Good Storytelling: an Overview of the Basics for Fundraising and Advocacy

Great storytelling captures people’s attention and drives them to action. When facts and characters, logic and emotion, and cause and effect work together artfully, the resulting stories affect us in a deep way.

As data take on a larger role in nonprofit communications, many groups have realized that stories bring the numbers to life, and together they powerfully convey a group’s impact.

“The stories are really what make the data matter,” says Connie French, director of communications and marketing for Health Leads, a Boston charity that recruits college-student volunteers to help low-income people connect with social services. “Percentages and numbers don’t really mean anything until you see them through the lens of something like a child suffering with asthma.”

In the articles and resources below, you can find expert advice for collecting, telling, distributing, and measuring the effectiveness of your organization’s stories.