Some tips and tricks for how to tell a compelling story and get more donations on GivingTuesday
Recently we were joined by Victoria Leonhardt from GivingTuesday to talk about the power of GivingTuesday and how to harness it for your organization.
Set Your GivingTuesday Goal
Not every nonprofit will be using GivingTuesday to raise more funds. It’s also a great opportunity to find new donors, recruit volunteers, and raise awareness about your cause.
When crafting your nonprofit’s story, it’s important to choose a single goal and stay focused on that goal in the narrative you decide to tell.
Craft Your Nonprofit Narrative
Design your nonprofit story around one specific person, animal, or case. For nonprofits that have a more general focus and don’t have these kinds of stories, focus on your mission and the tangible benefits of that mission.
Use Data to Back Up your Story Appeal
This one story might seem anecdotal to potential donors, but your data will help you extrapolate that story for your audience to the greater work you do. This is just one of many similar stories about your nonprofit, and it illustrates what kind of change and impact you can make in the future.
Tell the Story from Multiple Perspectives
Naturally, you want to include the subject of the story, and when possible, allow that individual to tell their own version of it.
But you’ll have more content to use if you can include multiple perspectives, such as the children of the individual, volunteers who worked with them, and any other peripheral people or organizations with knowledge of the story to construct a more well-rounded picture.
Don’t Be Afraid of Repeating Your Story
You often need to interact with a potential donor multiple times to secure a donation. This is where it’s great to have different angles of the story, so you don’t have to repeat the exact same content, but instead reinforce the message across different mediums.
Create Multiple Types of Content
Be sure to have photos, video, and written versions of your story, so you have many available sources for content when creating social media posts, email, etc. When you repeat your message, being able to tell a well-rounded story from many different viewpoints allows your potential donor to better understand, and creates a broader picture that’s even more convincing.
Connect to Individuals and the Community
Make the story personal, and really try to tap into that emotional connection between the donor and the subject of the story. When possible, show how this one story exemplifies the problems faced by the community and how your nonprofit can help solve them.
Show Impact
Clearly demonstrate where your nonprofit falls in the telling of the story. What was the problem being addressed? How was that problem important to the community? Then show how your organization’s work solved the problem, and what that solution means for everyone.
Telling a great story is imperative to the success of your GivingTuesday campaign, so spend some time thinking of the best one you can tell—then amplify that message as much as possible!
To watch the full webinar for GivingTuesday inspiration.
