do both creating and curating
activities.
FORCE MULTIPLIERS: STORYTELLERS
Identify
Engage
Empower
©The Osborne Group
BUILDING YOUR STORYTELLING TEAM
Who are your storytellers?
How will you engage them?
What strategies will you employ to empower them to share their stories?
What challenges do you anticipate?
How will you overcome them?
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Start with Your “Why”
Storytelling with Intent
Discover Your Most Powerful Stories
Multi-Channel Delivery
Empowering Your Storytellers
©The Osborne Group
ENGAGING IN STRATEGIC
CONVERSATIONS
THE TARNSIDE CURVE OF INVOLVEMENT* *TARNSIDE CONSULTANCY, UK
SELLING VERSUS ENGAGING
©The Osborne Group
TWO-WAY ENGAGEMENT
For engagement to work as a means for developing a relationship
It has to be interactive (not passive)
Meaningful and satisfying to the donor
And productive for your organization
©The Osborne Group
THE DONOR PUZZLE© ©THE OSBORNE GROUP, INC.
Capacity
Inclination
Readiness
Motivation
Values
Interests
Philanthropy list
Decision-makers and process
Natural partners
Possible obstacles
Engagement & stewardship
preferences
The Rights (Purpose, Amount,
Solicitors, Time, Materials,
Participants, Place)
©The Osborne Group
STRATEGIC CONVERSATIONS
©The Osborne Group
TO BE STRATEGIC, YOU NEED A PLAN!
Strategic Initiatives to Increase Motivation, Decrease Obstacles, Engage Decision Makers,
Confirm RightsPerson By When
Specific Expected Minimum and Maximum Results
Comments on Relationship, Values, Philanthropy, “Yeses”
*Excerpt from The Osborne Group’s Major Gift Strategy Worksheet
©The Osborne Group
GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR
CONVERSATIONS
Increase Motivations
Decrease Objections
©The Osborne Group
IT’S A 30/70 CONVERSATION
41©The Osborne Group
What They Hear
30%
What You Hear
70%
THE SEVEN POWERS OF QUESTIONS* *DOROTHY LEEDS
Demand answers
Stimulate thinking
Provide needed and invaluable
information
Put you in control
Get people to open up
Lead to quality listening
Get people to persuade themselves
©The Osborne Group
SOME QUESTIONS HAVE MORE POWER* *NEIL RACKMAN
Open ended and closed
New Information
Clarification
Confirmation
Attitude and Values
Implication
Commitment
©The Osborne Group
LAYERS OF LISTENING
Perceiving Using more than one sense
Interpreting Most errors occur here
Evaluating We often assume negatives
Responding Give immediate verbal feedback
©The Osborne Group
WHAT TYPE OF LISTENER ARE YOU?
Mind Reader: You know what the other person is going to say before they say it and you are filling in the blanks.
Sentence Finisher: Not only do you know what they are going to say, you say it for them.
Interrupter or Gap Filler: You consistently break in before the other person has finished speaking. You never heard a pause you didn’t want to fill.
Rehearser: You are always thinking about what you are going to say next.
Filterer: You suffer from selective listening, hearing what you want to hear.
Dreamer: You tend to drift off during conversations, having to ask, “What did you say?” or “Can you repeat that?”
Identifier: “It’s all about ME.” Everything you hear you relate to your own experience and share that experience. “Let me tell you about my kids, golf game, harrowing experience.”
Placater: Agreeing with everything you hear, just to be nice or avoid potential conflict.
Derailer: You change subjects abruptly so that you can get back to your agenda; or you tend to discount what others are saying before hearing them out.
Talker: You talk more than 30% of the time in any given conversation.
FIVE STEP VISIT PREP
1. What is the short-term goal for this person? Where are we going? What do you want this person saying yes to?
2. What do you know, what pieces of the Donor Puzzle do we have? What don’t we know? What are we assuming? What do we know that makes us think that this next step or short-term goal is the right one? Remember The Rights – Right Purpose, Right Amount, Right Solicitors, Right Time
3. Think through how to find out what you don’t know. Refer to the strategic questions resource and WRITE DOWN what you can ask to get there.
4. What do you need to share to get this person to get them to a place where they can say yes, what do they need to know to take the next step with you?
5. Prepare your team – who is making the visit? Who needs to ask which question or share which piece of information? Who has what role or job?
©The Osborne Group
CLOSING THE VISIT LOOP
Collect
Record
Assess
Plan
©The Osborne Group
QUESTIONS? WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Laurel McCombs
Senior Philanthropy Advisor
The Osborne Group is a full-service strategic planning, management, campaign consulting and fund development training firm.
TOG BLOG: theosbornegroupblog.com
Find us on LinkedIn and Follow us on Twitter
Call: (914) 428-7777