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Once Upon a TimeHow to market your nonprofit by telling a story.
What do I know?
• President of Turnbull Marketing Group, a (very) small company dedicated to helping nonprofits help others.
• Hold a BA in Spanish and Journalism from Wake Forest University and an MA in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from Florida International University.
• Worked at Food For The Poor, the nation’s largest international charity
• Love traveling and getting my hands dirty. Throw in some Spanish and you have one happy lady.
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Once Upon a Time
• What makes a story interesting?
• Where can I find a good story?
• How do I tell a story effectively?
• How do I incorporate stories into my marketing and fundraising programs?
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
What makes a story interesting?
• Characters you can relate to
• A plot you can believe in
• A call to action that moves you
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Characters you can relate to
• Personable
• Sympathetic/Vulnerable
• Have a fulfillable need
• Have a succinct story to tell relating directly to your mission
• Whenever possible, not you
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
A plot you can believe in
• Clearly expresses the need
• Has a story-like feel (think feature story in your favorite magazine)
• Ties directly in to your mission
• Succinct
• Invites the reader into the character’s world
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
A call to action that moves you
• Direct—no hemming and hawing
• Repeated
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
• Urgent—Why me?Why now?
• Doable
Where can I find a good story?
• Everywhere! Every single living thing in the world has a story—the hard part is seeing it
• Start at home
• Talk to the people you serve
• Be nosy—ask questions that touch the heart
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Be nosy
• What do you hope/pray for?
• What do you want for your future? For your children’s future?
• How has our organization helped you? What was life like before we began to help you?
• What do you want to tell our friends and supporters?
• Why should our friends help other people like you?
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
How do I tell a story effectively?
• Focus on the details that pull at the heart strings—make them weep
• Be succinct—leave out the dry information
• Hook your audience from the very beginning
• Use action words, present tense and adjectives
• Don’t just tell a story—show it
• Tie everything back to your mission
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Mahalia
Climbing the sagging steps leading up to the dilapidated house teetering 6 feet off the ground in Georgetown, Guyana, I keep my eyes on 8-year-old Mahalia, who bounds ahead of me with no apparent fear of falling through the rotted wood. She leads me inside, where missing floorboards, bowing walls and a rusted piece of tin—more a strainer than a roof—form what bit of space she has to call home. I have come to listen, and Mahalia is just about to tell me a secret.
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
How do I incorporate stories into marketing and fundraising materials?
• Use them everywhere you can—online, brochures, newsletters, fundraising letters, benefits, annual reports
• Illustrate with compelling photos
• Send your audience online for the rest of the story—websites shouldn’t be just content-driven, they need to be story-driven
• Make short videos—feature the people you serve whenever possible
• Tell one good story in each e-Newsletter
• Use your blog to tell stories, not to give status reports
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
And They Lived Happily Ever After
• Pull at heart strings
• Be succinct
• Make it personal
• Tie it back to your mission
• Tell stories all the time, everywhere you go
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Let’s keep in touch
Turnbull Marketing GroupHelping nonprofits help others.
Elizabeth Turnbull
email: [email protected]
twitter: @ejturnbull
telephone: 919.741.5072
