Donor Communications & Storytelling Webinar Recap

Thanks to everyone who joined us on February 18 for our #chimpchat webinar on Donor Communications: Using Stories that Add the “Wow!” Factor. (If you missed it, you can sign up for future #chimpchats here).

Both Chimp and Peer Giving can help you harness the power of stories to recruit donors and fundraisers. If you’d like to hear more about how Chimp and Peer Giving can help you tell better stories and raise more funds, let us know! We’d love to chat. You can email me at [email protected] or call 778-331-0570 ext 214.

Presentation Recording

http://youtu.be/qK2TlUxgNdY

Downloads for You

• Presentation Slides
• Social Fundraising Guide for Charities

More Questions and Answers with Vanessa

Thank you to our guest presenter Vanessa Chase, who shared her invaluable strategies on effective donor communications. Here are a few more questions she took the time to answer after the webinar:

Where can I learn more?

The Storytelling Non-Profit Virtual Conference is a great place to start! It’s happening February 23 to 27 with 9 free webinars on storytelling . Over at The Storytelling Non-Profit, we offer a free 5 day e-course on the basics of non-profit storytelling. This is great if you’re looking to learn the fundamentals.

Fund Raising Success Magazine recently published a series about collecting testimonials.

If you’re looking for examples of storytelling, here are a few of my favourites:

• CASE Infographic Library
• Two videos that always make me cry – The Ride to Conquer Cancer and Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital
• An appeal from Women Against Violence Against Women – a great example of a staff story in action

Can we tell personal stories when there may be confidentiality and other issues making it hard to tell client stories?

Absolutely! Personal stories are a very important story to tell. They are a first hand account that can be very compelling. Personal stories might be ones that you as a staff member have experienced, or they can take the form of your story about why you do the work you do. Marshall Ganz refers to this as “story of self,” which is a type of social proof story that we can use as a call to action.

What are the different story types you mentioned? When and how could they be used?

There are 6 characters that commonly appear in non-profit stories. They are:

1. Clients
2. Staff members
3. Board members
4. Volunteers
5. Donors
6. Community advocates

Each of these “characters” offers a different perspective on your organization and its mission. When I work with clients to develop their storytelling strategy (which is an extension of their communications plan), we usually try to incorporate a robust mixture of characters and conflicts. After all, it would be boring to hear the same story over and over again.

Learn More About Our Products

• Chimp for Charities
• Peer Giving

We know you’ve got a lot to worry about already, and probably aren’t looking forward to learning a new system. Don’t worry. We’re here to help. Call us anytime at 1.877.531.0580 or claim your charity account today. We’d be happy to help!