how to make your story stand out charlie hulme donorvoice
TRANSCRIPT
How To Make Your Story Stand Out
Charlie HulmeDonorVoice
What we’ll do today…Neurological insight as to why stories workUnderstand how to tell storiesFive area’s to focus on that have a proven
impact on response and resultsFirst draft of your next appeal!Take stock of how we’ve been doing
Why we’re doing it…Both the number of donors and amounts they
donate are dropping180,000 registered charities in UKCountless thousands more too small to registerAll experience no growth and horrendous retentionCompeting for attention with commercials Everyone’s trying to tell their story!
What do all of fundraisings runaway successes have in common?
Don’t we already know everything about stories?
…overly formal, cold, detached,
and abstract!
1.5 million words 2,412 online and direct mail
documents 725 U.S. charity organizations raising
min $20 million 145 raising less than $20 million 10 international charities that raise
at least $20 million in the U.S.
It’s not enough to just tell a story…
Problem
? Solution?
Action?
Basic story structures
What’s your core?
Exercise #1: What’s your core?
Get into groups Identify and discuss what the core
purpose of your charity is (this may not be the current mission statement!)
Can you define that purpose/core in a simple phrase, e.g. “The low cost airline”
“If I look at the mass I will never act. If I look at the one, I will”
“The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of millions is a statistic”
People not Numbers
How does this affect giving?
‘Identifiable victim’ beat big number by more than 50%
A) Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 20,000 lives and save 10,000
B) Give $10 million to fight a disease claiming 290,000 lives and save 20,000
The bigger the number the less we donate
Get back into groups Think of an individual’s story that moved
you How could that persons experience
embody the core of your work? Tell their story using the headings
‘Problem’, ‘Solution’, ‘Action’
Exercise #2: People not Numbers
Which ‘story’ got our attention?
Question of perception…
Which works better?
‘We can only reach half…’
‘’We’ve already reached half…’
Go back to your storyWhat did that persons life look like
before you?What would the future have held for
them without you?What does it look like now?How can you use the difference to
illustrate ‘hope’?
Exercise #3: Hope not Hopeless
If it can work for him…
Help Raise $3000
A) $2000 already raised
B) $300 already raised
Group A had a six fold increase in contributions!
•Think about your next campaign•Who are you talking to?•Can you demonstrate that the ‘solution’ happened because of people ‘like’ them?
Exercise #4: Together not Separate
Where would you put this?
Put drops in ‘R ear’
How does this story show that you’re the organization that will get the job done?
What’s your ‘Unique Reason to Give’?
Weave all these elements together and tell your story…
Exercise #5: Leaders not Followers
Tell us your story…
These aren’t stories at all!
Before you wrote it,
someone lived it…
Whatever you put before your cause you lose…
Checklist…1. Is there an attention grabbing headline?2. Does it fit within our core purpose?3. Is it about what we want or what they can do?4. Is it single focused?5. Is it easy to follow, or are we using insider jargon?6. Is there an identifiable ‘victim’?7. Is our message hopeful or hopeless?8. Have we used social proof to evidence support?9. Is our Unique Reason to Give clear?
Would you have been allowed to sign off his ‘story’?
Questions?