{"id":10711,"date":"2018-05-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/?p=10711"},"modified":"2024-05-08T21:40:22","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T21:40:22","slug":"storytelling-fundraisers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.causevox.com\/blog\/storytelling-fundraisers\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mixtape 015: Storytellers Make Better Fundraisers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Monday Mixtape 015: Storytellers Make Better Fundraisers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Here’s your Monday Mixtape, a weekly newsletter from CauseVox<\/a> designed to jumpstart your week, challenge your thinking, and inspire you to keep at it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each week, we’ll hand-pick must-read articles, thinking, resources, and stories for nonprofit fundraisers and leaders and drop it in your inbox. Have suggestions or questions? Let us know at blog@causevox.com<\/a>. Enjoy this week’s Mixtape!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Quick! What\u2019s the difference between an engaged donor who\u2019s inspired to give, and a bored donor who\u2019s ready to move on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of them received a sales pitch and the other a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storytelling activates empathy<\/a>, opens hearts and minds, and helps donors understand and care about your cause. Stories can also help showcase your nonprofit’s voice<\/a> and why your community should rally in support of your cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s one of the most important things you can do as a nonprofit, and at the center of every successful fundraising campaign. So this week, we\u2019re looking at storytelling. Need to make the case for stories over stats?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take a look at two infographics on how for-profit brands use stories to improve their bottom lines. Want to develop a culture of storytelling at your organization, or see some A+ examples of video storytelling? I\u2019ve got you!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s this week\u2019s mix:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you change the way you tell your own story, you can change the <\/em>colour and create a life in <\/em>technicolour.\u201d <\/em>– Isabel Allende<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #1:\u00a0Infographic: How Storytelling Is Helping Brands Sell More Products<\/a>, by Emma Bazilian at Adweek<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Storytelling doesn\u2019t just motivate giving, it influences what people think something is worth. This infographic shows the differences in consumer behavior when a product is presented with a story, versus only with product information. Just having a story on the same page as the product information makes people think the product is more valuable and increases the amount they\u2019d be willing to pay for it. Interesting!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #2: How To Create A Culture Of Storytelling In Your Nonprofit<\/a>, by Julia Campbell at CauseVox<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Do you feel like you\u2019re constantly digging for stories, all alone? A culture of storytelling doesn\u2019t just spring up overnight. You\u2019ve got to build it within an organization. Julia Campbell gives seven steps to creating a storytelling culture, including getting buy-in across the organization, making the case for storytelling, taking storytelling opportunities together, and empowering storytellers. When everyone is a storyteller, organizations really shine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weekly Wow<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In today’s connected economy<\/a>, attention is the most valuable currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Attention is finite, it’s difficult to earn due to increased competition, and maintaining it in our hyper-connected, distraction-filled world is even harder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations are having to adapt to this new reality and in our latest on-demand webinar training, we share how leaders at arts, animal, and advocacy to cancer, crisis relief, and community-service nonprofits are successfully growing their impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Y<\/a>ou can watch the training on-demand here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #3:\u00a0Infographic: The Science Of Storytelling<\/a>, by Marissa Sternberg at OneSpot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another for-profit infographic, this one about storytelling science. This is a great overview of all the ways storytelling lights up brains and changes behavior, and how to optimize your content to center storytelling. I particularly like how it breaks down different storytelling media and the tips for improving storytelling in each one. It also has a lot of interesting facts. Did you know that 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like stories? I didn\u2019t!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Track #4: The Hero\u2019s Journey: How To Write A Compelling Story That Inspires Donors To Get Involved<\/a> by Me \ud83d\ude42<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you picture a storyteller, what do you see? A mythic figure beside a campfire? A gregarious \u201clife of the party\u201d person? A novelist? A Hollywood director?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you see yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storytelling is essential for fundraising<\/a>. At CauseVox, we often say storytelling is fundraising fuel. But telling your story in a way that moves people to action and compassion can be tricky. Luckily, storytelling is a learnable skill, and humans are keyed into one story in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, I share a framework that will help you craft a story that inspires your community to become supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonus Tracks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you need to call in an expert \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racing brain?\u00a0Try a bedtime story \u2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

15 video storytelling examples for online fundraising<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By The Way\u2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This Thursday, we’re partnering with Brady Josephson from NextAfter, a nonprofit fundraising optimization firm, to host a webinar to share the ten key elements of a great fundraising email, based on 218 experiments, and uncover the ONE underlying secret behind successful email campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can learn more and grab your spot here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Megan<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sign up to have the Monday Mixtape delivered to your inbox.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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