Nonprofit Awareness Month: How to Tell Your Story

Kristen RotzPresident, United Way of Pennsylvania

PANO Collaborative Conference

What’s your purpose? Share knowledgeThis organization is responsible for serving 4,000 Pennsylvanians who need training which will help them find their next job. Last year we placed 85 percent of our clients in full-time positions, and more than half of them included health care benefits.

Build will This is Angela, a client who is a single mom that landed a full-time job thanks to training she received in our program. It pays her 80 percent of the median salary in our county plus benefits. State support is essential to this job training program.

Techniques for Building WillFind an existing connectionBuild a connection – “meet someone we

helped”Shared Goals or valuesAmbassadorsMatch a need with a solutionDraw them into a vision for the future

Telling your storyAvoid Chicken Little – orient toward the

results, not the crisis. Define your niche –what would be missing in

your community without your organization? Appeal to emotion, but keep it positiveAppeal to logic with data and researchStoryteller should establish expertiseConnect the dots between your solution and

how it makes a differenceInclude an invitation

Source: Influencer: The Power to Change Anything by Joseph Grenny et al

What do you do when the sky is falling? Use facts to communicate the threat.Find more messengers.Provide “need to know” information to

affected stakeholders. Stay up to date – scan the environment.Refresh your message at key turning points.