3 Tips to Improve Your Fundraising through Great Storytelling

Posted on September 10, 2018

Great storytelling can help you succeed in any stream of business. Whether you’re looking to sell a product, sign someone up for a service or even fundraising activity for charitable donations, a strong story that evokes emotion and strikes a connection with the consumer is the way to do it.

Not sure how to tell a story that hits those marks for your charity? Here are some tips to improve your fundraising through a great story:

Be Specific and Concrete

Don’t speak in generalities. Be very specific about the who, what, where, when and why of your story, and tell it with transparency and honesty. By including these authentic details, it makes it easier for your audience to relate.

Maybe they see themselves in the main subject, or they’ve experienced a similar struggle. Whatever it is, details make the story more relatable – not to mention, more memorable – and both of these mean a higher chance of donations from those who hear it.

Next, how to convey your message to your audience? What channels are you using to make your fundraising campaign successful? Choosing the right channel to target your audience is equally important to your great story.

Specific with your story, you must show a sense of urgency in your language and the right media to target the audience.

Create Conflict

Every good story has a good guy and a bad guy. In the charity world, it might not even be a person – it could be a life-threatening disease, the lack of clean water in a third-world country or an unjust law or government.

Whatever that antagonist is, it gives your donors something to rally against – to feel like part of a movement for good. It will leave them feeling empowered to fight for the causes and people they care about (and donate to support that fight as well).

Overcome Challenges a Charities Faces in Fundraising

It is very common that all levels of charities face challenges when it comes to fundraising. Finding a new donor or retention of existing donors are the most challenging tasks for any charity. Great storytelling can help to overcome these challenges.

Why Storytelling is Important for Fundraising to Charity

Storytelling is very important for fundraising to any charity. It is not just about a one-way conversation, but great storytelling connects with donors emotionally, it helps donors to connect with nonprofit organizations for a longer period that drives donations to charity automatically.

Include Your Donors

Every single one of your donors has their own story. They may have even experienced the problems your charity is looking to address first-hand. Tap your donor base to find powerful, real-life stories from on the ground. Use those stories to understand your donors’ motivations, their interests and their struggles, and share them with other potential donors to strike a more personal chord. You can even use them as testimonials on your website or social accounts.

Be sure to mix up how you tell your stories, too. Try a Facebook video one week, a blog posts the next and an email campaign after that. Keep it fresh and interesting, and never let your stories become predictable or boring. You want to capture your donors’ attention and inspire them to contribute time and time again.

More Ways to Improve Fundraising

Want more help boosting your fundraising efforts? Then sign up for iConnectX today. As a vetted charity on our platform, you’ll enjoy commitment-free donations from professionals and executives all over the world. Sign up and have a quick look around or contact iConnectX today to learn more.